Starwood Hotels to Expand in 2011

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (White Plains, N.Y.) plans to open more than 20 new hotels in North America in 2011. The company says more than half of the new properties will be conversions of existing hotels into Starwood brands, with new construction filling in the rest.

“The hotel real estate market in the United States is in a very different situation than other types of real estate,” ceo Frits van Paasschen said in a statement. “Despite economic woes, and even with unemployment above 9 percent, hotel occupancies are back at pre-crisis highs and we're facing record-low new supply here.”

Starwood operates hotels under the Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien and W Hotels brands, among others. It has 1025 properties in 100 countries and territories.