Luxury Hotels Atlas / The Maison / Westin

Westin hotels

Wellbeing shapes the stay, from the Heavenly Bed to running routes and gear lending.

Westin builds the stay around rest and wellbeing, with the aim of helping guests leave feeling better than when they arrived. Part of Marriott’s premium hotel family, the brand brings that approach to full-service city hotels and resorts around the world.

55 Westin hotels in 20 countries on the Luxury Hotels Atlas, each placed on the six LHA Tiers.

Owned by Marriott International
On the atlas: 1 High Luxury, 5 Core Luxury, 35 Accessible Luxury, 14 Near Luxury

History

Westin’s attention to wellbeing gave the wider Marriott family a recognizable approach to rest during travel. The related Element brand later applied some of those ideas to longer stays. Element remains a separate collection, with its own apartment-oriented rooms and hospitality model.

Timeline

1930 — Western Hotels Inc. founded in Seattle, Washington. Frank Dupar, Severt W. Thurston, and Peter and Adolph Schmidt combine their Pacific Northwest hotel portfolios into a single management company, originally 17 properties, 16 in Washington State and one in Boise, Idaho.
1931 — Expands beyond the U.S. border, assuming management of Vancouver's Georgia Hotel and Portland's Multnomah Hotel. The Multnomah turnaround, from $20,000 monthly losses to profitability within 90 days, establishes Western's reputation as a distressed-property specialist.
1941 — Enters California, taking over San Francisco's Sir Francis Drake Hotel the day after Pearl Harbor. California grows to become Western's largest market outside Washington.
1946 — Issues the hotel industry's first guest credit cards, allowing charges across food, beverage, and rooms to a single account.
1949 — Introduces 24-hour room service, a first for the industry. Western executive Edward Carlson also persuades Victor "Trader Vic" Bergeron to open his first franchised Trader Vic's at Western's Benjamin Franklin Hotel in Seattle.
1952 — Introduces the "Family Plan," allowing children under 14 to stay free in their parents' room, another industry first.
1955 — Takes management of Seattle's landmark Olympic Hotel, which becomes the chain's flagship.
1956 — Expands to Hawaii, assuming management of the Hawaiian Village Hotel built by Henry J. Kaiser.
1958 — Manages three hotels in Guatemala, the first properties outside the U.S. and Canada, signaling genuine international ambition.
1963 — Renames itself Western International Hotels to reflect its presence across Mexico, Guatemala, Venezuela, Ecuador, Australia, Japan, and Hong Kong.
1970 — Acquired by UAL Corporation (the parent of United Airlines); Edward Carlson becomes president and CEO of UAL, with Western operating as a wholly owned subsidiary under Seattle management.
1975 — Acquires New York's Plaza Hotel for $25 million.
1981 — Renames itself Westin Hotels (a contraction of "Western International") on January 5. The Washington Plaza in Seattle becomes The Westin Hotel on September 1, 1981, the first property to carry the new name.
1985 — Name evolves to Westin Hotels & Resorts to reflect a growing resort portfolio.
1988 — UAL's travel-conglomerate strategy fails; Westin is sold to the Japanese Aoki Corporation for $1.35 billion. Aoki immediately sells the Plaza Hotel to Donald Trump for $390 million.
1995 — Aoki sells Westin to a group led by Starwood Capital and Goldman Sachs for $537 million, a significant discount reflecting the early-1990s real-estate recession.
1998 — Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, led by Barry Sternlicht, assumes full ownership. Sternlicht's team begins the transformation that will redefine Westin as a brand with distinctive identity rather than a generic hotel chain.
1999 — Launch of the Heavenly Bed, arguably the most consequential product innovation in modern hotel history. A custom-designed pillow-top mattress by Simmons Bedding Company, crisp white duvet, and multiple pillow sizes. Guests begin calling hotels to purchase the bed for their homes; Westin starts selling it commercially the same year, opening an entirely new revenue category.
2000 — Introduces the Heavenly Bath (oversized showers, white spa-quality towels, Westin's own white tea bath products). The full "Heavenly" suite of sleep and bath amenities cements the brand's well-being narrative.
2005 — Partners with Nordstrom to carry Heavenly Bed mattresses and bedding in stores, expanding the brand's consumer lifestyle reach.
2011 — Heavenly bedding becomes available at Pottery Barn locations nationwide.
2016 — Marriott International acquires Starwood Hotels & Resorts for approximately $13.6 billion, at the time the largest hotel-industry acquisition in history, creating the world's largest hotel company and folding Westin, along with Sheraton, St. Regis, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection, and others, into the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio.
2018 — Westin evolves its wellness proposition from three pillars (Sleep Well, Eat Well, Move Well) to Six Pillars of Well-being: Sleep Well, Eat Well, Move Well, Feel Well, Work Well, and Play Well. The Gear Lending program, providing guests with on-demand workout gear, launches, along with a partnership with Peloton bikes in select properties.
2021 — The Westin Anaheim Resort opens in June as the first new-build Westin in Southern California in more than 25 years, 618 rooms, AAA Four Diamond, with seven dining outlets and a rooftop bar overlooking Disneyland Resort.
2022 — The Westin London City opens, becoming Marriott's 1,000th hotel in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, a milestone the company marks publicly. Designed by Dexter Moren Associates, 226 rooms with a Heavenly Spa overlooking the River Thames. The Westin Yokohama opens in June, 373 rooms in Yokohama's Minato Mirai 21 district, the city's newest lifestyle wellness hotel.
2024 — Launch of the next-generation Heavenly Bed in April, a multi-year redesign featuring a new plush-top mattress, innovative silver-weave cooling fabric, and updated oversized duvet, rolled out across all 240+ properties.
2024 — The Westin Bora Bora Resort & Spa reopens in September after a head-to-toe renovation and reflagging from Le Méridien, the first new resort to open in Bora Bora in eight years.
2025 — The Westin São Paulo opens, marking the brand's debut in Brazil's largest city. The Westin Palace, Madrid exits the Westin brand to join The Luxury Collection in March 2025 following a two-year restoration.

The houses to know

The Westin Bora Bora Resort & Spa, Bora Bora, French Polynesia — The island's largest overwater-bungalow resort, 128 overwater bungalows and 14 beach villas at the base of Mount Otemanu, reopened September 2024 after a complete renovation.
The Westin Maldives Miriandhoo Resort, Baa Atoll, Maldives — Miriandhoo’s Baa Atoll setting gives Westin its Maldivian island retreat.
The Westin Manila, Pasig, Philippines — The Ortigas Center opening brought Westin back to the Philippines in 2023.
The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort, Waimea, United States — WATG’s design connects the resort to its neighboring Mauna Kea hotel and the Kohala Coast.
The Westin Miyako Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan — The restored public rooms carry the Kyoto hotel’s long hospitality history into its hillside Higashiyama setting.
The Westin Perth, Perth, Australia — Hassell’s tower gives Westin a contemporary Perth home above Hibernian Place.
The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit, Detroit, United States — Louis Kamper’s 1924 tower gives Westin an Italian Renaissance landmark on Detroit’s Washington Boulevard.
The Westin Jackson, Jackson, United States — The hotel is in Jackson, United States.
The Westin Beach Resort at Frenchman's Reef, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands — Hillside over Charlotte Amalie's harbour, 1973, wrecked by Irma, Westin again in 2023.
The Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort, Fort Lauderdale, United States — The hotel is in Fort Lauderdale, United States.

Newest openings

The Westin Bora Bora Resort & Spa — Bora Bora, French Polynesia — reopened September 2024 — The island's most significant hospitality arrival in nearly a decade: a full reflagging of the former Le Méridien property following a head-to-toe renovation. Home to 128 overwater bungalows (the largest collection on the island, many with private plunge pools) and 14 beach villas on a private lagoon at the base of Mount Otemanu. The first resort to open in Bora Bora since 2017; on-property Eco Centre features rescued and rehabilitating sea turtles. (The Points Guy – Westin Bora Bora review, April 2025; Global Traveler – Grand Opening, September 2024)
The Westin São Paulo — São Paulo, Brazil — opened 2025 — The brand's debut in Latin America's largest city and a milestone in Westin's Latin American expansion. Located in the Itaim Bibi district within the JK Square mixed-use complex, 187 rooms including suites with balconies, owned and managed by Rede Deville. First Westin in Brazil.
The Westin Changsha — Changsha, China — opened late 2025 — A conversion property at No. 419 Shaoshan Middle Road in Yuhua District, 399 rooms, with direct connectivity to Shazitang metro station. Signed in August 2025 and opened by year-end, the property sits 3.6 km from He Long Sports Center. Part of Marriott's rapid premium-conversion strategy in Greater China.

Opening next

The Westin Ji'nan — Ji'nan, China — expected 2026 — Announced as part of Marriott's 2026 Greater China pipeline, this will be the Westin brand's debut in Shandong Province's capital.
The Westin Manila Sonata Place — Manila, Philippines — confirmed — Announced prior to 2022 and confirmed in pipeline tracking; the brand's first property in the Philippines. Status: announced / confirmed.
Westin Margaret River Resort & Spa — Margaret River, Western Australia — pipeline — A coastal resort in Western Australia's premium wine and surf region, with contributions from Christou Design Group and Emerge Associates; development status ongoing.
Broader pipeline (~49 properties globally) — Industry tracking data places Westin's global development pipeline at roughly 49 properties, with a concentration in Asia Pacific, the Middle East, and select European markets where the brand's premium wellness positioning commands premium rates. Specific openings for 2026–2028 have been announced in Vietnam, the Middle East, and multiple Chinese cities.