WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., May 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Leave it to the hotel company
that created the Heavenly Bed(R) to give travelers something just as tempting
to wake up to. Westin Hotels & Resorts is tearing out showers and tossing out
towels to make way for the new Heavenly Bath, designed to provide travelers
with a therapeutic spa shower and luxurious bath amenities. The company is
spending $10 million to replace showerheads, curtain rods, shower curtains,
towels, robes and amenities in 32,000 rooms at 70 hotels across North America
with its new Heavenly Bath, developed after a year of research and development
that included testing more than 150 showerheads.
Two Heads are Better Than One: Dual-Headed Shower Ups the Ante in Hotel
Baths
So what's a Heavenly Bath? The showcase of the Heavenly Bath is a
custom-designed Speakman shower with two heads to provide more power and wider
water coverage. In addition, each of the showerheads features five adjustable
jets and several spray options, from a light mist to massaging needles,
meaning that guests can customize their own showers. The Heavenly Bath also
features a curved shower curtain rod that provides eight additional inches of
elbowroom (and eliminates the dreaded shower curtain cling), plus luxurious
products like an oversized Brazilian combed cotton bath sheet, custom-designed
velour bathrobes and new spa amenities.
"The hotel industry has typically cut corners in bathrooms, which is
ridiculous because next to a great night's sleep, a terrific shower is the
most important service a hotel can provide," said Barry S. Sternlicht,
Chairman and CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc., Westin's
parent. "As a frequent traveler, nothing frustrates me more than waking up in
a hotel to a shower with terrible water pressure, a thimble of cheap shampoo
and a scratchy bath towel that looks more like a washcloth. The Heavenly Bath
is designed to be the best bath experience in the hotel business, and a better
shower than most people have in their own homes -- a bit of heaven on the
road. The Heavenly Bath may also be the only motivation to rise from the
Heavenly Bed."
According to a survey of 1,000 travelers by Westin, Sternlicht is not the
only one who has been disappointed by hotel showers and baths. "Bathing on
the Road: A Study by Westin Hotels & Resorts"* conducted by Guideline Research
and Consulting Corporation of New York City, found that travelers rate low
water pressure as their biggest pet peeve in the shower or bath. Twenty
percent said that the "shower curtain sucking in and touching you" was another
peeve. The Heavenly Bath will alleviate both of these bathing lows.
Forget Swiping Shampoo, Now the Showerheads are Disappearing
From rain simulators to pulsating showers to multiple nozzles, Westin
tested more than 150 showerheads during the development of the Heavenly Bath.
The clear winner was the Speakman custom-designed dual showerhead.
"We tested showerheads in the health club locker rooms of our corporate
headquarters," said Sternlicht. "When we first saw this particular two-headed
shower, we thought it was kind of funny looking, but when it ended up
mysteriously disappearing from the locker room, we knew we had a hit on our
hands."
Heavenly Bath Part of Bigger, Better Bathroom Trends
Westin's Heavenly Bath corresponds with a trend in upscale residential
design. Americans are spending more time and money upgrading their bathrooms
at home. In 1997, the average bathroom renovation cost $9,000. This year,
people will spend about $12,000 on bathroom redos. According to the National
Kitchen & Bath Association, dual showerheads top the list of frequently
requested bath upgrades.
Westin Gives Travelers a Reason to Get Out of Bed in the Morning
Two years ago, Westin revolutionized the hotel sleeping experience when it
introduced the Heavenly Bed, a luxurious, all-white bed with a pillowtop
mattress; high-thread count sheets; down duvet and down pillows. Today, other
hotel companies have tried to mimic the Heavenly Bed, as it has struck such a
chord with travelers that the company is selling four beds per day to guests
who simply have to take the Heavenly Bed home. Plans call for the Heavenly
Bath products to go on sale as well.
Westin has already begun installing Heavenly Baths around the country. By
July, 10,000 guestrooms will feature the Heavenly Bath. An additional
17,000 rooms will be outfitted with the Heavenly Bath by the end of 2001, and
the remaining 5,000 rooms will debut the Heavenly Bath in 2002. As the
Heavenly Bath rolls out, Westin is also launching a "Green Room" program,
where guests have the option to reuse their towels and bed linens as part of
the company's continued conservation efforts.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: HOT) is one of the
leading hotel and leisure companies in the world with more than 725 properties
in 80 countries and 120,000 employees at its owned and managed properties.
With internationally renowned brands, Starwood is a fully integrated owner,
operator and franchiser of hotels and resorts including: St. Regis, The Luxury
Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points and W brands, as well as Starwood
Vacation Ownership, Inc., one of the premier developers and operators of high
quality vacation interval ownership resorts. For more information, please
visit us at http://www.starwoodhotels.com.
** Please contact Starwood's new toll-free media hotline at
(866) 4-STAR-PR (866-478-2777) for photography or additional information **
*The Westin Hotels & Resorts survey is based on telephone interviews
conducted on a national omnibus survey during the period of April 5-8, 2001.
The survey was conducted among a nationwide cross-section of 1,000 adult
American men and women ages 18 or older living in the continental United
States (480 men; 520 women). Out of the 1,000 respondents, 614 people claimed
to have traveled in the past year and stayed in a hotel. The survey
respondents were drawn from a nationally projectable RDD (random digit
dialing) telephone sample.
All samples are subject to some degree of sampling "error" -- that is,
statistical results obtained from a sample can be expected to differ somewhat
from results that would be obtained if every member of the target population
were interviewed. In this report, the margin of sampling error is +/- 3
percentage points on the totals. The margin of error for subgroups, by
definition, is higher.
A minimum amount of weighting was applied to bring the findings in line
with current U.S. census data on the four key variables of gender, age,
geographic region and race. This is done to ensure reliable and accurate
representation of the total population. Statistics cited in this report refer
to the weighted data.
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SOURCE Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.
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CONTACT:
K.C. Kavanagh of Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Worldwide, Inc., 914-640-8339; Toll-Free - 866-4-STAR-PR or
866-478-2777
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