Starwood Hotels & Resorts is to open eight new hotels in China under its Sheraton Hotels & Resorts brand before year-end, the company has announced.

 

It plans to open an additional 18 under the brand in China by 2015.

 

The new openings will include Sheraton’s first hotel in Guangzhou as well as a third Sheraton hotel in Shanghai and a second hotel in Beijing, the latter slated for opening in 2011.

 

Other hotels set to open under the brand before the end of the year include the Sheraton Zhongshan, the Sheraton Wuxi Binhu, the Sheraton Tianjin Binhai, Sheraton Wenzhou, Sheraton Jiangyin, and Sheraton Shenzhou Peninsula Resort, Wannning.

 

“Sheraton is our most prolific brand in China, accounting for half of Starwood’s current portfolio in this dynamic, fast-growing market. We are delighted to expand Sheraton in established cities like Beijing and Shanghai, while simultaneously introducing the iconic hotel brand to emerging business hubs and resort destinations,” said Simon Turner, president of global development for Starwood.

 

“We are thrilled with the robust expansion as we announce eight more Sheraton hotels throughout China and continue to expand our established upper upscale brands in various Chinese cities where we are currently under penetrated,” added Stephen Ho, senior vice president of development for Starwood’s Asia Pacific Division. “Starwood continues to win many new hotel projects in China and this is largely due to the confidence the development community has in our lifestyle brands, noted innovations and consistently strong delivery of results in the region.”

 

Starwood currently has 400 hotels worldwide in total under the Sheraton brand.