Marriott buys W to start brand repositioning

07.11.2019

HOTELSMAG:

http://www.hotelsmag.com/Industry/News/Details/88259

Marriott buys W to start brand repositioning

By Jeff Weinstein on 10/18/2019

In a move to redefine its 21-year-old W brand in North America, Marriott International acquired from Westbrook Partners the 270-room W New York – Union Square for US$206 million. Marriott will transform the property and then sell it while retaining long-term management.

“As a brand driven by a new/next ethos, we need our North American hotels to embody our latest thinking on design,” Anthony Ingham, global brand leader, W Hotels, told HOTELS on Thursday.

Ingham said Marriott has been evolving W Design over the past few years, with the recently opened W Aspen being a great example.

“We brought the destination to life throughout the hotel in uniquely W way, playful, social and luxurious all at the same time,” he said. “As a global epicenter of new/next design, NYC is the perfect location to take our design strategy to the next level and chart a new future for the brand. While we cannot comment on specific design details of the new hotel just yet, we can say it will be more contextual, immersive and experiential — like some of our newest properties around the world — and will set a new benchmark for W Design direction globally.”

Marriott said the renovation seeks to unlock the property’s untapped potential with plans for a signature, socially charged spa and an expanded street-corner restaurant. It added that the new vision for W in North America is focused on immersive, next-level contextual design; authentic, experiential programming; and a fresh take on the brand’s Whatever/Whenever service philosophy.

Next for the brand are 2020 debuts in Philadelphia and Toronto. W owners in North America have already committed to US$200 million worth of renovations on properties across the U.S. and Canada, such as the recent top-to-bottom renovation of W Washington, D.C.

As of June, Marriott International had 56 open W hotels worldwide in 26 countries and territories, with another 32 signed W hotel projects in the pipeline with the brand debuting in eight additional countries.

“There’s no better place than New York City to reveal to the world the future of our W Hotels brand, so we’re tremendously excited about this acquisition and the unique opportunity that it presents for our reinvention strategy,” Marriott President and CEO Arne Sorenson said in the news release.

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