Aloft Hotels
 | |
| Company type | Franchise |
|---|---|
| Industry | hospitality |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Founder | W Hotels |
Number of locations | 203[1] (September, 2020) |
Area served | United States, Canada, Europe, Asia |
| Owner | Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (through subsidiary W Hotels) |
| Parent | Marriott International |
| Website | aloft-hotels |
Aloft Hotels is a hotel chain based in North America, owned by Marriott International. The first hotel opened at the Trudeau International Airport in Montreal in 2008.[2] Aloft Hotels have since opened across North America and internationally. Most Aloft hotels are located in city centers or in close proximity to airports. As of June 30, 2020, it has 183 hotels with 30,660 rooms in addition to 126 hotels with 19,568 rooms in the pipeline.[3]
The brand is most notable for its modern architecture design style.[2] Another characteristic of Aloft hotels is the naming of basic hotel amenities. For example, in each hotel, the swimming pool is referred to as "splash".[4]
History
Aloft Hotels was conceived in 2005 by Amal Abdullah. The hotel chain already had several brands, including Sheraton, Westin, and W Hotels, but was looking to expand into a market of more contemporary hotels. To reflect its relationship with Starwood Hotels, the Aloft brand was dubbed "A Vision of W Hotels". Starwood worked with the architectural company Rockwell Group and its founder David Rockwell to come up with the design.[2][dead link]
To generate interest in the brand before its 2008 opening, Starwood launched a virtual tour of the hotels using Second Life,[5] which enables visitors to move through a typical Aloft Hotel and explore its aspects in detail. Starwood monitored statistics from the site, gauged public reception based upon visitors' opinions, and incorporated this information into the design of future Aloft Hotels.[5][dead link]
Locations
Since its first hotel opened in 2008, the Aloft brand has grown rapidly. The hotel originally started in North America and expanded to include international locations. According to the Aloft website, in the United States there are current locations in 27 states. There are also open locations in Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, England, Germany, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uruguay, and Nepal.[4]
Several Aloft locations, such as its downtown Orlando, FL hotel, are within historic buildings that have undergone adaptive reuse development.[6]
In 2011 and 2012, 20 proposed locations were to open, including in Mexico, Thailand, Colombia, and England,[4] for a total of 66 Aloft locations. While positive for the hotel brand, this number was well short of an original anticipation to have 500 locations by 2012.[5]
In early 2013, the brand opened a 482-room property in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, making it the largest Aloft hotel in the world. The hotel includes a ballroom that can accommodate up to 1,000 people in a theatre setting.[7]
In 2013, the chain opened a new hotel at the Ernst & Young Tower in Cleveland, Ohio.[8]
In September 2016, Aloft entered the Saudi Arabian market with a new hotel near the center of Riyadh,[9] and Marriott gained the Aloft chain as part of its acquisition of Starwood.[10]
In December 2016, Aloft Long Island City-Manhattan View opened.[11]
In 2018, the new Mag Mile Hotel in Chicago, the largest with 435 rooms, updated the Aloft template, by integrating modern art, cutting-edge design, and floor-to-ceiling windows in the lobby.[12]
Reception
Public reception of Aloft Hotels has been mixed. The majority of opinions revolve around the two main aspects of the hotel brand: room prices, and the contemporary style.
The trademark culture of Aloft Hotels has also drawn some criticism. The contemporary theme of Aloft Hotels is not appreciated by everyone, and some critics feel the Aloft Hotels have too much of a "cookie cutter" feel to them.[13] In addition, the barrage of colors, shapes, and lingo from the first moment in the hotel has been noted as simply too much for some to handle.[13]
Accommodations
| North America |
Europe | Middle E. & Africa |
Asia & Pacific |
Carribean Latin Am. |
Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016[14] | Properties | 81 | 6 | 3 | 20 | Template:Nb106 | 116 | |
| Rooms | 12,096 | 1,000 | 956 | 4,629 | 1,034 | 19,715 | ||
| 2017[15] | Properties | 97 | 6 | 4 | 24 | Template:Nb107 | 138 | |
| Rooms | 14,565 | 1,000 | 1,131 | 5,558 | 1,145 | 23,399 | ||
| 2018[16] | Properties | 108 | 7 | 8 | 27 | Template:Nb109 | 159 | |
| Rooms | 16,296 | 1,310 | 2,012 | 6,240 | 1,494 | 27,352 | ||
| 2019[17] | Properties | 119 | 10 | 8 | 29 | 10 | 176 | |
| Rooms | 17,647 | 1,801 | 2,012 | 6,598 | 1,644 | 29,702 |
References
- ^ "Aloft Hotel Locations". www.marriott.com.
- ^ a b c aloft Montreal Airport Opens, Making Global Lifestyle Debut. BusinessWire.com, June 5, 2008, Accessed November 8, 2010.
- ^ "Aloft". Marriott Hotels Development. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
- ^ a b c Alofthotels.com. Accessed November 8, 2010.
- ^ a b c Starwood Hotels Explore Second Life First Archived 2011-03-14 at the Wayback Machine. Jana, Reena. Bloomberg Businessweek, August 23, 2010, Accessed November 8, 2010.
- ^ "OUC Administration Building Reused as Aloft Orlando Downtown Hotel". Adapt + Reuse. 20 August 2020.
- ^ "Aloft opens its largest property in Malaysia". TTGmice. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
- ^ "Aloft Cleveland Downtown". Aloft Hotels. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
- ^ "Aloft Riyadh Hotel Opens in Saudi Arabia". Hotel News Resource Mobile Edition. September 6, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2018.
- ^ "CNBC, 23 Sep 2016". www.cnbc.com.
- ^ "Aloft Long Island City-Manhattan View". Aloft Hotels. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
- ^ "TravelMarket, 21 Dec 2018". www.travelmarketreport.com.
- ^ a b The adrift Aloft Hotel. Schumacher, Mary Louise. Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, January 12, 2010, Accessed November 9, 2010.
- ^ "2016 Annual Report". www.marriott.gcs-web.com. p. 8.
- ^ "2017 Annual Report". www.marriott.gcs-web.com. p. 8.
- ^ "2018 Annual Report". www.marriott.gcs-web.com. p. 7.
- ^ "2019 Annual Report". www.marriott.gcs-web.com. p. 7.
