An upbeat, puckish Barry Sternlicht accepted a prestigious award from HSMAI earlier this week in New York. In doing so, an uncharacteristically forthcoming Sternlicht revealed a few more details about the luxury Crillon brand his company, Starwood Capital Group, is launching.

It must be the liberation of heading a private company versus a public entity like Starwood Hotels, but Sternlicht didn’t display the usual guarded, sometimes-snotty demeanor he displayed as chairman of the hotel company. Still, Barry’s off-the-cuff remarks in accepting the Alfred E. Koehl Award for lifetime achievement in travel advertising showed his continuing love for hotels and for those in the design and creative sides of the business.

“It will be a five-star brand with a distinctive European style,” Sternlicht said of Crillon. Flagship and namesake of the brand is Starwood Capital’s Hotel de Crillon in Paris. “The French have a lot of style and passion. We’ll build on that but also add our own innovations.”

He said to expect future Crillon properties to have Baccarat suites and Taittinger champagne lounges, reflecting two other brands Starwood Capital owns as part of the its Societe du Louvre luxury goods division.

Sternlicht also revealed that Starwood Capital will soon announce a new luxury resort brand to complement the Crillon flag.

In accepting the award, Sternlicht reflected on the launch of the groundbreaking W Hotels brand while he was at Starwood Hotels.

“People always compliment me on our launch of that brand, but in reality we initially only had $1 million to spend on advertising,” he said. “We did it all with public relations. We made a lot of noise about the brand.”

Barry Sternlicht is joining a rapidly growing field with Crillon, a luxury hotel brand he is launching to compete with St. Regis, the upscale hotel flag he developed at his former company, Starwood Hotels & Resorts.

According to Reuters, Starwood Capital Group, which is not related to the hotel company, will open European-styled hotels based on Paris’s Hotel de Crillon in major cities.

The question is, how big is this market, particularly in light of similar moves by Hilton and by Horst Schulze? Just last week, Hilton trumpeted the Waldorf=Astoria Collection, a luxury resort flag including the landmark New York Waldorf=Astoria and resorts in Hawaii and on the West Coast. And last year, former Ritz-Carlton guru Schulze launched Solis and Capella, luxury brands catering to different sub-markets.

According to a company statement, Crillon properties will deliver a “one-of-a-kind luxury experience.” That claim rings increasingly familiar. Still, given Sternlicht’s record at Starwood, where he invented the W and St. Regis brands and spread the gospel of the Heavenly bed, Crillon might stand out from the pack.

I’m inundated weekly with press releases breathlessly touting the latest hotel room bells and whistles. From bedside MP3 players and flatscreen televisions, to creamy Belgium chocolates and cashmere bed throws, I’ve seen it all. But one announcement in particular caught my eye the other day—and it’s not particularly sexy. Microtel Inns & Suites has introduced informational pamphlets, “Accessible Fitness” bags and Upper Body Ergometers for guests with special needs.

These new features are just the latest development in a company-wide initiative to go the extra mile for the disabled guest. For instance, Microtel offers three ADA-room designs throughout the chain and employees are trained in disability etiquette. Microtel claims to be the only budget hotel chain to implement the training program known as Opening Doors systemwide. Plus, the chain annually participates in the World Congress & Exposition on Disabilities and is proactively involved in several other initiatives that target the needs of travelers with disabilities.

This issue is very close to the heart of Roy E. Flora, executive vice president, franchise operations. I witnessed this at a US Franchise Systems convention two years ago.
Seated at lunch next to Roy, I was surprised when, instead of touting his company’s latest development figures or RevPAR numbers, he spoke with pride and conviction about measures he and his team had developed to better serve travelers with disabilities.

Reservations among travelers with disabilities at Microtel hotels around the nation continue to grown, reports the company. Last year, net revenues for ADA room nights increased by 42 percent over 2004. Internet hotel bookings for ADA rooms also increased significantly, it says. Clearly, serving this important market is not only the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do.

“Meet me at the Waldorf.” For decades, that message was more than sufficient for people looking to get together in New York City. There was only one Waldorf, the Waldorf=Astoria on Park Avenue, the Queen of all Big Apple hotels. That all changes—albeit slightly—this morning with Hilton’s announcement that it’s launching a sub-brand based on the untold equity it has built from the reputation and performance of the original Waldorf.

More precisely, Hilton says it will brand a number of high-end properties it manages with the tagline, “The Waldorf=Astoria Collection,” to as it says, “extend the cachet” of its legendary property. Initially, the appellation will appear on the Grand Wailea in Maui, the Arizona Biltmore in Phoenix and the La Quinta Resort in the California desert. Hilton is assuming management of the three properties on Feb. 1 for their owner, CNL Hotels & Resorts.

The announcement signals a number of opportunities and challenges for Hilton. For one, it gives the company a stronger footing in the luxury resort market, a segment that’s been a minor weakness. Thanks to the recent acquisition of London-based Hilton Group, the company can now fly all Hilton flags overseas, and the Waldorf brand (as well as Conrad) gives it a logical vehicle in the luxury segments. The three resorts, as well as other non-Hilton hotels and resorts that may also become part of the collection, get to tap into the company’s storied reservations system, Hilton HHonors program and other assorted branding, marketing and operational systems.

The only downside, if there is one, is that Hilton must be careful not to tarnish the Waldorf name and mystique as it plants the name on other properties and in other countries. It’s taken Hilton and previous owners more than 100 years to burnish the Waldorf name and reputation into the collective consciousness of travelers. Just one hotel that doesn’t live up to the Waldorf tradition can have a potentially disastrous effect. Above all, Hilton and its management team are careful custodians of their brands, so I don’t believe they’ll let anything or anyone tarnish either the Hilton or Waldorf names.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency, that whipping boy of last fall’s hurricane season, is extending hotel subsidies to victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita until Feb. 13, The Washington Post reports. The extension is at least the fourth time the government has postponed efforts to end the hotel program, which has cost the feds $400 million-plus since Katrina struck Aug. 29.

That might be good news for hoteliers, but it’s a disturbing comment on FEMA. God forbid I slam a federal agency, but FEMA is operating under a cloud of ignorance, not to mention incompetence. The Post says that only under pressure from a lawsuit did FEMA acknowledge it doesn’t know which Katrina victims are living in more than 25,000 hotel rooms nationwide.

In negotiations with lawyers seeking to extend the deadline, FEMA said such information is not available in its databases, partially because it took over the hotel subsidy program from the American Red Cross—which means that until FEMA gets new computers, hoteliers will be able to take advantage of subsidies that FEMA can’t track. The possibilities of corruption are endless and disheartening.

The busy bees at Starwood Hotels are at it again. The company will announce this morning that it is hooking up with Yahoo! to test an Internet lounge concept at two Sheraton hotels. The lounges will have workstations and spaces for guests to plug in their laptop computers. Ho hum, you say. The kicker, and the key to the program, is that Internet access in the lounges, including wireless hookups, will be FREE, FREE, FREE.

The partnership also includes a test at two other Sheratons of in-room Internet access. In this wrinkle, guests who log-in to the web on their laptops will first see a customized Yahoo! home page. Again, access to the net will be free.

For Starwood, the beauty of the deal is two-fold: First and foremost, the properties will be offering the service most desired by business travelers—high-speed Internet access—at the price point they want to pay—nothing. The notion of free Internet especially appeals to the up-and-coming pool of Gen X travelers, most of who believe—thanks to companies such as Yahoo! and Google—that the Internet is a public asset, like a park, a library or an interstate highway, that shouldn’t directly cost anything to enter or use.

The scheme also positions Starwood at the forefront of an emerging concept—the power of cross-branded marketing. Sheraton and Yahoo! are two instantly recognizable brands (albeit ones that each appeal mostly to different generations). Put them together and you have clout that exceeds the combination of their individual powers. This kind of thinking isn’t unusual at Starwood since the arrival of CEO Steve Heyer and several other executives from Coca-Cola Co. To Heyer and his cronies, business is all about branding, and the lodging industry is no different.

And, of course, the program provides what many hotel guests believes is the ultimate amenity while creating a dynamic competitive edge for the hotel brand.

The worst-kept secret in the hotel industry was revealed this morning as Hilton Hotels Corp. pulled the triggered on a long-rumored acquisition of Hilton International, thus reuniting a company that never should have been split in the first place. Hilton will pay $5.7 billion in cash for its overseas sister.

From a branding point of view, one of the biggest blunders in the history of the lodging industry was the 1964 break-up of Hilton into a U.S. company and a London-based firm that stewards the brand everywhere else in the world. Physically, today’s transaction creates a system of 2,800 hotels and 475,000 rooms in 80 countries and operating under nine brand names. The purchase includes 40 hotels, 200 leases, 160 management contracts, 80 managed health clubs and—probably the key to the deal—the remaining 50-percent ownership of Hilton HHonors and the Hilton reservations system.

In the past few years, the two companies have worked closely to align their interests and to present a worldwide set of physical and service standards for the Hilton name. Yet, it’s just common sense to understand that one company, with one world headquarters and one set of leaders will be more effective for Hilton and will enable it to more readily compete with its global adversaries in the business (i.e., Marriott and Starwood).

The tough job, of course, will be integrating the two corporate cultures, a task that will be even more challenging following last week’s resignation of top Hilton executive Dieter Huckestein (see The Front Desk, Dec. 22).

It’s exactly the kind of news that neither Marriott nor the timeshare business wants to hear. Yesterday, Marriott Vacation Club International revealed that it has lost computer tapes containing data on 206,000 employees, timeshare owners and timeshare customers. The data, which Marriott claims would be difficult for anyone to access, includes addresses and some credit card information. Marriott quickly took steps to mitigate any effects of the blunder, including an offer to enroll those affected in a credit monitoring service.

It’s unlikely that the information will fall into the hands of identity thieves or that anyone’s personal data will be compromised. But ID theft is a hot button issue in the media, and in recent months a number of companies besides Marriott have had to disclose these kinds of security breaches.

We can only hope that Marriott miraculously finds the missing tapes or that the information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. The timeshare industry, in particular, has had a shady past and can’t afford any bad publicity.

• As expected, the Fairmont Hotels board of directors yesterday rejected Carl Icahn’s $40-a-share bid for the company (see The Front Desk, Dec. 9). Corporate raider Icahn owns five percent of the 80-hotel chain and wants to acquire a controlling stake in order to either deal the company to another hotel chain or sell off the underlying real estate.

The surprise came with the rumors that other suitors may make competing bids for the Toronto-based firm. Leading contender seems to be the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board, although one media report says ubiquitous investor Prince al-Waleed from Saudi Arabia could be another potential white knight.

• Choice’s Chuck Ledsinger got rewarded earlier this week (The Front Desk, Dec. 21) with a four-year extension of his contract to lead the franchising chain. An SEC filing released yesterday disclosed financial terms of the deal: Ledsinger will get a base annual salary of $720,000, subject to annual reviews by the Choice board, plus a “targeted cash bonus” that could equal his base salary. He’s also eligible for annual stock awards, and as signing bonus he receives a grant of 51,727 shares of stock (How did they come up with that number?) that vest over four years. The sole downside is a non-compete clause that’s in effect for two years following Ledsinger’s departure from the company.

It’s a substantial and well-deserved package for Ledsinger, but it’s certainly not excessive in comparison to pay packages of other contemporary corporate leaders in and out of the lodging industry.

The lodging industry—at least Hilton Hotels—is losing the services of one of its most dynamic leaders. Dieter Huckestein, a key cog in Hilton’s success for the past 35 years, says he’ll retire from the company early next year.

While Dieter deserves to move on to the next phases of his professional and personal lives, it seems an odd time for him to leave the company. Most recently, Huckestein has been both chairman and CEO of the company’s Conrad Hotels brand and president of the Hilton Global Alliance, the liaison group between Hilton in the U.S. and London-based Hilton International.

Both Conrad and the Hilton-Hilton International relationship are at important crossroads. Conrad is a chain that’s finally poised to move to the top of the luxury hotel segment after many years languishing as an afterthought in the world of Hilton. More critically, a long-anticipated merger between Hilton Hotels and Hilton International seems to finally be in the offing. Some speculate an announcement will be made soon after the first of the year.

It seems that the leadership and international experience Dieter possesses would be invaluable once the merger happens and the tedious, but crucial work of integration begins. Nonetheless, I wish Dieter well in his future pursuits. My guess is the hotel industry hasn’t seen the last of the debonair Mr. Huckestein.