Starwood and Wenzhou Jinxiu Hotel Investment Co., Ltd have announced an agreement whereby Starwood will manage the Sheraton Wenzhou Hotel in the Zhejiang province of China. The newly built 333-room Sheraton Wenzhou Hotel is scheduled to open in mid-2009.

Starwood Hotels & Resorts has expanded its portfolio in China significantly in the last 24 months, signing agreements to manage new hotels in Shenzhen, Beijing, Changsha, Haikou, Guiyang, Hong Kong, Dameisha, Urumqi, Changshu, Shanghai, Zhongshan, Zhejiang, Daning, Taiyuan, Hangzhou and Tianjin. With the signing of Sheraton Wenzhou Hotel, Starwood now has 27 hotels and resorts under construction in China under its Westin, Sheraton, W Hotels, Le Méridien and Four Points by Sheraton brands. In Zhejiang province, Starwood will be opening The Westin Zhejiang Resort, Nine Dragon Hill, Sheraton Hangzhou Hotel, Qianjiang and Four Points by Sheraton Hangzhou, Binjiang, in addition to the newly signed Sheraton Wenzhou Hotel.

“We are honored to partner with Wenzhou Jinxiu Hotel Investment Co., Ltd to establish Sheraton Wenzhou Hotel. Wenzhou is one of the wealthiest cities in Zhejiang province with an exceptionally high number of private enterprises established here. There are almost a quarter million individual business units and over 110,000 investors here, hence a high level of domestic travel, both inbound and outbound from Wenzhou. We area excited about this opportunity to tap into this vibrant city of Zhejiang province,” commented Miguel Ko, President of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, Asia Pacific. “The hotel is ideally located in the central business district of Wenzhou and will serve as a great venue for business travelers to gather and network. This newly built landmark and its friendly lobby area will truly speak to Sheraton’s key attributes of warm, comforting connections”, added Ko.

Sheraton Wenzhou Hotel will feature 333 rooms, 15,800 square feet of meeting space, three restaurants , a health club and spa as well as an indoor swimming pool. The hotel is located within the city center, with close proximity to the Government Administration Center, central business district and about 30 minutes drive away from Wenzhou Airport.

Wenzhou is located in the southern part of Zhejiang province and is about 420 kilometers southwest of Shanghai. Wenzhou has a history which goes back to about 2000 BC, when it became known for its pottery production. Throughout its history, Wenzhou’s traditional economic role has been as a port giving access to the mountainous interior of southern Zhejiang Province. Today Wenzhou remains the chief economic, political and cultural center of southeastern Zhejiang Province. Its main industries are food processing, papermaking, building materials, with some engineering works producing mostly farm machinery. Zhejiang Province is located on China’s southeast coast, south of the Yangtze River Delta and south of Shanghai municipality. Zhejiang is noted for its picturesque scenery, and the abundance of its products has made it widely known as a “land of fish and rice.” It is also noted for its silk and tea, as well as for its numerous historical and cultural sites of interest to scholars and tourists alike.

Starwood has also been nominated this year for a

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World Travel Award as World’s Leading Hotel Brand.
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