NEW YORK HOTEL BUSINESS. has learned Starwood Hotels & Resorts has officially joined together two brands, Westin Hotels and St. Regis, to create a new extension here, The St. Regis Club at the Essex House.
The top floors of the historic Essex House- A Westin Hotel on Central Park South, representing 105 rooms, are being dedicated to the luxury St. Regis brand, while the remaining 500 rooms continue as the Westin brand.
Essex House staff will maintain both operations, with the exception of the Club s 24-hour butler service and separate front desk, which will be staffed by St. Regis personnel.
The Club will have a private entrance and dedicated registration within the Art Deco building. Forty of the Club units will be suites, with a rack rate of $850; 65 will be superior queen guestrooms, with a rack rate of $525 [Westin counterparts are $600 and $439, respectively.]
All Club rooms feature St. Regis amenities, such as televisions with videocassette players, Bose radios, cordless telephones, Italian marble bathrooms, Bijan toiletries, in-room refreshment centers and personal safes, work desks with printer/copier/fax machine, and two-line speaker phones with data port.
According to Ibrahim Fahmy, Essex House managing director, the Club will be “a perfect blend of both properties.”
It s expected the Club concept will be repeated in other markets, but a time frame could not be confirmed. It was unclear if the tandem branding would continue in other venues, or if the Clubs would be incorporated into St. Regis properties as dedicated components. St. Regis properties exist in Aspen, Beijing, Houston, Los Angeles, Rome, Washington, D.C., and New York.
The Essex House is owned by Chicago-based Strategic Hotel Capital, headed by CEO Laurence Geller. (5/25/01) Stefani C. O Connor