Sheraton Hotels and Resorts

History

Early years

The origins of Sheraton Hotels date to 1933, when Harvard classmates Ernest Henderson and Robert Moore purchased the Continental Hotel in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In 1937, Henderson and Moore purchased the Standard Investing Corporation and the International Equities Corporation, combining them into the Standard Equities Corporation, the company through which they would run their hotels. Also in 1937, they purchased their second hotel, and the first as part of the new company, the Stonehaven Hotel in Springfield, Massachusetts, a converted apartment building. Sheraton dates its founding to that year and considers that property its first hotel.

The chain got its name from the third hotel the pair acquired, in Boston, in 1939. It had a large lighted sign on the roof saying "Hotel Sheraton," which was too expensive to change. Instead, Henderson and Moore decided to call all of their hotels by that name. The original name was probably a reference to furniture designer Thomas Sheraton.

Henderson and Moore purchased Boston's famed Copley Plaza Hotel in 1941, and continued expanding rapidly, buying existing properties along the East Coast from Maine to Florida.

In 1946, the Standard Equities Corporation merged with the United States Realty and Improvement Corporation, forming the Sheraton Corporation of America,

Expansion

In 1949, Sheraton expanded internationally, buying the Ford Hotels chain, with three properties in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. They quickly resold the Toronto and Ottawa properties to finance their continued Canadian expansion in 1950, paying $4.8 million to purchase Cardy Hotels, a chain of six properties in Ontario and Quebec. In April 1951, the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City would host the 1951 NBA draft, which was the second ever draft under the NBA name and fifth overall NBA draft in existence by that time.

In 1956, Sheraton paid $30 million to buy the Eppley Hotel Company, which was then the largest privately held hotel business in the United States, with 22 properties across six Midwestern states. Sheraton retained ten of the largest hotels and immediately resold the other twelve. That same year, Sheraton acquired its first motels, purchasing two properties in the suburbs of Syracuse, New York. In 1958, Sheraton became the first hotel chain to centralize and computerize its reservations when it introduced Reservatron, the hotel industry's first automatic electronic reservations system.

In 1959, Sheraton acquired its first properties outside North America, purchasing four hotels owned by the Matson Lines on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii - the Moana Hotel, the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, the SurfRider Hotel, and the Princess Kaiulani Hotel. That same year Sheraton opened its first newly built motel, marketed as a "Highway Hotel," the Sheraton Inn, located in Binghamton, New York.

The early 1960s saw the arrival of the first Sheraton hotels outside the US and Canada, with the opening of the Sheraton-Tel Aviv Hotel in Israel in March 1961 and two Caribbean properties in 1962 - the Sheraton-Kingston Hotel in Jamaica and the Sheraton British Colonial in Nassau, Bahamas.

In 1962, Sheraton created a franchise division, primarily to operate Sheraton Motor Inns, large highway motels providing free parking. In 1963 Sheraton opened its first hotel in South America, the Macuto-Sheraton Hotel, outside Caracas, Venezuela. In 1967 Sheraton unveiled Reservatron II, a computer system for personalized reservations. That same year, Sheraton opened its first hotel in Asia, the Sheraton-Philippines Hotel in Manila; its first hotel in Europe, the Sheraton-Du Cap Hotel on the island of Corsica in France; and its first hotels in Australia, two Sheraton Motor Hotels in Melbourne and Sydney.

Purchase by ITT

In 1968, the multinational conglomerate ITT Corporation purchased the chain and immediately sold eighteen aging Sheraton properties. Under ITT's ownership, Sheraton quickly moved away from ownership and operation of its properties to a new model of franchising and management, as the chain expanded greatly both in the US and abroad.

In late 1969, Sheraton introduced the hotel industry's first nationwide toll-free number, which displaced two hundred local Sheraton reservation numbers. The radio jingle for "Eight-Oh-Oh, Three-Two-Five, Three-Five Three-Five" "ran throughout the decade and into the eighties" but the jingle's lifespan went even beyond.

In 1970, Sheraton introduced the Sheraton Towers concept, a line of luxury "hotel-within-a-hotel" facilities designed for business travelers and located within Sheraton's largest and most exclusive hotels. The first Sheraton Towers to open was in the chain's flagship Sheraton-Boston Hotel. That same year, Sheraton opened its first hotel in North Africa, the Cario-Sheraton Hotel & Casino. In 1971 Sheraton opened its first hotels in Continental Europe, the Sheraton Stockholm Hotel and the Sheraton-Copenhagen Hotel. In 1972, Sheraton opened its first hotel in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Sheraton-Mont Febe Palace in Yaounde, Cameroon. From 1977 to 1997 the company was headquartered at 60 State Street in Boston.

In 1985, Sheraton became the first western chain to operate a hotel bearing the name of an international company which became the Great Wall Sheraton.

By 1987, The New York Times described it as "50 years old, the world's largest hotel chain, and consumer-driven."

On October 24, 1989, Sheraton was officially rebranded as ITT Sheraton.

Development in the 1990s

On January 13, 1992, ITT Sheraton designated 28 of its premier hotels and 33 of the Sheraton Towers as the ITT Sheraton Luxury Collection. The flagship of the division was The St Regis in New York City.

In 1994, ITT Sheraton purchased a controlling interest in the Italian CIGA chain, the Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi, or Italian Grand Hotels Company. The chain had begun by operating hotels in Italy, but over-expanded across Europe just as a recession hit, and had been seized from its previous owner, the Aga Khan, by its creditors. The majority of these hotels were placed in the ITT Sheraton Luxury Collection, though a few were placed in the Sheraton division.

In April 1995, ITT Sheraton introduced a new, mid-range hotel brand, Four Points by Sheraton, to replace the designation of certain hotels as Sheraton Inns.

Purchase by Starwood

In 1998, Starwood acquired ITT Sheraton for $13.3 billion, topping an offer by rival Hilton. Under Starwood's leadership, Sheraton began renovating many hotels and expanding the brand's footprint. Starwood also began marketing The Luxury Collection as a completely separate brand, even though it contained a large number of hotels still named Sheraton. Most of those properties have since been renamed. Only three such hotels remain today - Sheraton Addis in (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia), Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit in (Bangkok, Thailand), and Sheraton Kuwait in (Kuwait City, Kuwait). Also in 1998, Sheraton joined with the Arabella Hospitality Group in Germany to create ArabellaSheraton, a joint venture under which 14 Arabella Hotels in Germany, Switzerland and Spain were rebranded as ArabellaSheraton Hotels.

In 1999, Sheraton bought the outstanding shares in CIGA, giving it complete ownership.

In 2015, Starwood introduced the "Sheraton Grand" brand, higher-end Sheraton properties located in urban or resort destinations.

Takeover by Marriott

In 2016, Marriott International purchased Starwood Hotels, and the newly merged company again became the world's largest hotel and resort company.

In 2023, Marriott announced a new spinoff brand of Four Points by Sheraton, called Four Points Express by Sheraton, targeting the mid-range market in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Its first property opened in Nilüfer, Bursa, Turkey that fall. In 2024, the brand was renamed Four Points Flex by Sheraton.

Accommodations

References

References

1. "2024 Marriott Annual Report".
2. [http://www.hoovers.com/company/Sheraton_Hotels__Resorts/rrkckti-1.html "Profile: Sheraton Hotels and Resorts"], ''[[Hoover's]]''
3. (1942). "The Henderson Brothers Group". United States Congressional Serial Set.
4. "About Us".
5. "Annual Report for the year ended April 30, 1957". Sheraton Corporation of America.
6. (5 June 1960). "How Sheraton Hotel Chain Got Its Start". Abilene Reporter-News.
7. (27 September 2012). "One Address, Many Stories | BU Today".
8. "History". Starwood Hotels & Resorts.
9. (17 August 1949). "SHERATON SEEKS FORD HOTELS CO.; $30 a Share Offered for All Stock After Purchase of President's Holdings". The New York Times.
10. (6 February 1950). "HOTELS: Six for Sheraton".
11. {{cite court. (1955)
12. Bradley, Robert D.. (2013). "The Basketball Draft Fact Book: A History of Professional Basketball's College Drafts". Scarecrow Press.
13. (June 4, 1956). "Hotels: Closing the gap".
14. "ITT SHERATON CORPORATION - Company Profile". Reference for Business.
15. "History". Matson Navigation.
16. Joseph, Bob. (June 7, 2017). "New Binghamton Hotel Was Big News in the 1950s". WNBF News.
17. "Annual Report for the year ending 30 April 1959". Sheraton Corporation of America.
18. Putz, John. (14 August 2018). "Can democracy survive in newly independent Jamaica? – archive, 1962". The Guardian.
19. (2002). "The Motel in America". Johns Hopkins University Press.
20. "Annual Report for the year ending April 30, 1967". Sheraton Corporation of America.
21. "Belvedere Hotel". Library of Congress.
22. "ITT SHERATON CORPORATION History". Funding Universe.
23. Turkel, Stanley. (14 May 2019). "Nobody Asked Me, But… No. 213: Hotel History: Sheraton's Classic Advertising Campaigns". Hotel Online.
24. (14 July 2015). "1970's Sheraton Hotel Radio Commercial - 800-325-3535".
25. West, Gary. (July 14, 2015). "Famous Sheraton Radio Ad, 1970s, 800-325-3535".
26. Garfield, Bob. (3 January 2006). "Plop, plop: Jingles drop out of favor". [[The Seattle Times]].
27. (24 March 1985). "A New Team Checks In At The Great Wall Hotel". The New York Times.
28. Horwitz, Sari. (March 19, 1985). "Sheraton to Run Hotel in Beijing". [[The Washington Post]].
29. (30 January 1987). "Advertising; A Smiling Sheraton Campaign". The New York Times.
30. "Sheraton Hotels 2016 FDD - Franchise Information, Costs and Fees".
31. (January 13, 1994). "ITT Sheraton Corporation Extends Segmentation By Premiering The ITT Sheraton Luxury Collection". ITT Sheraton.
32. (February 10, 1994). "ITT's Sheraton Unit in Pact To Buy Ciga Hotels of Italy". The New York Times.
33. Zagorin, Adam. (June 7, 1993). "How the Aga Khan Stumbled".
34. (April 21, 1995). "Sheraton Inns to Get New Name". [[The Buffalo News]].
35. (October 21, 1997). "ITT Accepts Starwood's Offer". [[Atlanta Journal-Constitution]].
36. (February 17, 2010). "Starwood Hotels confirms $4bn Sheraton expansion".
37. (August 25, 2010). "The Schörghuber Corporate Group changes its hotel strategy". Schörghuber Group.
38. (February 1, 1998). "ITT Sheraton Adds 31 New Hotels in Nine Countries, Includes New Joint Venture with Arabella in Europe". ITT Sheraton.
39. (October 30, 1999). "Sheraton Makes Offer to Buy The Rest of CIGA of Italy". The New York Times.
40. (August 19, 2015). "Starwood launches "Sheraton Grand" to single out top-tier Sheraton hotels".
41. Leff, Gary. (June 6, 2018). "$500 Million to Fix Lagging Sheratons".
42. "Marriott International Continues Affordable Midscale Growth with Announcement of Four Points Express by Sheraton".
43. "Marriott rebrands Four Points Express as Four Points Flex by Sheraton".
44. "2016 Annual Report".
45. "2017 Annual Report".
46. "2018 Annual Report".
47. "2019 Annual Report".
48. "2020 Annual Report".
49. "2021 Annual Report".
50. "2022 Annual Report".
51. "2023 Annual Report".
52. "2024 Annual Report".
53. Moody, Andrew. (May 27, 2011). "Building boom in hotel industry". [[China Daily]].
54. (December 11, 2009). "American Businesses in China: Balancing Culture and Communication". McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers.