Jaunted

Hotels / HotelChatter / → All Tags

Service-Industry Smackdown

Are Starwood and Ritz-Carlton headed for a You Got Served style dance-off? It sure looks that way, with Ritz-Carlton unveiling plans this week to build a hotel on Starwood's home turf, in White Plains, N.Y.

It's a bold move for several reasons. One, White Plains doesn't have quite the same level of glamour of say, Central Park South, or even Dearborn, Ritz-Carlton's previous lowest common denominator. The mall is a big draw, as is the proximity to any number of restaurants that will serve you a bloomin' onion, but that's about it.

Two, do you really want to make Starwood angry? They have hotels everywhere. Now, every time an upper level Ritz-Carlton executive gets stuck at the airport overnight, they'll have to sleep in the terminal because they're on Starwood's "list". We'll keep our eyes on how this one develops.

Related Stories:
·   Ritz-Carlton to Invade Starwood HQ [HC]