Starwood Targets Seattle With Sea-Tac, City Hotels

<B> Starwood Targets Seattle With Sea-Tac, City Hotels</B>

By Marshall Krantz

<I>Seattle</I> - With its acquisition of Westin Hotels & Resorts late last year, Starwood Lodging is launching a two-pronged attack on the Seattle business hospitality market: an in-terminal Westin hotel at Sea-Tac International Airport and an upscale hotel downtown under Starwood's new W flag.

The $52-million Sea-Tac project will break ground next month, with an anticipated opening in March 2000. The $73 million downtown project started construction in June of last year, with completion expected in March 1999.

"The Seattle development site presents an opportunity for Starwood Lodging to be on the leading edge of a prudent, market-driven development cycle," said Starwood chairman and CEO Barry Sternlicht. "Seattle is one of the country's strongest hotel markets, with the first-class portion achieving a 78 percent occupancy and $129 average daily rate in 1996."

Although Westin operates airport hotels in six other destinations, the Sea-Tac property represents Westin's entry into the lucrative in-terminal field. Westin also plans a 500-room, in-terminal hotel at Denver International Airport. At present, only 10 such hotels exist in North America, according to Westin executives.

"In-terminal hotels clearly have a competitive advantage over off-site airport hotels," according to Scott Woroch, Westin senior vice president of development. "We've seen a premium in terms of rates and occupancies."

Westin is targeting both the transient travel and the small-meetings market at the 388-room, 16-story Sea-Tac hotel, said David Zeuske, Westin's area managing director for the Northwest.

The property will contain a higher percentage of the chain's Guest Office rooms--a product introduced about two years ago--than the usual 5 to 10 percent per hotel. Although Zeuske did not indicate the number of guest office rooms, he said the hotel will feature some office amenities in all of the rooms.

Each guest office features an over-sized desk, ergonomically correct chair, desk lamp, combination printer/fax/copying machine, speakerphone with data port, Macintosh and IBM-compatible printer cables, and surge protector. Standard services include free local, 800-number and credit card telephone calls, and no surcharges on incoming or outgoing faxes.

Although the hotel also will include a standard business center, Zeuske noted, "The forward thinking features of this hotel will be in the guest rooms. As the technological capabilities of guest rooms improve, your past business center solutions begin to be less important."

The hotel's 15,000 square feet of meeting space will include a 6,000-square-foot ballroom, a boardroom and 10 small breakout rooms. Additionally, the hotel will contain a restaurant, fitness center and underground parking for 105 vehicles. A sky bridge will connect the hotel to the main terminal's northern end, placing guests within short walking distance of airline ticket counters, Zeuske said.

On the downtown front, Starwood's W property will cater to upscale, individual and small-meeting business travelers; the 865-room Westin Seattle, the city's largest hotel, will focus on larger meeting groups. Starwood's Seattle presence also includes the 840-room Sheraton Seattle, located near the convention center downtown. The new 29-story, 426-room W hotel will be located in the financial district, directly across Seneca Street from Seattle's premier hotel, the five-star, 450-room Four Seasons Olympic.

Starwood executives were reluctant to reveal details about the project, including specific business traveler amenities or projected room rates. But Craig Davenport, project manager for Callison Architecture of Seattle, the building architect, characterized the hotel as "more boutique, on a more intimate scale than the Westin Seattle, with a much smaller lobby."

Starwood project manager Jerry Caldwell did say, though, that "there will be some unique things you won't find in your typical urban hotel." As a hint, he pointed to the inclusion of a coffee bar that "we call a news cafe."

Planned for four-star quality, the hotel also will include a bar and full-service restaurant, 10,854 square feet of meeting space and a 108-space underground parking garage with valet parking.