Aloft Hotel, Brussels, Belgium

In December 2006 Westwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc announced they were building a new hotel in Brussels for their newly launched lifestyle hotel brand, ‘aloft Hotels’. The new hotel chain is being launched worldwide and is based on a new comfort concept for business use.

The first aloft hotels across the world are targeted to open in the first quarter of 2008 with locations in Beijing, China (2009); Chantilly, Virginia, USA (2008); Charleston Airport, South Carolina, USA (2008); Dorval, Montreal Airport, Quebec, Canada (2008), Cucamonga, California, USA (2008) and Toronto, Ontario, Canada (2008).

The new aloft brand features loft-inspired design, with a range of accessible technology in the room/loft units and an urban style. Starwood is targeting the aloft brand at 500 properties worldwide by 2012.

Ross Klein, President of Starwood’s Luxury Brands Group and aloft Hotels, said: "We say aloha to Europe with the introduction of aloft Hotels, a new lifestyle brand that will redefine travel, delivering style with substance and a fun new way to play and stay… From Brussels to Beijing and beyond, aloft brings a sassy, refreshing oasis to a global market."

HOTEL FACILITIES

The aloft hotel in Brussels will be situated on Rue Belliard, Leopold, in the ‘European’ quarter – very conveniently located approximately 800 feet from the European Commission and European Parliament buildings, and just minutes away from the Council of Ministers building.

The hotel will have 150 guestrooms and feature all of the brands which will be associated with aloft, including the re:mix (community/lobby area), wxyz (the bar) and re:fuel, the one-stop food and drink area open 24 hours (sweet, savoury and healthy food).

There is also the re:charge fitness centre and splash, the indoor or outdoor pool, giving travellers the options to de-stress and re-energise.

The Brussels hotel was designed in conjunction with David Rockwell and the Rockwell Group. The new hotel brand will offer atmospheric public spaces designed to draw guests from their rooms to socialise and make friends. In these the guests can read the newspaper, work on their laptops via hotel-wide wireless internet access, play pool or have a drink with friends.

Construction is due to begin in the third quarter of 2007 and the development will be completed by September 2009. The hotel will be run on a 20-year management contract.

HOTEL DEVELOPMENT

The hotel development agreement for Brussels aloft was signed at the 10th Annual International Hotel Investment Forum in Berlin between Westwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide and Thornsett Group Ltd, an Irish property development company (they own the site in Brussels). This was part of Westwood Hotels’ (a subsidiary of Starwood Hotels) introduction of the aloft brand into EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa).

Roeland Vos, President Europe, Middle East & Africa, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc, said: "With aloft we are reinventing the select service category, and are thrilled to be working with Thornsett Group to bring the first aloft hotel into Europe.

"Brussels is a great city for aloft’s first exposure to Europe, and the hotel will deliver great style, comfort, design and functionality to travellers. We look forward to this development being the start of a long-term relationship with Thornsett Group."

The 74,000ft² (22,500m²) site of the new hotel already has full planning permission for a mixed-use development with a gross development value of approximately €80m (US$105m, £54m). In addition to the aloft hotel, the development will also include 108 one- and two-bedroom apartments and approximately 5,000ft² of retail space with parking.

BRAND VISION

The aloft brand will feature urban-influenced design, accessible technology, style and a social atmosphere. aloft will purport to offer a 'total sensory experience', with the guest lofts featuring nine-foot ceilings and oversized windows to create a bright, airy environment.

The centrepiece of the standard loft room will be the ultra-comfortable signature bed, and large stylish bathrooms. The bathrooms will have oversized walk-in showers and amenities created by bliss spa®.

Each guest loft is also a combination high-tech office and entertainment centre, featuring wireless internet access and plug and play, a one-stop connectivity solution for multiple electronic gadgetry such as PDAs, mobile phones, mp3 players and laptops; the centre of the media technology is a large flat panel HDTV ready television for optimal sound and viewing.

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