Word: starwood
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Park Place Entertainment is postponing construction of a $475 million tower at Caesars Palace. Starwood Hotels has postponed a $100 million renovation at the St. Regis in San Francisco...
...business trip, I discovered that the hotel had its own guest-loyalty program, which I joined. By 1998 I had stayed the requisite number of nights with Sheraton to be elevated to the chain's Gold member status. Then in 1999, when Sheraton became part of the newly created Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., my points were merged into its newly launched Preferred Guest program. The Starwood system has two noteworthy features: there are no blackout dates, and you can stay free on points at any property in the 660-plus hotel group. After 10 visits, I attained Gold status...
...market, the chains "don't really have a choice," says Chekitan Dev, marketing professor at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration. "For all practical purposes, the traditional hotel is obsolete. There's too much wasted space, it doesn't look inviting, and there's an erosion of brand loyalty." Starwood Hotels & Resorts chairman Barry Sternlicht tried in vain to lure Schrager to his camp. The company, which owns the Westin and Sheraton chains, is currently busy rolling out the self-consciously hip W line of hotels in 16 cities, including Seattle, Atlanta, Chicago and Los Angeles. Hyatt is opening more...
That's why investors believe in the unusual tax structure. How else to explain Starwood's unnatural premium in the market? Its shares trade at 64 times recent earnings--nearly triple the multiple of hotel and casino giant ITT. Starwood is growing faster. That helps. But the tax setup accounts for a good bit of the premium, and that's critical, because if the setup is ever struck down or found to be of little value, some of the premium would evaporate. Just what is this magical tax structure? Starwood is a Real Estate Investment Trust that owns hotels...
...chief concern, as it relates to the battle over ITT, is that the structure seems to generate so much potential tax and other savings that Starwood can afford to outbid all comers. When Sternlicht was snapping up smaller companies, heavyweights like Bollenbach took note but didn't fuss. Now that Sternlicht is going after bigger quarry, he's on Bollenbach's radar, and the fuss has just begun. The Hilton boss has been lobbying against the paired-share structure. By opting to go after a big name like ITT, Sternlicht has created a personal Catch-22. If the scrutiny...