Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. has recently announced the first conversion of an existing hotel to its “style-at-a-steal” Aloft brand, launching a new phase of growth for one of the world’s most talked-about hotel brands.Aloft San Francisco Airport, a former Clarion property, will undergo a significant renovation before opening as an Aloft in the summer of 2012. The 253-room hotel is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts and this significant investment demonstrates Starwood’s strong commitment to the three-year-old Aloft brand.
“Building on the success of adaptive reuse projects like the award-winning Aloft Dallas Downtown, a former railroad depot, we’ve developed a conversion-friendly strategy for existing hotels to meet owner and guest demand for the brand while helping our partners reposition existing assets in a cost-effective manner,” said Simon Turner, President of Global Development for Starwood. “We believe that many well-located, older hotels in metro markets represent enormous untapped repositioning potential. With the right capital investment and the backing of Starwood’s powerful platforms, these assets will benefit from Aloft’s ever-growing guest loyalty.”
Aloft San Francisco Airport occupies a prime location adjacent to San Francisco International Airport (SFO), one of the world’s busiest travel hubs. The property’s strategic location, along with proximity to mass-transit options into San Francisco, made it an ideal choice for a conversion for Starwood. “We see two types of opportunities as ideal candidates for an Aloft conversion: older hotels in need of a major renovation, and unique independent boutique hotels seeking a stronger brand point of view and the ability to utilize Starwood systems,” Turner said.
The Aloft hotel will become the third Starwood property adjacent to San Francisco International Airport, joining The Westin San Francisco Airport and Four Points by Sheraton Hotel & Suites San Francisco Airport.
