From the beginning, Sternlicht had a customer prototype in mind for W Hotels – trendy people in their 20s to 40s who had professional careers. Sternlicht believed that the brand went beyond simply being a hotel and instead ‘delivered an emotional experience’ to guests. Each W hotel has a specific music, lighting a scent program that fits in with the specific brand outline.

Whether it is the W Hotel brand or The Luxury Collection, thanks to Sternlicht each hotel is easily identifiable with its certain style, ranging from the luxury hotels of St Regis to the American style of the Aloft chain.

With Starwood Capital, Sternlicht took over the Louvre Group and acquired 800 hotels operating under the names Kyriad Prestige, Kyriad, Première Classe and Campanile. Sternlicht had plans for a new hotel brand, 1 Hotels and Residences, with the first hotel to open in Seattle but these plans have since been cancelled. The hole that was excavated on the Seattle site for the new hotel has been filled in and it has been revealed that Sternlicht is going to focus his efforts on budget hotels instead. He is now concentrating on delveloping the Louvre Group with hotels like Kyriad.

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