Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. launched W Hotels in 1998 as its first entirely new brand. Starwood had acquired Westin in in 1994.

1998 was also the year that Starwood acquired Sheraton, Four Points, and The Luxury Collection from ITT Sheraton.

It's easy to read the name W as a hip offshoot of the name Westin, but that's not the published explanation. The press release announcing W Hotels on April 2, 1998, had this explanation of the name, quoting Barry Sternlicht, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Starwood Hotels & Resorts:

As for the W name, Sternlicht explains, "W is for witty, warm, wonderful. Essentially, it is for 'wonder why no one has ever done this before.'"

JW Marriott, which was launched by Marriott in 1984, has some things common with with W Hotels. Notably, both are billed as luxury brands and tend to have excellent locations, primarily in city centers. JW Marriott tends to be more traditional, while the W Hotels brand seeks to provide a hip, "lifestyle" experience. Both brands avoid having over-standardized "cookie-cutter" hotels.

Both brands attract guests who are willing pay the rates that such brands charge. Someone else can chime in on whether these brands really attract significantly different kinds of customers.