STAMFORD, Conn. - May 19, 2014 - (BUSINESS WIRE) - Starwood Preferred Guest® (SPG®), the award-winning loyalty program from Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE:HOT), unveiled the Starwood hotels and resorts voted the best beyond compare by SPG members from around the globe with the release of its 2014 SPG Member Favorite Hotels & Resorts list. The select list featured 67 of Starwood's nearly 1,200 hotels and resorts, from the golf tees in Arizona to the azure waters of Greece. Members selected their favorite hotels worldwide in the following categories: Best Golf Getaways, Best Beach & Island Retreats, Best Winter Escapes, Best Family Adventures, Best City Experiences, Best Exotic Excursions, Best Small Luxuries, New & Noteworthy, Top 10 China, Top 10 USA Resorts, and Ultimate Top 10.
"Each of Starwood's hotels around the world offers our guests an experience like no other, whether their stay is for business or pleasure," says Chris Holdren, Senior Vice President of Starwood Preferred Guest. "Member Favorites allows our most frequent travelers to share their personal experiences at these elite hotels and truly celebrate the best of the best. Using our new methodology, this year's list was generated from feedback from more than 1.1 million members worldwide who contributed SPG Ratings & Reviews and hotel surveys."
In a survey of all nine Starwood brands across 11 different categories, SPG members have voted for their favorite Starwood hotels and resorts, identifying "the best" Starwood has to offer. Listening to its members and aligning with current travel trends, this year SPG has refreshed its approach adding new categories including: The Ultimate 10, Top 10 China, Top 10 USA Resorts, Best City Experiences, and New & Noteworthy.
The Ultimate 10 identifies the highest member-rated Starwood hotels and resorts for 2014. The new category brings a new level of distinction and prestige to the list and the hotels chosen, putting a spotlight on the definitive "best of the best" in Starwood Hotels & Resorts. The shining stars making the cut for this year's Ultimate 10 include:
Top 10 China reflects the growing importance of the Chinese market. In 2008, nearly two thirds of SPG members were U.S.-based, while today more than half of SPG members are outside of the U.S. Membership in emerging markets has grown fivefold in that time, and China has catapulted to Starwood's second largest SPG market and fastest growing. The list includes: Sheraton Qiandao Lake Resort; The Royal Begonia, a Luxury Collection Resort, Sanya; Four Points by Sheraton Langfang, Guan; The Westin Beijing Financial Street; Four Points by Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula; Sheraton Sanya Resort; Sheraton Sanya Haitang Bay Resort; Sheraton Zhenjiang Hotel; Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula Resort; and Le Méridien Shimei Bay Beach Resort & Spa.
Highlights from SPG 2014 Member Favorite Hotels & Resorts list based on Top 10 hotels and resorts:
The 2014 SPG Member Favorite Hotels & Resorts were selected using a brand new methodology allowing input from more members and measured hotels on multiple data points that are key to creating a better overall experience for Starwood guests. The winners were chosen using a unique combination of guest survey results and SPG Ratings and Reviews scores. The methodology allows input from more members and more detail about which elements of each hotel and resort provides a better experience resulting with more than 1.5 million reviews and surveys from more than 1.1 million members.
For the full 2014 SPG Member Favorite Hotels & Resorts list, please visit spg.com/memberfavorites.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. is one of the leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with nearly 1,200 properties in 100 countries, and 181,400 employees at its owned and managed properties. Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences with the following internationally renowned brands: St. Regis®, The Luxury Collection®, W®, Westin®, Le Méridien®, Sheraton®, Four Points® by Sheraton, Aloft®, and Element®. The Company boasts one of the industry's leading loyalty programs, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG®), allowing members to earn and redeem points for room stays, room upgrades and flights, with no blackout dates. Starwood also owns Starwood Vacation Ownership, Inc., a premier provider of world-class vacation experiences through villa-style resorts and privileged access to Starwood brands. For more information, please visit www.starwoodhotels.com.
Starwood Preferred Guest® (SPG®) is an innovative, award-winning frequent traveler program that unites each of Starwood's 9 distinctive hotel brands and includes more luxury hotels in more destinations around the world. SPG reinvented the hospitality loyalty landscape when it launched in 1999 with its breakthrough policy of no blackout dates, and over the years has continued its tradition of innovation with enhancements such as Cash + Points, SPG MomentsSM, and most recently Your24™ and SPG Lifetime™. In addition to Free Night Awards at nearly 1,200 hotels and resorts and Award Flights on over 350 major airlines without blackout dates, the Starpoints® that members earn through SPG can be redeemed for access like to no other to experiences in music, sports and the arts through SPG Moments. SPG also has an ongoing commitment to digital innovation to meet the needs of today's connected global traveler – from the SPG app for iPhone that utilizes state-aware technology to create a more personalized hotel stay to Starwood's Best Rate Guarantee on SPG.com, to SPG's integration within various social media platforms. Offerings such as these have helped SPG build a passionate member base among the world's most frequent travelers. Learn more at spg.com and spg.com/moments and connect with us on facebook.com/spg, twitter.com/spg, foursquare.com/spg, pinterest.com/spglife, and youtube.com/spg.
SOURCE Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
Maire Griffin
Starwood Hotels & Resorts
347-931-4186
maire.griffin@starwoodhotels.com
Carmen Muhammad
Taylor
212-714-5782
cmuhammad@taylorstrategy.com
Starwood is a fully integrated owner, operator and franchisor of hotels, resorts and residences.