Westin Hotels & Resorts is an American upscale hotel chain owned by

Marriott International Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging including hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. T ...

. , the Westin Brand has 226 properties with 82,608 rooms in multiple countries in addition to 58 hotels with 15,741 rooms in the pipeline.

History

Western Hotels

In 1930, Severt W. Thurston and Frank Dupar of Seattle, Washington met unexpectedly during breakfast at the coffee shop of the Commercial Hotel in Yakima, Washington. The competing hotel owners decided to form a management company to handle all their properties, and help deal with the crippling effects of the ongoing

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. The men invited Peter and Adolph Schmidt, who operated five hotels in the Puget Sound area, to join them, and together they established Western Hotels. The chain consisted of 17 properties – 16 in Washington and one in Boise, Idaho. Its headquarters and executive offices were located in its flagship property, the New Washington Hotel in Seattle. Western Hotels expanded to Vancouver, British Columbia and

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, Oregon in 1931, to Alaska in 1939, and then to California in 1941, assuming management of the Sir Francis Drake Hotel the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed. Western added properties in Utah in 1949 and Montana in 1950. Western Hotels executive

Edward Carlson Edward Carlson (June 4, 1911 – April 3, 1990), was an American hotel and airline executive, and Seattle, Washington civic leader. Western Hotels expanded to Hawaii in 1956, assuming management of the Hilton Hawaiian Village, Hawaiian Village Hotel, built by Henry J. Kaiser. Early management developed each property individually. After more than two decades of rapid growth, many of its properties were merged into a single corporate structure in 1958, focusing on bringing the hotels together under a common chain identity. Also in 1958, Western Hotels assumed management of three hotels in Guatemala, its first properties outside the US and Canada. Western opened its first hotel in Mexico in 1961. In March of that same year, they opened the first hotel to be both constructed and owned by the chain, The Westin Bayshore, The Bayshore Inn in Vancouver. Edward Carlson became President of the chain in 1960 and is credited with bringing the Century 21 Exposition to Seattle in 1962. Carlson's own napkin sketch of a tower with a revolving restaurant on top, inspired by his visit to the Fernsehturm Stuttgart, Stuttgart TV Tower, was the origin of the Space Needle. The chain managed the restaurant atop the Space Needle from its opening until 1982. Western Hotels also managed a floating hotel aboard the ocean liner , docked in Seattle harbor during the fair.

Western International Hotels

The company was renamed Western International Hotels in January 1963, to reflect its growth outside the US. That same year, the company went public. From November 1, 1965, to 1970, Western International had an agreement with Hotel Corporation of America (today known as Sonesta), under which all 72 hotels of the two chains were jointly marketed as ''HCA and Western Hotels''. From 1968 to 1973, Western International had a similar joint marketing agreement with UK-based Forte Group, Trust House Hotels. In 1970, Western International was acquired by UAL Corporation, with Edward Carlson becoming president and CEO of UAL, Inc and United Airlines. Western International bought New York's iconic Plaza Hotel in 1975 for $25 million.

Westin Hotels

On January 5, 1981, the company changed its name again to Westin Hotels (a contraction of the words Western International). The chain's flagship Washington Plaza Hotel in Seattle was the first property to be rebranded, becoming Westin Seattle, The Westin Hotel on September 1, 1981. That same year, Westin opened a new corporate headquarters directly across the street in the Westin Building, which shared a parking garage with the hotel. In 1987, UAL chairman Richard Ferris announced a plan to reorganize UAL as Allegis Corporation, a travel conglomerate (company), conglomerate based around United Airlines, The Hertz Corporation, Hertz Rent a Car, Hilton Worldwide, Hilton International Hotels, and Westin and linked by Galileo CRS, Apollo. This strategy failed, however, and Allegis sold Westin in 1988 to the Japanese Aoki Corporation for $1.35 billion. Aoki immediately sold the Plaza Hotel to Donald Trump for $390 million. In 1994, Aoki agreed to sell Westin to real estate investment firm Starwood Capital Group (parent of Starwood) and Goldman Sachs at an enormous loss, for $561 million, but by the time the sale closed in May 1995, the buyers had negotiated the price down to $537 million. In 1998, Starwood assumed full ownership of the company. In 2016,

acquired Starwood, becoming the world's largest hotel company.

Amenities

Westin was the first hotel chain to introduce guest credit cards (in 1946), 24-hour room service (1969), and personal voice mail in each room (1991). In 1999, Westin began selling the ''Heavenly Bed'' mattresses featured in Westin properties, and manufactured by Simmons Bedding Company, to the general public. In 2005, Westin partnered with Nordstrom, which carried the mattresses and bedding in its stores. In 2011, Westin began selling the ''Heavenly'' mattresses and bedding at Pottery Barn stores.

Accommodations

Notable hotels

* The Westin Dhaka * The Westin Seattle – The first and original Westin branded hotel, iconic cylindrical towers scaling the Seattle skyline * Westin Charlotte, The Westin Charlotte * Westin Bonaventure Hotel, The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites Los Angeles * Moana Hotel, Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa * Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel, The Westin Peachtree Plaza Atlanta * Westin Book Cadillac Hotel, The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit * The Westin Nova Scotian – Halifax, Nova Scotia * The Westin Singapore – has the highest hotel lobby in Singapore * Westin St. Francis, The Westin St. Francis – San Francisco hotel on Union Square * The Westin Excelsior, Rome – The Villa La Cupola Suite, billed at per night, is listed at number 8 on ''World's 15 most expensive hotel suites'' compiled by CNN Go in 2012. * The Westin Palace Madrid * The Westin San Jose – Formerly the Saint Claire and Hyatt Saint Claire. * The Westin Hamburg – opened in 2016 and located in Hamburg's Elbphilharmonie concert hall * The Westin Hotel in downtown Minneapolis has been sold. * Walt Disney World Swan-Connected with the Walt Disney World Dolphin at Walt Disney World * The Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi Beach Resort and Marina – opened in 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Westin Hotels and Resorts Westin hotels, Hotel chains Marriott International brands American companies established in 1930 Hotels established in 1930 Companies based in Stamford, Connecticut American brands