ASTANA – Sheraton style and luxury are coming to Aktobe.
On Jan. 11, 2013, the Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide of America and the Akcept Contraction Company of Kazakhstan signed a contract to build a new Sheraton Aktobe Hotel to open in 2013.
It will be the first hotel of the famous international chain in the fast-growing city on the Ilek River.
The opening of the Sheraton Aktobe Hotel is part of the company’s strategic plan to launch more than 60 new hotels and resorts around the world in the next three years. It will mark Sheraton’s entry into the Kazakhstan market.
“We are delighted to cooperate with the Akcept Contraction to open the Sheraton Aktobe Hotel – the first Starwood hotel in Kazakhstan,” said Roland Vos, president of Starwood Hotels & Resorts in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
“Entering new markets is a priority for the expansion of the company and the opening of the Sheraton Aktobe Hotel will be an important step in developing the chain in Eastern Europe,” he said.
Bart Carnahan, Starwood’s senior vice president for development in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, noted the continuing popularity of the Sheraton brand.
“Due to the impressive number of hotels in the overall portfolio of the Starwood Company, and as the most recognized of the company’s brands in the world, the Sheraton continues to be extremely popular among hotel owners and property developers in the primary and secondary markets of Europe,” he said.
Samat Urmagambetov, who owns the Sheraton Aktobe, said, “I am honoured to cooperate with Starwood Hotels & Resorts to open the first Sheraton hotel in Aktobe. This hotel will start a new era in the development of the hotel business in Kazakhstan.”
The Sheraton Aktobe Hotel will be located in the heart of the city and will have 177 rooms, all-day restaurants, an exclusive restaurant and two bars with panoramic views of the city.
The hotel will have modern conference halls and a ballroom for special occasions. It will offer guests international brand services, including SweetSleeper luxury white beds, the Sheraton Club Lounge, an Internet cafe called Link SheratonSM established in partnership with the Microsoft Company and Sheraton Fitness – a revolutionary health and fitness programme created by the Core Performance Company. Guests will also be able to enjoy the Sheraton Shine Spa Centre and indoor pool.
The Sheraton Aktobe Hotel will offer the Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty programme (SPG) with its offer for members of no closed dates for free nights. The SPG programme allows its members to earn and use bonuses for booking rooms, enjoy exclusive bonus programmes, the services of many European hotels, golf clubs and other special programmes.
The SPG has recently announced new privileges including termless status, all-day registration and the services of a personal assistant.
The Akcept Contraction Company is part of Centre Group Construction Holding, one of the largest development companies in Western Kazakhstan, with a decade of experience in the construction market. It includes subsidiaries specializing in residential and commercial real estate and has a staff of 700.
The company provides a full range of services, ranging from designing projects to construct and maintenance. It has built more than one million square metres of residential real estate. It is constructing three new projects with a total area of 100,000 square metres in Aktobe using respected architects and designers from other Commonwealth of Independent States nations and from Western Europe.
The Sheraton chain is the largest and best known of Starwood’s brands. Starwood is one of the world leading companies in the hotels and leisure business. It manages 1,134 properties in 100 countries with a staff of 154,000 employees in their own hotels and hotels that it runs directly.
Starwood Hotels also owns and operates such famous global franchises as St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W Hotels, Westin, Le Méridien, Four Points, Aloft and ElementSM.
The Sheraton chain has more than 400 hotels in 70 countries. It has just completed a worldwide programme of upgrades costing $6 billion and has launched a $5 billion global expansion plan over the next three years.
Starwood also plans to open its 200th Westin Hotel this year. In 2013, at least 11 new Westin hotels will open around the world, including seven in China, India, Singapore and Panama, increasing the regional portfolio of the brand to 50 hotels by the end of this year.
In China, Westin will open the Haikou, Sanya Haitang Bay Resort, Chongqing Liberation Square and Qingdao hotels.
In 2013, Westin will also open the Westin Singapore Marina Bay Hotel and the Chennai Velachery Hotel in India.
The rebuilt Westin Houston Downtown, the Westin Sacramento and the Westin San Jose will all open this year in the United States.
The group also plans to open three new hotels over the next four years in the Middle East: the Westin Aqaba Harbour Resort & Spa in Jordan in 2014, the Westin Muscat in Oman in 2016 and the Westin Dubai on Sheikh Zayed Road in the United Arab Emirates in 2017.
