Originally Posted by
RafKa
I have a booking in October for the one in Mumbai, which is a reflag.
IIRC they broke ground on the one in Buenos Aires, in Puerto Madero, but by 2011 plans were abandoned.
With the way the Chinese economy seems to be slowing down, I wonder if any of those 11 properties on the way in China will also be put on hold.
Yes, I'm very curious to see how the Mumbai St. Regis reflag turns out. Hopefully you can do a TR!
I suspect the Argentine peso collapse hasn't encouraged much development in BA--by anyone. But I am surprised that Sao Paolo--the center of South America's largest economy--hasn't seen more interest.
The Chinese gov't has a hand in the financing/ownership of many (if not most) of the StR properties, including Beijing and Lhasa. So I would assume they will continue, barring some major crash. That also may be why StR got such the upper hand in so many cities vs everywhere else in the world.
Europe and the USA are the toughest propositions. Most likely any new StRs will be reflags or brand absorptions (like the Crillon with Rosewood) since new construction is less likely and so expensive. Except maybe Los Angeles that is begging for a high rise StR in or near its booming downtown.