Marriott International recently announced that it purchased the 270-room W New York – Union Square. The company paid $206 million for W New York – Union Square, with plans to transform the existing hotel into a “cutting-edge W Hotels showcase.” The move comes as part of a larger strategy by Marriott to reinvigorate the brand in North America.
Plans for the W include a signature spa and an expanded restaurant on the street corner. The renovated hotel will be the incubator and catalyst for a new vision for W in North America—one focused on immersive, next-level contextual design, authentic, experiential programming, and a new take on the brand’s Whatever/Whenever service philosophy.
Located at 201 Park Avenue South, the 20-story hotel features Beaux Arts architecture and views of Union Square’s pedestrian plaza and park. The property first opened its doors in 1911 as the headquarters of the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America; then, in 2000 it opened as W New York – Union Square.
Marriott’s plan to update the W brand also includes the recent opening of W Aspen—the brand’s first mountain destination in the United States, and the anticipated 2020 debuts of W hotels in Philadelphia and Toronto. Additionally, W owners in North America have already committed to $200 million worth of renovations on properties across the U.S. and Canada, such as the recent top-to-bottom renovation of W Washington D.C.
As of June, Marriott International had 56 open W hotels worldwide in 26 countries and territories, with another 32 signed W hotel projects in the pipeline with the brand debuting in eight additional countries.
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