Westin Hotels

Westin Hotels & Resorts are an upscale hotel chain owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. As of 2011, Westin operated over 160 hotels in 37 countries.
==History==
In 1930, hotel owners Severt W. Thurston and Frank Dupar, both of Yakima, Washington USA, formed a partnership in order to manage their hotels more efficiently. Together with Peter and Adolph Schmidt they formed Western Hotels, with seventeen properties, all but one in the state of Washington.
Early management developed each property individually. After more than two decades of rapid growth, prompting a name change in 1954 to Western International Hotels, many of its properties were merged into a single corporate structure in 1958, and the company went public in 1963. For its 50th anniversary in 1980, it changed its name again to the current Westin Hotels & Resorts.
 
In 1970, the chain was acquired by UAL Corporation. In 1987, UAL Chairman Richard Ferris announced a plan to make UAL into Allegis, a travel conglomerate based around United Airlines, Hertz Rent a Car, Hilton Hotels, and Westin and linked by Apollo. This strategy failed, however, and Westin was sold in 1988 to Aoki Corporation of Japan. In 1994 Aoki sold it to Starwood Capital, real estate investment firm and parent of Starwood Lodging, and Goldman Sachs, an investment bank. In 1998 Starwood assumed full ownership of the company.
Westin claims to have been the first hotel chain to introduce guest credit cards (in 1946), 24-hour room service (1969), and personal voice mail in each room (1991).
Westin markets certain amenities available in its properties to the public under the brand name Heavenly. In 2005, Westin became the first hotel company to gain a national retail store presence when Nordstrom started carrying the Heavenly Bed line in more than 60 stores.
Westin refreshed its partnership with United Airlines in 2008. United offers pillows and blankets from their Heavenly Bed line on select United premium service routes between New York City and California, as well as Westin decorations and scents in some Red Carpet Club lounges.
Especially in the last decade, Westin has focused on expanding globally. Since 2005, the number of hotels has grown from 120 locations in 24 countries to over 160 locations in 37 countries as of 2011.
==Gallery==
File:Westin Peachtree Plaza 1.jpg|Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta
File:Westin Oaks CIMG8648.JPG|Uptown Houston's Westin Oaks
File:Southfield Town Center.jpg|Westin Southfield Detroit Hotel. 
File:Westindhaka.jpg|Westin at Gulshan, Dhaka.
File:Westin_LAX_-_2006.jpg|Westin at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles.
File:Westinseattle.jpg|The Westin Seattle in downtown Seattle, Washington.
File:Ottawa_Westin.JPG|Westin in downtown Ottawa, Ontario.
File:Westin Bonaventure Hotel.jpg|Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.
File:Westin_Zagreb.jpg|Westin Zagreb, Croatia.
File:Palace Hotel (Madrid) 03.jpg|Westin Palace, Madrid, Spain
File:Westinvalencia.JPG|The Westin Valencia. Valencia, Spain.
File:Westin Grand Berlin Friedrichstraße.jpg|Westin Grand, Berlin, Germany.
File:WestinTimesSquare.jpg|Westin Times Square, New York City.
File:TheWestinHotelinGuangzhou.jpg|The Westin Guangzhou in Guangzhou, China.
File:WestinBookCadillac.jpg|Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit.
File:Savannah Westin 2.JPG|Westin in Savannah, Georgia.
File:City_Square,_Melbourne,_Australia.jpg|Westin in Melbourne, Australia
File:WestinStFrancis.jpg|Westin St. Francis in San Francisco
File:Harbour Castle Westin.JPG|Westin Harbour Castle Hotel in Toronto - formerly Harbour Castle Hilton (moved to Toronto Hilton)
==References==
==External links==
* Westin Hotels & Resorts
 
Category:Companies established in 1930
Category:Companies based in Washington (state)
Category:Hotel chains
Category:Starwood Hotels & Resorts brands
de:Westin Hotels & Resorts
es:Westin Hotels & Resorts
id:Hotel Westin
pl:Westin
zh:威斯汀酒店