Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. exited the fourth quarter of 2009 with a $107 million loss, but its CEO promised a rebound this year.
During the quarter, Starwood confirmed plans to move its headquarters to Stamford from White Plains in 2012, receiving nearly $100 million in incentives from the state of Connecticut to relocate.
Starwood revenue was just under $1.3 billion in the fourth quarter, down 1 percent from a year earlier. For the year, revenue was off nearly 18 percent to under $4.8 billion.
“Lodging demand continued to improve in the fourth quarter, with group and business transient posting positive bookings,” CEO Frits van Paasschen said in a statement. “After being buffeted by headwinds throughout 2009, our portfolio is set to begin a rebound in 2010 from a deep drop-off.”
Starwood sold or closed 34 hotels in North America last year, none of them in the fourth quarter, after exiting more than 100 hotels in 2008. The company also sold off its Bliss spa business and its Fifth Ave. retail shops at the St. Regis New York in Manhattan.
Worldwide in the recently concluded fourth quarter, Starwood signed 20 hotel management and franchise contracts and opened 24 hotels, and had 350 hotels in the pipeline at yearend.
Also this month, Starwood announced it would spend $20 million on a marketing campaign to promote its Sheraton hotel chain that recently received a $6 billion facelift, with Norwalk-based Kayak.com among the channels where it plans to spend marketing dollars.
