Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. opened in Macau what will be its biggest hotel, and the largest hotel any company will open worldwide this year, at nearly 4,000 rooms.
The opening of the first of two towers at Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central coincides with Stamford-based Starwood marking the 75th anniversary of the Sheraton brand, with the chain launched in Springfield, Mass. and taking its name from an older hotel acquired by its founders whose lighted rooftop sign proved too heavy to remove.
“The opening of Sheraton Macao Hotel, Cotai Central represents an historic milestone for Starwood, for Sheraton, and for the hospitality industry as a whole,” said Frits van Paasschen, CEO of Starwood, in a prepared statement. “The brand continues to lead Starwood’s growth in the region.”
Sheraton currently operates 95 hotels in the Asia Pacific region and expects to add more than 50 additional hotels by 2016.
Starwood this week opened the Sheraton Fuzhou Hotel in China, the The Royal Begonia on the Chinese island of Hainan, part of Starwood’s Luxury Collection brand; and W Singapore, marking that brand’s entry to Singapore.
According to statistics cited by Starwood, Macau was visited by 13 million tourists in the first half of this year, with the majority coming from mainland China. Macau has surpassed Las Vegas as the world’s biggest casino market since 2006 and is the only place in China where casino resorts are legal.
The Guinness Book of World Records lists Malaysia’s First World Hotel as the largest globally, with more than 6,000 rooms.
