NEW YORK -- The hotel industry's newest and possibly most
ballyhooed brand, Starwood's stylish W Hotels, made its press debut
Dec. 1 at the W New York.
This first W, and the largest of three Ws that are planned for
the city, showed off much of what Starwood claimed it would: a
different kind of hotel with an emphasis on stylish warmth. "We
wanted to create a hotel with theater and attitude," said Barry
Sternlicht, president and chief executive officer of Starwood
Hotels & Resorts, who was present at the debut.
Throughout the W New York, visitors will find tasteful
decoration that combines a bit of several things. The design firm,
the Rockwell Group, emphasized the four ancient elements-fire,
water, air and earth-in the hotel decor. Soft, earthy colors are
predominant, light is ample, the furniture is comfortable, and
there's a touch of a mid-60's look in everything. (Think
architecture, not Twiggy.)
To put it charitably, the 662 standard rooms in W New York are
small. The Doral never was known for large rooms, and rooms weren't
expanded during renovations. As a result, standard rooms hover
around 200 square feet.
The bathrooms are a true New York experience. They are pretty,
residential-looking and cramped. Two people can't hope to primp at
the same time.
Perhaps most unusual is the placement of the bed. To make the
small quarters seem larger, designers put the bed in the center of
the room. Guests can walk completely around the bed, which is
decorated with the same light, earthy tones as the room. Together,
the decor does provide an illusion of space, but it is just an
illusion, and small is small (although one of W's touches might
help guests forget about more carpet: In every room is a small
basket of living grass with a small can and a sign saying, "Water
Me!").
The vision for W New York, as with other properties in the
brand, is a hotel for frequent business travelers. While the mix of
clientele will differ by hotel, the W New York expects 70% of its
guests to be business travelers, 20% as members of groups, and the
remaining 10% to be leisure. Rooms have the amenities that a
corporate traveler would expect: sizable televisions, combination
clock/CD player, video cassette players, two-line phone systems and
a data port for Internet connections.
Outside the rooms, guests will find a restaurant, Heartbeat; a
juice and coffee bar; a sandwich shop; a spa, and an intimate club
called Whiskey Blue.
Where to place W in the maelstrom of hotel brands is a tricky
question. Starwood has billed W as a kind of midmarket, upscale,
unusual hotel brand. To be sure, as Sternlicht said, there's no way
that customers will confuse W with a Ritz-Carlton, a Four Seasons,
or even the St. Regis, Starwood's New York flagship in its Luxury
Collection brand.
Sternlicht said Starwood wanted to make something different. "We
already own the St. Regis," he said, "and this, as you can see, is
not the St. Regis."
Not all Ws will be the same. Only two of the 13 Ws currently in
development are new builds. (Those are in Seattle and San
Francisco.) The other projects will be renovations of independent
hotels owned by Starwood. Sternlicht added that none of these Ws
are rebrands of other Starwood brands, such as a Sheraton or a
Westin.
Other Ws are targeted for New York (two more), Los Angeles,
Chicago (three), San Francisco (spring 1999), Seattle (summer
1999), Denver, Atlanta (January 1999), New Orleans and
Washington.