Starwood Hotels can dictate room rates: CEO van Paasschen

The W New York at 1567 Broadway in Times Square and Starwood's Frits van Paasschen (inset)
The W New York at 1567 Broadway in Times Square and Starwood's Frits van Paasschen (inset)

A shortage of luxury hotels in the United States is pushing Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ occupancy rates to record highs and allowing the firm to dictate room rates, according to Starwood’s CEO Frits van Paasschen.

“We have more pricing power today than we’ve ever had before,” van Paasschen said in an interview yesterday with Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Starwood owns both the Sheraton and W hotel brands.

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Starwood’s revenue for the third-quarter of 2013 jumped 3.6 percent year-over-year to $1.51 billion, the company said in an October earnings report seen by Bloomberg News. Revenue per available room rose 5.8 percent in North America, compared to 4.7 percent worldwide, Starwood said at the time.

Starwood’s chairman is Barry Sternlicht, who is also the CEO of investment firm Starwood Capital Group and a player on the financing side of large New York City real estate deals such as Hudson Yards, as The Real Deal reported. [Bloomberg News]  – Hiten Samtani