Starwood expands Design Hotels partnership

Starwood expands its partnership with Design Hotels ? which, the company says, ?consumers will see as an 11th?Starwood brand?.
The move comes seven months after Starwood launched its 10th?brand, Tribute Portfolio.
Since 2011, Starwood has been a majority but passive investor in the Berlin-based Design Hotels, which for more than two decades has served as a global distribution, sales and marketing affiliation for nearly 300 independently owned and operated hotels and resorts ?united by the vision of bold, diverse hoteliers?.
Select member hotels of Design Hotels?are now bookable through Starwood?s websites, mobile apps and global network of Customer Contact Centers.
?Starwood?s hotel guests and SPG members will see our new marketing partnership with Design Hotels?as an 11th?Starwood brand. It will create a special niche in our distinct portfolio of global brands and offer more options for travellers to stay with us around the world,? said Adam Aron, Starwood CEO on an interim basis.
?These independent, design-forward hotels will benefit from Starwood?s powerful loyalty and distribution platforms. They will also serve to help us enhance owner and shareholder returns and attract more high-value guests to SPG who make up more than half of all Starwood stays.?
The first SPG partner hotels include the Gramercy Park Hotel in New York City, Ten Bompas in Johannesburg, South Africa, the C-Hotel in Lake Como, Italy, Nira Montana in La Thuile, Italy, Nira Alpina in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and Kruisherenhotel Maastricht in the Netherlands.
In addition, the ION Luxury Adventure Hotel in Iceland, the Tribe Hotel in Kenya as well as Grupo Habita?s hotels in Mexico will join before the year?s end.
In early 2016, member hotels of Design Hotels?will join from major destinations, including London (Town Hall Hotel), Istanbul (Gezi Istanbul), Shanghai (The Waterhouse at South Bund), Athens (New Hotel), Singapore (Wanderlust), France (Les Bains) and South Korea (nest hotel).
With 296 affiliated hotels in a wide variety of settings, more member hotels of the Design Hotels?portfolio are expected to sign up over the next 12 months.
?Since launching Design Hotels more than 20 years ago, we have built an engaged community of followers and an outstanding portfolio of hotels created by artisans whose visions provide guests with a meaningful and original experience,? said Claus Sendlinger, founder and CEO of Design Hotels.
?As we continue to grow in our niche of the ?New Luxury Segment,? we are excited to see an initial selection of our member hotels take the opportunity to join SPG and be among the first to benefit from our partnership with Starwood. We expect more and more to take advantage, with at least 40 member hotels projected to join by the beginning of 2016.?
Design Hotels?will continue to operate independently from Starwood under the leadership of Sendlinger and his team in Berlin. The expanded partnership with Starwood offers a distribution and loyalty benefit to member hotels and does not change the business model of Design Hotels, whose sales, marketing and development teams will remain distinct.