Last year, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. added nearly 4,000 rooms in the United States.
It”™s service you prefer, you say? Well, according to the Stamford-based giant”™s math, Starwood added at least two employees for every new room it added.
Starwood reported having 154,000 employees globally last year, up from 145,000 in 2010.
It”™s U.S.-based workforce, meanwhile, increased to 31 percent of its workforce, up from 26 percent the year before. Depending on how much those percentage decimal points are rounded, that means the company added at least 8,500 workers in the United States last year, and as many as 11,500.
Rounding those percentage points as conservatively as possible ”“ at deadline a Starwood spokesman had not provided the actual U.S. headcount figures ”“ that means Starwood”™s U.S. workforce increased more than 17 percent, easily outstripping its global growth.
Starwood is on track to add 23 more U.S. hotels this year, even as it completed its headquarters relocation from White Plains, N.Y. to Stamford, bringing some 850 employees across the border.
Last year”™s fourth quarter was the best for Starwood in four years, as the company earned $167 million on more than $1.5 billion in revenue. For all 2011, Starwood earned $489 million on $5.6 billion in revenue.
As room occupancies approach their prior peak levels, perhaps the biggest question for Starwood heading into the spring is the impact of oil prices on consumer and business spending, and whether that could cut short its recent growth.
In a February conference call, CEO Frits van Paasschen attributed the company”™s growth both to new hotels and conversions of existing venues to its brands ”“ conversions that likely occur with comparatively minimal new hiring.
“In 2011, we set a company record for new rooms added to our system, a record we aim to beat again in 2012,” van Paasschen said. “This is a remarkable milestone ”“ bear in mind that three years ago, we were in the midst of the crisis and the volume of new hotel deals ground to a halt. Factoring in the typical, three-year gestation period for building a new hotel (and) you might have expected a drop in new hotel openings today. But conversions of existing hotels to our brands in North America and new hotels in emerging markets more than filled the gap.”
Even as Starwood readies to open its largest hotel this year ”“ in Macau, at 4,000 rooms ”“ the company debuted in January the new St. Regis Bal Harbour on the northern tip of Miami Beach, which Forbes dubbed the most anticipated new hotel in the world. Starwood estimated the construction of St. Regis Bal Harbour totaled nearly $760 million.
In November, Starwood set aside a $70 million reserve to cover a possible payment following a November verdict in favor of Castillo Grand L.L.C., which sued Starwood over cost overruns in its efforts to open a St. Regis hotel in Fort Lauderdale. Starwood is appealing that verdict.
