Starwood 2011 Annual Report Download - page 84

owners of managed and franchised Resorts expend substantial funds to renovate and maintain their facilities in
order to remain competitive. For further information see Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations – Liquidity and Capital Resources in this Annual Report.
At December 31, 2011 our hotel business included 1,076 owned, managed or franchised hotels with
approximately 315,300 rooms and our owned vacation ownership and residential business included 13 stand-
alone vacation ownership resorts and residential properties at December 31, 2011, predominantly under seven
brands. All brands (other than the Four Points by Sheraton and the Aloft and Element brands) represent full-
service properties that range in amenities from luxury hotels and extended stay resorts to more moderately priced
hotels. Our Four Points by Sheraton, Aloft and Element brands are select-service properties that cater to more
value oriented consumers.
The following table reflects our hotel and vacation ownership properties, by brand, as of December 31,
2011:
Hotels,
VOI and Residential(a)
Properties Rooms
St. Regis and Luxury Collection ..................................... 104 20,500
W ............................................................. 41 12,000
Westin ......................................................... 190 74,500
Le Méridien ..................................................... 99 25,600
Sheraton ........................................................ 421 148,400
Four Points ...................................................... 159 27.900
Aloft ........................................................... 55 8,700
Independent / Other ............................................... 20 4,700
Total ........................................................... 1,089 322,300
(a) Includes vacation ownership properties of which 13 are stand-alone, eight are mixed-use and one is an
unconsolidated joint venture totaling rooms of 7,000.
Hotel Business
Managed and Franchised Hotels. Hotel and resort properties in the United States are often owned by
entities that do not manage hotels or own a brand name. Hotel owners typically enter into management contracts
with hotel management companies to operate their hotels. When a management company does not offer a brand
affiliation, the hotel owner often chooses to pay separate franchise fees to secure the benefits of brand marketing,
centralized reservations and other centralized administrative functions, particularly in the sales and marketing
area. Management believes that companies, such as Starwood, that offer both hotel management services and
well-established worldwide brand names appeal to hotel owners by providing the full range of management,
marketing and reservation services. In 2011, we opened 80 managed and franchised hotels with approximately
21,000 rooms and 31 managed and franchised hotels with approximately 7,000 rooms left our system.
Managed Hotels. We manage hotels worldwide, usually under a long-term agreement with the hotel owner
(including entities in which we have a minority equity interest). Our responsibilities under hotel management
contracts typically include hiring, training and supervising the managers and employees that operate these
facilities. For additional fees, we provide centralized reservation services and coordinate national and
international advertising and certain marketing and promotional services. We prepare and implement annual
budgets for the hotels we manage and are responsible for allocating property-owner funds for periodic
maintenance and repair of buildings and furnishings. In addition to our owned and leased hotels, at December 31,
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