Hilton Rio de Janeiro Copacabana is a 110-metre 37-storey skyscraper hotel in the Leme neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro , Brazil. It is the tallest building on Leme Beach .
31-475: The hotel originally opened in 1976 as the Hotel Meridien Copacabana , later Le Méridien Copacabana . In 2007, Starwood sold the building to Iberostar Hotels & Resorts , which closed the hotel and started a renovation of the building in the same year, which was eventually abandoned in 2008. In 2009, the hotel was sold again to Windsor Hotels for around R$ 170 million. After a refurbishment, it
62-462: A conversion of the old Doral Inn hotel at 541 Lexington Avenue in Manhattan and the brand has since expanded with over 50 hotels and resorts. Though the hotels vary from newly built flagship properties to more modest conversions of previous hotels, they have a common theme of spare, minimalist modern decor and hip, informal names for categories of rooms and public areas. For example, the lobbies of all
93-556: A hostile takeover battle for Forte in January 1996. Granada convinced majority shareholders to sell to them, rather than Rocco Forte , son of the company's founder, who feared Granada would strip the company of its assets. Granada assumed control of Forte for $ 5.9 billion. Soon after, in May 1996, Granada announced its intention to sell the 18 luxury hotels of the Forte Hotels chain, but to retain
124-597: A hotel in The Rialto. The new hotel is placed over the spot previously occupied by the Palace Theatre. The hotel cost $ 100 million to build. Shortly after, Le Méridien announced the opening of Le Méridien Melbourne, marking the return of the Le Méridien brand to Australia . [REDACTED] Media related to Le Méridien at Wikimedia Commons Starwood Hotels and Resorts Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
155-520: A lavish restoration from 1985 to 1991, it was part of the ITT Sheraton Luxury division before it became the cornerstone and flagship of Starwood's new brand. The brand is represented on four continents, with a total pipeline of 57 operating and signed hotels as of April 2016. Le Méridien was founded by Air France in 1972 and was acquired by Starwood in November 2005, by which point it was based in
186-526: A number of its company-owned hotels, instead focusing on becoming a management company and franchiser for its current and future hotel brands. In April 2007, Steven J. Heyer left the company on the request of the Board of Directors because of an issue with Heyer's management style and after allegations of personal misconduct. Chairman of the Board Bruce Duncan served as interim CEO until September 2007, when
217-514: A partnership with the Italian coffee roasting company Illy , serving and promoting Illy-branded coffee and products throughout its hotels around the world. Aloft Hotels was launched in 2005 as Aloft, a Vision of W Hotels , in a relationship with W similar to Four Points by Sheraton and its 'brand parent', Sheraton. Aloft is a mid-scale, urban-style business/boutique hotel brand. Announced in 2006, and originally known as Element by Westin , Element
248-611: A pipeline of 37 hotels with 9,585 upcoming rooms. Air France established Meridien Hotels in 1972. The chain's hotels offered accommodation for Air France flight crews in major hub cities, and the airline promoted the chain and handled reservations for it. The first Meridien Hotels property was a 1,000-room hotel in the heart of Paris, the Hotel Meridien Paris, today known as Le Méridien Etoile. The chain grew to 10 hotels in Europe and Africa within two years and had 21 hotels spanning
279-556: A security breach. After the disclosure, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced an investigation into the data breach. Westin Hotels & Resorts was Starwood's largest upscale hotel and resorts brand. It was the oldest brand within Starwood, founded as Western Hotels in 1930, renamed Western International Hotels in 1963, and then Westin Hotels in 1981. The chain was acquired by Starwood in 1997. Sheraton Hotels and Resorts
310-572: A separate brand identity for The Luxury Collection. Many hotels in The Luxury Collection are smaller establishments in converted palaces or other historically/culturally significant buildings; others are restored historic hotels, such as Hotel Kämp in Helsinki , Finland . The Royal Penthouse Suite at Hotel President Wilson in Geneva , part of The Luxury Collection, billed at US$ 65,000 per night,
341-465: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Le M%C3%A9ridien Le Méridien is an American upscale, design-focused international hotel brand with a European perspective. It was originally founded by Air France in 1972 and was later based in the United Kingdom . Marriott International now owns the chain. As of June 2021, it had a portfolio of 109 open hotels with 29,439 rooms and
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#1733154698696372-620: Is listed at number 1 on the World's 15 Most Expensive Hotel Suites list compiled by CNN in 2012. Four Points by Sheraton was launched in April 1995 under the Sheraton Group's brand as a set of mid-range hotels that replaced the Sheraton Inn sub-brand of Sheraton. W Hotels was Starwood's luxury lifestyle brand, generally marketed towards a younger crowd. It was launched in 1998 with the W New York,
403-676: Is named for St. Regis New York , which was built in 1904 in Manhattan at 5th Avenue and 55th Street by John Jacob Astor IV , who also founded the Astoria Hotel (which later became the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel ) and who died in 1912 on the RMS Titanic . In the 1930s, head bartender Fernand Petiot introduced the Bloody Mary cocktail . The St. Regis was a Sheraton from 1966 on, and following
434-670: The ITT Sheraton Luxury Collection . In February 1994, ITT Sheraton acquired a controlling interest in CIGA (Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi, or Italian Grand Hotels Company), an Italian international hotel chain which owned several luxury properties in Europe. The majority of the CIGA hotels were folded into The Luxury Collection. CIGA's original logo, the four horses of St. Mark, was kept for The Luxury Collection brand logo until 2010; each Luxury Collection hotel now uses its own logo. After Starwood acquired Sheraton, it established
465-609: The 85 hotels in the Meridien Hotels chain. The 2000 merger of Forte and caterer Compass Group , and demerger within a year, passed the Forte Hotels division's three remaining brands (Le Méridien, Heritage Hotels and Posthouse Forte) to Compass. In May 2001, Nomura Group acquired Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts from Compass for £1.9 billion, and Le Méridien was merged with Principal Hotels , which had been acquired in February 2001. In December 2003, Lehman Brothers Holdings acquired
496-626: The Design Hotels collection had the option to join the Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty program and gain access to Starwood's sales platform. Starwood had a credit card partnership with American Express , which also took over Starwood's former partnership with MBNA Canada Bank in Canada in 2010. The Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) program was merged with Marriott's loyalty program on August 18, 2018. Starwood Preferred Guest also had
527-696: The Tribute Portfolio brand. As part of the test, the company partnered with Hostmaker to add 200 homes in London to the service. This pilot ended when Marriott launched Homes & Villas by Marriott International in April 2019. Design Hotels , based in Berlin, provides hospitality services to a network of nearly 300 independently owned and operated hotels. Starwood was a majority investor in Design Hotels since 2011. In October 2015, Starwood announced that it would add Design Hotels to its brand portfolio. Member hotels of
558-637: The UK. It has a total of 137 properties operating or in the pipeline worldwide, with its first property being Le Méridien Etoile in Paris. Le Méridien is positioned as an upper-upscale brand in the Starwood hierarchy and offers properties with an edge towards art, design and local destination, with each hotel customized to its respective location with the intent of "unlocking destinations" for guests. Certain locations offer guests complimentary access to art galleries and museums through collaborations and partnerships. Le Méridien has
589-490: The company announced Heyer's successor, Frits van Paasschen . Van Paasschen served as CEO until February 2015, when he announced that he was resigning in a mutual decision with the board of directors. Starwood had customer contact centers (CCC) in nine locations: Wichita, Kansas ; Austin, Texas ; Fall River, Massachusetts ; St Thomas, Ontario ; Cork, Ireland ; Singapore ; Tokyo , Japan ; Guangzhou , China ; and Gurgaon , India . In late May 2014 reports surfaced that
620-593: The company had recently made a takeover bid for InterContinental Hotels Group worth $ 10 billion, which neither company confirmed or denied. In November 2015, it was announced that Starwood would be acquired by Marriott International for $ 12.2 billion. In December 2015, Thomas B. Mangas, former head of Armstrong World Industries' flooring business, became the CEO at Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide effective December 31, 2015. On November 30, 2018, Marriott International disclosed that its Starwood brand had been subject to
651-538: The first German location opened in Frankfurt . In 2017, the first South East Asian location opened in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia . Launched in April 2015, Tribute Portfolio is a collection of independent upscale to upper upscale hotels. As of May 2019, there were 33 Tribute Portfolio hotels operating globally with over 45 hotels in the pipeline. In April 2018, Marriott began a pilot program offering vacation rentals under
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#1733154698696682-547: The globe within six years. In 1994, as part of a cost-cutting measure, Air France sold its controlling interest in Meridien Hotels Inc., a 57.3% stake, to the UK-based Forte Group for $ 207 million. Meridien Hotels numbered 58 properties at the time. The sale followed an 18-month battle for control of the company between Forte, German-based Kempinski and French hospitality company Accor . The French government
713-414: The hotels are known as the "Living Room". W Hotels attempt to include the letter "W" wherever possible - the swimming pool is known as "Wet" and the laundry bag in every room is known as “Wash”. W Hotels are known for the trademarked “Whatever/Whenever” service philosophy and pioneered the now popular “lifestyle” hotels. St. Regis Hotels & Resorts was Starwood's main luxury brand, launched in 1899. It
744-468: The launch of Aloft, a new hotel brand based on W. Aloft Hotels catered toward business travelers . In 2005, Starwood purchased the Le Méridien brand. In 2004, Starwood's founder and CEO Barry Sternlicht stepped down as CEO to focus his attention on his other firm, Starwood Capital. He remained on the Board of Directors until 2005. He was succeeded as CEO by Steven J. Heyer, and Starwood began selling
775-573: The senior debt of Le Méridien. US-based Starwood acquired Le Méridien on November 24, 2005. A Lehman Brothers and Starwood Capital Group joint venture obtained the leased and owned real estate assets in a separate deal. Over the following five years, 45 of these 130 properties were sold, and 20 new ones were added to the chain. In September 2016, Marriott gained the Le Méridien brand as part of its acquisition of Starwood . On 16 March 2023, Le Meridien re-opened in Melbourne after previously operating
806-624: Was Starwood's first brand of hotels intended to be environmentally friendly and LEED certified. The designs include energy and water efficient features. The first Element hotel opened in Lexington, Massachusetts , in July 2008. Element hotels are built eco-friendly from the ground up, from the floors made of recycled materials to energy-efficient lighting and plumbing fixtures. In 2013, the first Canadian location opened in Vaughan , Ontario . In September 2014,
837-584: Was Starwood's flagship brand, providing luxury hotel and resort accommodation. It began operating in 1937 and was sold to Starwood in 1998 by ITT Inc. Also under the Sheraton brand are seven vacation ownership properties. The Luxury Collection brand began on January 13, 1992, when ITC Sheraton designated 28 of its premier hotels and 33 of the Sheraton Towers, the luxury "hotel-within-a-hotel" facilities located within Sheraton's largest and most exclusive hotels, as
868-646: Was one of the largest companies that owned, operated, franchised and managed hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties. It was acquired by Marriott International in 2016. Starwood was founded in 1969 as a real estate investment trust . In 1995, it was acquired and reorganized by Barry Sternlicht , who was its chairman until 2005 and founder of the Starwood Capital Group . Starwood had 11 brands and owned, managed, or franchised 1,297 properties comprising 370,000 hotel rooms in approximately 100 countries. Starwood Hotels and Resorts
899-684: Was originally formed by the real estate investment firm Starwood Capital to take advantage of a tax break; at the time the company was known as Starwood Lodging. Initially, Starwood Lodging owned a number of hotels throughout North America, all under different brand names. The Westin Hotel Company was purchased in 1994 from Aoki Corporation of Japan. Starwood acquired the Sheraton , Four Points by Sheraton , and The Luxury Collection brands from ITT Sheraton in 1998. In 1999, Starwood launched their "W" Hotels brand. In September 2005, Starwood announced
930-681: Was reopened in January 2011 as the Windsor Atlântica Hotel . The hotel was sold to Blackstone in March 2017. It converted to the Hilton Rio de Janeiro Copacabana on May 2, 2017. This article about a hotel or resort in South America is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a Brazilian building or structure is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Brazilian corporation or company article
961-551: Was reported to have favored Accor's bid, wishing to keep the company French-owned, while the European Commission was reported to have favored Forte over Accor and to have pressured Air France to sell to Forte, in exchange for a vital 20 billion Franc bailout for the airline. Forte simultaneously announced their intention to buy the remaining minority stakes in the hotel chain from Crédit Foncier de France , Crédit Lyonnais and other shareholders. UK conglomerate Granada won