The Sheraton Grand Hotel and Spa in Edinburgh marked the completion of a lengthy refurbishment last week with a launch party that was attended by 1,000 people.
The property, located at 1 Festival Square, opened in 1985 and has undergone a total renovation of its public areas and guestrooms in the last few years, never closing its doors to guests during this time.
The works are part of a brand-wide rejuvenation project, which has seen more than US$6 billion invested in Sheraton hotels between 2008 and 2011, with Edinburgh singled out as the UK flagship.
“It’s a very important, high-profile city in the UK, and we had a unique opportunity to revitalise a hotel which competes with two well-established properties in the market,” Hoyt Harper, senior vice president of Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, said at the launch on April 19.
“We have a great relationship with the ownership, they’ve invested smartly and the results are beautiful. We really expect this hotel to be a market leader and a symbol to other hotel developers that Sheraton builds and operates great hotels.”
The hotel lobby is now a fittingly dramatic entrance, with huge glass chandeliers and gold-effect walls. Off here is a new Sheraton brand standard – introduced worldwide as part of the investment – the Link @ Sheraton, a social space with computers, free wifi and sofas.
Other brand standards include free in-room wifi for SPG gold and platinum members, free wifi in the lobby, complimentary bottled water in the bedrooms and a Club lounge – all of which were flagged up in consumer research as “those things that matter most to travellers,” according to Harper.
All 269 guestrooms have been overhauled, with flatscreen TVs, spacious work areas, Starwood’s “Sweet Sleeper” beds and separate tubs and showers in the sleek new bathrooms, which are divided from the room by frosted glass doors. Many of the rooms have stunning views of Edinburgh castle.
The 1, 300 sqm meetings complex – the largest hotel conference space in the city – has been refreshed and has its own lobby area. Delegates can access it from the Festival Square entrance, which first leads into the new One Square restaurant and bar, a laid-back space with huge purple, yellow and green globe lights, a dark wood finish and oversized lounge chairs.
The One spa, which opened in 2001 with a rooftop hydrotherapy pool, is the only space that has not been refurbished.
According to Harper, the Edinburgh Grand is one of 14 Sheratons that were singled out in the investment scheme: “US$350 million dollars has been invested in Beijing, New York, Rio, Cairo and other major flagship hotels.” This figure is on top of the US$6 billion, US$4 billion of which has been spent renovating North American properties and constructing new hotels, with the remaining US$2 billion spent on new constructions worldwide.
“We wanted to raise the bar of what it took to be a Sheraton, and to improve the level of quality and consistency worldwide,” Harper said. “We removed 80 hotels as part of that effort. It was really just a pruning; the pruning allows the brand to grow. And, as evident by our pipeline now, it worked.”
Between 2012-2015, Starwood plans to invest another US$5 billion dollars in new construction worldwide. “We have a development pipeline of 104 hotels that continues to grow every week,” said Harper. “Sheraton represents nearly half of all Starwood’s guestrooms and about a third of the company’s overall growth in the next three or four years.”
Much of this growth will be centred in China, where half of the new properties will be located.
“We have 51 hotels open today and another 56 in development in China. We set the tone for growth in Starwood and, now that Sheraton has been established in so many markets there, there’s an opportunity for other Starwood brands to come in. Eight of our nine brands are already in China. That is also playing out in India and Brazil.
As a marker of the growth in China, the number of Sheratons in Shanghai will double by 2014, to six properties.
And is all the investment paying off? According to Harper, it’s a resounding yes. “The proof point is in occupancy and rate premiums and gaining market share – and we’ve enjoyed three consecutive years of market share gains. Our guest satisfaction scores are at an all-time high.”
For more information visit sheratonedinburgh.co.uk. Business Traveller will be reviewing the hotel in full in an upcoming issue.
Report by Liat Clark
