Starwood brings Aloft Hotels to ExCeL London
Aloft Hotels - the brand that features loft-like bedrooms - will be making its entry into the UK market next year with the opening of the Aloft London ExCeL.
The 252-bedroom hotel adjacent to the international exhibition and convention centre in Docklands is being launched by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. It means that, by the end of 2011, six out of the nine brands operated by Starwood worldwide will have a presence in the UK.
After opening its first hotel in 2008 in Canada, Aloft has grown to nearly 50 hotels in four countries - the USA, Canada, China and the United Arab Emirates. New openings are planned this year in Belgium, India and Thailand.
As well as its loft-style bedroom designed by Rockwell Group, the key features of the brand include roomy walk-in showers, a buzzing bar scene in the open lobby, a grab-and-go café called re:fuel, and modern industrial design elements throughout - at an affordable price.
The new-build hotel is being developed by ExCeL's parent company, Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company, also owner of Aloft Abu Dhabi. It will be the second new Starwood brand to open in London within a year, following the launch of the W brand in the UK with the opening of the W London-Leicester Square at the end of 2010.
"The Aloft London ExCeL will provide today's forward-thinking travellers with a space that is open to design and open to possibilities, and the arrival of this hip new hotel concept will offer our customers a unique guest experience," said Kevin Murphy, chief executive of ExCeL London.
Starwood currently operates eight hotels in the UK under four brands: the Lanesborough (a St Regis hotel), Sheraton Park Tower (the Luxury Collection), one Le Meridien and four Sheraton hotels (two at London Heathrow airport, one in Edinburgh and the Sheraton Park Lane, London).
Starwood forecasts rebound in 2010 despite fourth-quarter losses of £117m >>
Starwood to open W hotel in Leicester Square next summer >>By Janet Harmer
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