Dubai: Sheraton Hotels and Resorts announced plans on Monday for a complete brand overhaul, with an estimated $500 million (Dh1.83 billion) in renovations already committed to by hotel owners.
Globally, the company estimates that 25 per cent of Sheraton hotels have committed to renovations with some already underway.
Parent company Marriott International said that hotel owners were responding to the transformation strategy with “optimism and energy.”
Sheraton is Marriott International’s third largest hotel brand, and the largest outside of North America in terms of room count.
“From the moment we closed the Starwood merger in late 2016, the revitalisation of Sheraton has been a top priority for our company,” Arne Sorenson, president and chief executive of Marriott International, said in a statement.
“We knew that the way to restore this incredible brand was focus and collaboration with our hotel owners. We wanted to build on Sheraton’s rich legacy of sitting at the heart of communities across the globe, but also to create a differentiated positioning and compelling proposition for our owners,” he added.
Sorenson went on to say that the company would be working cooperatively with its partners to the Sheraton brand on a “new, disciplined and successful path.”
Marriott completed its $13 billion (Dh47.75 billion) acquisition of Starwood in December 2016, creating the world’s largest hotel company, with 5,700 hotels and 1.1 million rooms, representing 30 brands in over 110 countries.
The deal combined Marriott brands such as the Ritz Carlton and J.W. Marriott with Starwood’s St Regis, W and Le Meridien, among others, in to a single portfolio.
“This is the first time in years that the [Sheraton] brand has been above competitive benchmark in both rate and occupancy,” said Tina Edmundson, global brand officer at Marriott International.
