The Luxury Collection

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, LLC.

Type	Subsidiary (Marriott International)
Industry	Hospitality, tourism
Founded	1969 as a REIT 1980 as a corporation
Headquarters	Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.
Products	Hotels, resorts
Brands	St. Regis The Luxury Collection W Hotels Sheraton Westin Le Meridien Tribute Portfolio Design Hotels Four Points Aloft Element
Revenue	US$6.115 billion (2013) US$6.321 billion (2012)
Operating income	US$925 million (2013) US$912 million (2012)
Net income	US$635 million (2013) US$562 million (2012)
Total assets	US$8.762 billion (2013) US$8.855 billion (2012)
Total equity	US$3.363 billion (2013) US$3.142 billion (2012)
Owner	Marriott International
Number of employees	181,400 (2013)
Website	www.starwoodhotels.com
Footnotes / references

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, LLC. is a subsidiary of Marriott International. Prior to its merger with Marriott, Starwood Hotels & Resorts was an American hotel and leisure company headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. It was one of the world's largest hotel companies that owns, operates, franchises and manages hotels, resorts, spas, residences, and vacation ownership properties under its 11 owned brands. As of 1 December 2014^[update], Starwood Hotels and Resorts owned, managed, or franchised over 1,200 properties employing over 180,400 people, of whom approximately 26% were employed in the United States.

On November 16, 2015, Marriott International announced it would purchase Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide for $13.6 billion, creating the world's largest hotel chain once the deal closed. The merger was finalized on September 23, 2016 after gaining the final approval from the American authorities. After the acquisition by Marriott was approved, the Starwood Preferred Guest program announced it would provide reciprocal benefits with Marriott's guest reward program. The two programs will be merged under a single brand in the future.

The Westin Hotels and Resorts brand is Starwood's largest upscale hotels and resorts brand. It was bought by Starwood in 1994 and is also the oldest brand within Starwood, dating back to 1930 and still continuing with it.

Sheraton is Starwood's "flagship" brand, providing luxury hotel and resort accommodation. It began operating in 1937 and was sold to Starwood in 1998 by ITT. Also under the Sheraton brand are 7 Vacation Ownership properties.

The Luxury Collection brand began on January 13, 1992, when ITT Sheraton designated 28 of its premier hotels and 33 of the Sheraton Towers, the luxury "hotel-within-a-hotel" facilities located within Sheraton's largest and most exclusive hotels, as the ITT Sheraton Luxury Collection. The flagship of the division was The St Regis in New York City.

The division expanded enormously two years later, in February 1994, when ITT Sheraton purchased a controlling interest in CIGA (Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi, or Italian Grand Hotels Company), an Italian international hotel chain which owned a number of luxury properties across Europe. The majority of the CIGA hotels were folded into the ITT Sheraton Luxury Collection. Both ITT Sheraton and later Starwood kept CIGA's original logo (the four horses of St. Mark) for The Luxury Collection brand logo until 2010; each Luxury Collection hotel now uses its own logo. After Starwood bought Sheraton, they established a separate brand identity for The Luxury Collection and expanded it. Many hotels in The Luxury Collection are smaller establishments in converted palaces or other significant buildings, others are restored historic hotels.