First W Hotel Retreat & Spa in India to Open in Goa by Mid-2016

By Rashmi Pradhan WITH 47 properties operational across seven brands in India, Starwood Hotels & Resorts is looking to bring in the W Hotels brand next year. Nelli Yong, Vice President, Brand Management Asia Pacific, Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts spoke to me about the launch of the new entrant to India and the Starwood brand strategy for the country. I began by asking Yong about the entry of W Hotels in India. ’We are at the discussion and planning stage for the debut of ’W Hotels’ brand in India. We will be opening the first W, the W Retreat & Spa Goa in Vagator Beach, Goa by mid-2016,’ she told me. The resort will have 160 rooms, she added. Even with nine more months to go before the opening, Yong felt this was a critical time for the brand launch. Goa has been on the global map for travelers seeking something different. The global traveler may be aware of the destination without having actually visited it, she told me. ’The destination (Goa) has everything from music to lifestyle to cuisines. This syncs with the three-core pillars of W--Design, Fashion and Music. Goa being a hub for design and fun, is a perfect match,’ Yong said. This year Starwood opened nine hotels across India and is looking forward to surpassing the 100 hotel mark next year, she told me. ’This will be a mix of operating hotels and signed contracts. By next year Starwood will have eight of their ten brands operational in India (except for Tribute and Element),’ she added. The fastest growing Sheraton brand in India currently was Four Points by Sheraton, Yong shared adding that India was witnessing tremendous growth in the metro as well as Tier II cities and the upscale Four Points brand, with the largest number of hotels in the pipeline for Starwood, was a perfect fit. ’We started in India back in 1973 associating with Oberoi for our Sheraton brand and with ITC Hotels for Luxury Collection. India has strong domestic brands in the hospitality segment. The country has self-created and developed brands like the Taj, Leela and Oberoi. Not many country in Asia can boast of such a strong selection of home grown hospitality brands,’ she said. In the 1990s, more Indian tourists began to travel abroad and that gave them brand awareness, this saw increasing numbers of international brands entering the Indian market in the early 2000s, she observed. This was when chains found owners to tie up with the international brands, Yong added. When it came to the Starwood group’s brand strategy, Yong said, ’Each of our brands have different brand positioning and are marketed independently. We have a clear brand position that is understood by our guest’. Yong gave the example of the Westin brand’s 6 pillars of wellness: Sleep Well, Eat Well, Move Well, Feel Well, Work Well and Play Well. This wasn’t merely a marketing tool, she explained, but something all guests staying at Westin Hotels actually experienced. ’We are marketing through the experiences provided to our guests. We have a strong SPG (Starwood Preferred Guests) loyalty programme, which is the common thread that links our 1200 hotels and 10 brands worldwide,’ she concluded. The author is Assistant Editor of BW Hotelier.