Aloft Hotels is a hotel chain based in North America, owned by Marriott International. The first hotel opened at the Trudeau International Airport in Montreal in 2008.[2] Aloft Hotels have since opened across North America and internationally. Most Aloft hotels are located in city centers or in close proximity to airports. As of April 9, 2023, the chain had 233 hotels.[1]
The brand is most notable for its modern architecture design style.[2] Another characteristic of Aloft hotels is the naming of basic hotel amenities. For example, in each hotel, the swimming pool is referred to as "splash".[3]
History
Aloft Hotels was conceived in 2005 by Amal Abdullah. The hotel chain already had several brands, including Sheraton, Westin, and W Hotels, but was looking to expand into a market of more contemporary hotels. To reflect its relationship with Starwood Hotels, the Aloft brand was dubbed "A Vision of W Hotels". Starwood worked with the architectural company Rockwell Group and its founder David Rockwell to come up with the design.[2][dead link]
To generate interest in the brand before its 2008 opening, Starwood launched a virtual tour of the hotels using Second Life,[4] which enables visitors to move through a typical Aloft Hotel and explore its aspects in detail. Starwood monitored statistics from the site, gauged public reception based upon visitors' opinions, and incorporated this information into the design of future Aloft Hotels.[4][dead link] Aloft became part of Marriott International in 2016 when Marriott acquired Starwood.[5]
In 2011 and 2012, 20 proposed locations were to open, including in Mexico, Thailand, Colombia, and England,[3] for a total of 66 Aloft locations. While positive for the hotel brand, this number was well short of an original anticipation to have 500 locations by 2012.[4]
In early 2013, the brand opened a 482-room property in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, making it the largest Aloft hotel in the world. The hotel includes a ballroom that can accommodate up to 1,000 people in a theatre setting.[13]
In September 2016, Aloft entered the Saudi Arabian market with a new hotel near the center of Riyadh.[15]
In December 2016, Aloft Long Island City-Manhattan View opened.[16]
In 2018, the new Mag Mile Hotel in Chicago, the largest with 435 rooms, updated the Aloft template, by integrating modern art, cutting-edge design, and floor-to-ceiling windows in the lobby.[17]
Public reception of Aloft Hotels has been mixed. The majority of opinions revolve around the two main aspects of the hotel brand: room prices, and the contemporary style. One critic has decried that Aloft Hotels have too much of a "cookie cutter" feel and use colors, shapes, and lingo to an overwhelming degree.[19]
