GREENWICH, CT— Barry Sternlicht, former chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, opposes Starwoods deal announced yesterday to sell 38 hotels to Host Marriott for $4.1 billion, according to press reports. Bethesda, MD-based Host Marriott, meanwhile, will be renaming itself Host Hotels & Resorts to reflect its new portfolio mix. Sternlicht, who is now CEO of private real estate fund Starwood Capital based here, reportedly believes Starwood could have received a higher price for the 38 hotel portfolio, which includes 20 Sheraton Hotels and 13 Westin Hotels, among other properties, by conducting a property auction. Sternlicht remains a major Starwood stockholder. Starwood responded by saying the $4.1 billion is the best price it could have received. Starwood is retaining the management agreements to operate most of the properties involved. In reporting on the Starwood-Host Marriott negotiations earlier this year, HOTEL BUSINESS sources indicated that Sternlichts objections were a stumbling block and speculated that Sternlicht himself was interested in bidding on certain key properties on behalf of Starwood Capital. Host Marriott, a REIT, had taken the Marriott name when it was formed as the result of a divestiture from what is now Marriott International. As its portfolio has evolved, however, fewer of its hotels are branded Marriott. With the 38 Starwood hotels now prominent in the portfolio, the timing seemed right to introduce a new name, Host Hotels & Resorts.
