Starwood Buys Design Hotels, The Park Still Working Out Details of Partnership

By Sourish Bhattacharyya NOT LONG after Marriott International announced its $12.2-billion merger deal with Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the grapevine was abuzz with the news of an impending partnership between the latter and the Berlin-based, 296-flag-strong Design Hotels, whose affiliates include The Park, Alila Diwa and Anya hotels in India (nine of them in all). Proving those rumours right, Starwood today (Wednesday, December 2) announced that Design Hotels will be its 11th brand, joining a global line-up that extends from Four Points by Sheraton in the budget segment to St Regis and The Luxury Collection at the super premium end of the market. What it means is that members of the privilege programme, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), will be able to add points to their kitty each time they stay at a Design Hotels partner. SPG members will also be able to book their stays at Design Hotels partners via the Starwood website, mobile numbers and customer contact centres. For more than two decades, Design Hotels has served as "a global distribution, sales and marketing affiliation for 296 independently owned and operated hotels and resorts united by the vision of bold, diverse hoteliers, known as 'Originals'." Not all affiliates of the Design Hotels, though, are going to join the partnership with Starwood at once. The Park hotels, for instance, are still working out the many modalities that a marriage of this kind entails. The partnership will progress in phases. The first batch of SPG partner hotels will include the legendary Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City (which is famous for its Warhols and private park), Ten Bompas in Johannesburg, C-Hotel in Lake Como, Italy, Nira Montana in La Thuile, Italy, Nira Alpina in St Moritz, Switzerland, and Kruisherenhotel Maastricht in The Netherlands. The ION Luxury Adventure Hotel in Iceland, Tribe Hotel in Kenya and the Grupo Habita hotels in Mexico will join the partnership before the year-end. Early next year, Design Hotels partners will join from major destinations, including London (Town Hall Hotel), Istanbul (Gezi Istanbul), Shanghai (The Waterhouse at South Bund), Athens (New Hotel), Singapore (Wanderlust), France (Les Bains) and South Korea (nest hotel). Commenting on the partnership, Starwood's Interim CEO Adam Aron said in a media release: "It will create a special niche in our distinct portfolio of global brands and offer more options for travellers to stay with us around the world. These independent, design-forward hotels will benefit from Starwood’s powerful loyalty and distribution platforms." Design Hotels Founder and CEO Claus Sendinger shared Aron's sentiments and said: "As we continue to grow in our niche of the 'New Luxury Segment', we are excited to see an initial selection of our member hotels take the opportunity to join SPG and be among the first to benefit from our partnership with Starwood. We expect more and more to take advantage, with at least 40 member hotels projected to join by the beginning of 2016." The big question now is: When will The Park, or for that matter, the Alila Diwa or Anya, join this club? And with Starwood on a massive expansion drive, would this alliance lead to serious conflicts of interests when Starwood 'originals' find themselves in competition with the Design Hotels 'Originals' for the same market? It'll be interesting to see how the relationship pans out in a competitive hothouse like India. The author is Consulting Editor of BW Hotelier.- Photo: The Park, Hyderabad.-