STARWOOD Hotels hopes to bring a dash of pizzazz to the limited service sector with its Aloft brand, the company’s president for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Roeland Vos, said on the sidelines of ITB Berlin.
He was speaking to media and delegates at the International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin, which runs before ITB each year. Starwood and its stylish W Hotels division introduced their aloft brand to EMEA delegates at the event.
“With Aloft we are reinvent-ing the select service category, and presenting a radical alter-native to what’s already out there,” Vos said, describing the brand as sassy and refreshing.
The group aims to have 500 Aloft properties by 2012 and some 100 Aloft deals are in the pipeline, he said. “It has been designed as a true off-the-shelf product that will save developers and owners time and this will reflect in your bottom line,” he told delegates.
With generous nine-foot ceilings and oversized windows, guest rooms at Aloft hotels will have a decidedly loft-like feel. In addition to the guest room centerpiece – a signature, ultra-comfortable bed for which Starwood's brands are well known – a well-designed workspace, an mp3 docking station and a flat panel television will further differentiate the room. Large stylish bathrooms will feature over-sized walk-in showers.
Starwood has created Aloft to be both quiet and inviting, day and night, offering a variety of friendly venues for guests to gather. Aloft’s public spaces are designed to draw guests from their rooms with a number of super social offerings. Properties will also feature flexible meeting and function space and offer 100 per cent wireless internet access.