Flews

Trump brand quite negative in Canada, especially Toronto. We always hoped the King Eddy or Windsor Arms would become a St. Regis. No shortage of high end modern in Toronto.

Cheers,

bhrubin

Waiting to see if Marriott can find new construction or reflags to get St. Regis in:

London (hated Lanesborough so hopeful for new construction)
Tokyo
Chicago
Los Angeles
Paris
Sydney
Melbourne
Madrid
Montreal
Zurich
Boston
Seoul
Auckland
Honolulu

I imagine some of those will be less critical for Marriott since they have Ritz Carlton already (Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Tokyo, and coming to Melbourne).

RafKa

I would add maybe Lisbon, Berlin, Milan and Săo Paulo to your list, but I guess this isn't a speculation thread...

khabah

Qatari Diar owns a few high-profile assets around the world including the Nile Corniche project in Cairo, Egypt, which will house a St. Regis later this year. They also acquired the Eero Saarinen-designed US Embassy building on London's Grosvenor Square and will redevelop it into a new luxury hotel within the next five years after the Embassy moves to Nine Elms in a few months. My hunch is that they'll bring St. Regis to London in that location.

Your list is great but here's my input:
- I'm not counting on Auckland/Sydney; there's a Ritz-Carlton coming in 2019 for Auckland and an almost sure-shot Ritz coming to Star Point in Sydney.
- I was seriously hoping for St. Regis to come out on top for the Century Plaza redevelopment in Los Angeles, but alas, a pity that'll be a Fairmont.
- Kuwait was supposed to get a St. Regis [in addition to another four-star property, most likely a Four Points] as part of its expansion of the Avenues mall but that didn't come to fruition and the developer there partnered with Hilton instead to introduce a Conrad to the site, but recently changed that agreement to include a Waldorf-Astoria instead of the Conrad.

Also of note, the way things are going, we might see a St. Regis in Toronto sooner than we think now that the Trump International Hotel & Tower has struck a deal with the Trump Organization to part ways.

A world with more St. Regis properties would be a nice place indeed. Pretty sure Marriott has some plans for the brand, especially in Asia where it's more highly regarded.

khabah

bhrubin

Thanks for the London FYI. That would be fabulous, indeed, and I hadn't heard anything previously. Will pay attention to that for certain! I also wondered about the Old War Office and Admiralty Arch as potential StR locations in London.

Agree on Sydney and Melbourne with RC...but the particularly high regard for the StR brand in Asia gives me hope for StR making its way eventually to Australia (and Auckland). There is supposed to be a new W coming to the Sydney Darling Harbor redevelopment, as well as to Melbourne (and Brisbane) so that may be why StR hasn't been a push in the region.

Agree again on the LA Century Plaza redevelopment. As an OC local, I'd love to see a StR in LA. But I'm hopefully with so many new hotel/condo towers planned for downtown that one will include StR. Especially with the Olympics likely in LA by 2028.

And some sources I know are very confident that the StR Toronto will be announced within a few weeks now that the Trump brand removal has been negotiated. That's why I didn't mention Toronto in the first place.

You seem to like StR as much as I do!

khabah

I'm all over it if its name is St. Regis, W or Le Méridien. We should talk - always fabulous to find a fellow brand aficionado.

khabah

Forstbetrieb

Since there is the LC Excelsior Gallia in Milan there is no need there. It is at the same level like the St. Regis in Florence and much higher than the St. Regis Rome...

bhrubin

I'd say there is LESS need rather than no need. Similarly, the PdG in Paris doesn't preclude the need for a StR in such a marquee city for such a marquee luxury brand. The StR Mexico City didn't preclude the beauty of also having the more boutique LC Las Alcobas, after all. The StR San Francisco doesn't preclude the nicety of also having the LC Palace Hotel, either.

Also, I doubt the service level at EG Milan is as good as that of the StR Florence (one of the highest rated StR hotels) or StR Rome. I've stayed at the EG and know better. So they aren't at the same level. The same level would include the Gritti Palace or perhaps the PdG.

bhrubin

http://www.blogto.com/city/2017/06/s...hotel-toronto/

Forstbetrieb

The St. Regis in Florence is without any doubt a gem, it was so also before when it was the LC Grand.

The St. Regis Rome won't be my choice even for free. It is not likely that I will stay there ever again because of staff, rooms, service etc. . There were more issues than holes in an Emmentaler cheese.

Apropos issues: I know you have a stay at the Excelsior Gallia with some issues like nobody has told you how your phone aside the bed works, the heater at the terrace was too hot for you and cannot be switched off, nobody has told you that there will be an event at the terrace so there was a service issue and finally the concierge team has forgotten to fix a transportation service for you if I remember correctly. You should be aware that the terrace in reality is not the Gallia. The only real issue was the fault ( concierge team ) with the transport and this could also happened in all oft the other top notch ( starwood ) hotels in the world. errare humanum est...

schley

good news

Flews

Nice to have another Marriott option in Toronto I guess. I would still prefer to see a St. Regis at a heritage property rather than a glass, metal & concrete new build. But, as I say, Toronto already has a good number of luxury hotel options, so there is lots to chose from if this doesn't work for someone.

Cheers,

bhrubin

I think you may have missed the direction St. Regis has been going for the last decade. Only in a very few instances has St. Regis ever had an older heritage-type property: the original NYC property, Washington, DC, the Lanesborough in London (no longer a StR), Florence, and Rome.

All other StR properties are newer builds meant to reflect the local character in some fashion--but always in a modern and fresh way. Even the renovation of the StR Rome currently underway is to bring a fresher, more modern appeal to the classical historic elegance of the property.

Toronto is a modern, vibrant world-class city. And this StR will reflect that. Just like most of the other StR properties around the world.

Marriott/Starwood has the Luxury Collection available for more of its unique, historic, heritage-type properties. Only in rare instances might they prefer to be branded as StR (like the Lanesborough tried and ultimately rejected). Personally, I despise the Lanesborough as being too formal and too old fashioned, which is why I never minded it abandoning the StR brand. I'm much more excited about the former US Embassy building or the Admiralty Arch building becoming the new StR London--with more up to date, classical but modernized interiors and decor.

Flews

No, I didn't miss the direction St. Regis has been going. I am lamenting that direction. Especially in Toronto, where there are several great options for a classic, heritage property. You have made it clear several times you prefer modern and that's fine. Am I not entitled to my opinion too?

PS - I lived in Toronto for 30 some years, so I am slightly familiar with the city...

Cheers,

bhrubin

I meant more that StR simply doesn't move in that direction any more, barring any future takeover of one of those types of heritage properties (perhaps in Paris or Madrid or the like). Much like all of the top end luxury hoteliers, actually.