RIYADH, 24 July — As part of an ambitious expansion plan, the famous Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., owner of the Sheraton hotels, has added three more properties to its Saudi Arabian portfolio. It has taken over the management and operations of properties, including Westin Jeddah and Madinah Sheraton. This is in addition to the ongoing plan to open new hotels in the Kingdom and elsewhere in the Gulf, according to Helmut Plucker, the new general manager at Sheraton Riyadh Hotel & Towers. He said Starwood portfolio included 65 properties in the Middle East & Africa region including nine properties in the Kingdom. “Our operations are set to increase by 50 percent in 2002 with Starwood becoming the only chain with a hotel in every Middle East capital and business center,” said Plucker who has 20-year experience in the hospitality industry. “We took over the management of hotels in Abu Dhabi and Dubai recently as part of the expansion plan, which sought to strengthen its presence in the region.” This is in addition to many new hotels being opened in the region, especially in Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon. With more than 725 hotels manned by a total of 125,000 trained staff in over 80 countries around the globe, prestigious brands under the Starwood flag include the Luxury Collection, St. Regis and Four Points, aside from Sheraton and Westin. Referring to world-class facilities offered by the 175-room Riyadh property, Plucker said the it had two restaurants, a round-the-clock lobby café, a network of voice messaging system, satellite TV channels in rooms, a health club, a well-equipped business center besides banquet halls and facilities for holding major events, meetings and conferences. Plucker, who earlier served in Britain, Germany and Egypt, is keen to offer added incentives and better services to his hotel guests. The hotel, he added, was also linked to a global booking system through Internet as well as a global reservation system providing tariffs and other relevant information to online customers. The “Starwood preferred guest program” is another attraction for guests. He also noted that Starwood had decided to increase the number of Saudi staff as part of its commitment to the ongoing Saudization program. The company is helping UNICEF to combat killer diseases among children by contributing money for their immunization. The “Check out for children” program to which guests allow a dollar to be added to their bills while checking out has already raised enough money to immunize over 280,000 children against six major childhood diseases. The Riyadh property on its own initiative has been able to extend help to 98 children. “Such humanitarian efforts have led Starwood to win the prestigious ‘World travel award’ recently. (MGAK)
