mario33

Former Starwoods in Aust & NZ :-

Sheraton Melbourne (now langham)
W Sydney (now blue)
Sheraton Sydney Airport (now stamford)
Sheraton Brisbane (now sofitel)
Sheraton Auckland (now langham)
Sheraton Rotorua (now rydges)

damaxer91

Wasn't there a W in Sydney at one point as well?

mario33

Thanks for pointing out, I missed the W at Woolloomoolloo ....

Will amend my list.

bseller

Yes, it was at Woolomooloo Wharf. It is now Blue Sydney, operated by the Taj Group.

Dave

SC Alum

I know what you mean. It is not only in Australia. In singapore there used to be a prop in changi and a LM on Orchard road. The LM on Orchard is in prime location, even better than the current St. Regis ( location wise ).

It seems *wood is more focused on China and other 'growth regions', which they should, but please don't let the current props to be taken over by other chains.

mario33

+ 2 Westins if you go back a little further ....

Delightful Lady

What about
The Sheraton (4 Points) at Port McQuarie
Sheraton Hobart Hotel (Now Grand Chancellor)
Sheraton Darwin (Now Crowne Plaza)
Alice Springs , Ayers Rock,
Townsville......all gone

Starwood are on the ropes in Australia. A very sad day indeed.
Where are the new properties Mr Hunt?
Now they have artefact and not a portfolio here.

yosithezet

I didn't realise there were so many properties in the past. To what do you attribute the decline? If management doesn't care, why is that the case?

mario33

Those who work for Starwood would probably disagree, but I feel Starwood has gotten a little arrogant as a result of their earlier success. Any property that is a little dated is given the boot and they are apparently getting more stringient on the terms of their management contracts (but not on their choice of properties). What they fail to realise is that the owners of these properties do have other options, and they wont close shop without a Starwood brand.

Since we have a list of Australian & NZ properties which are no longer managed by Starwood, I will also start one for SE Asia based on my memory :-

Le Meridien Nirvana Bali (now Pan Pacific)
Le Royal Meridien Phuket Yacht Club
Le Meridien Singapore (now Concorde)
Le Meridien Changi Village
Le Royal Meridien Koh Samui
Sheraton Brunei (now Raddison)
Sheraton Chiang Mai (now Holiday Inn)
Sheraton Subang
Sheraton Penang
Sheraton Labuan
Sheraton Tamika (?)
Westin Bangkok (now Banyan Tree)
Westin Plaza Singapore (now Fairmont)
Westin Stamford Singapore (now Swissotel)
Rayavadee LC Krabi
Four Points Phuket (became Millenium before opening)

SanDiego1K

I've moved this discussion out from the Sheraton Perth thread as it is a much broader discussion than just that property being deflagged.

/mod

Downunder girl

This is why I made the comment on the other thread, that is SEEMS like they are not that interested in having a brand presence in Australia. Thanks to some savvy FT searchers ^, the real exodus of Australian and perhaps Asian properties can be seen. I don't know why its happening, I just knew it was happening .

This is the whole reason I ended up joining the IHG loyal program as well. In Australia, Starwood are just not that well represented.

Medved

Wow... Very sad... We spent 4 weeks in AUS/SIN for 2008 New Year all but Ayers Rock on points. Didn't go to Darwin and Tasmania because was no SPG props there! Had to pay some AUS$350 a night in Ayers Rock for a 4 points type of hotel. *wood needs to be very aggressive in AUS being it is one of the top exotic travel destinations in the world. We were thinking coming back for another 2-3 weeks trip... Better do it sooner than later... If they lose two more hotels in SYD, that is it... Will miss that LM in SIN too... Was Cat 2 -- a bit older but very good value for $$ or pps...

Just for my curiousity -- how is former *wood property in Ayers Rock called now?

3Cforme

Exotic or not, the visitor counts just don't register Australia as a top tourist destination. 2006 France: 78 million foreign visitors. 2007 Australia: 5.6 million foreign visitors.

As for Starwood neglecting 'Australia + Asia', try having a look at net change in Starwood properties in the region over the last five years. There has been significant investment.

Whether *wood has sufficient coverage for people who travel extensively within Australia is a different question. There are valid reasons Hilton + Marriott have so many U.S. elite members, as with Delta hotels and Fairmont in Canada. Not every chain is strong everywhere.

Medved

I wrote "exotic" for a reason. If you analyse tourism stats further you'll see that a significant majority of people come to France/Spain or Italy from Europe by car or bus or very cheap discount carrier. This is not your typical Westin crowd. That's why *wood will always have very few hotels in France. Travellers to AUS are looking realistically to spend amounts well in excess of $10K whether business or pleasure (business class published from North America is about $20K, deeply discounted $7K). And that 14 (LA) or 20 (NYC) hours non-stop flights. Very few fly there for 2 days. Based on that people would stay more at higher end hotels -- more business for *wood.

Delightful Lady

Please refer to the correct name....Uluru