Marriott plans Autograph Collection openings in Europe

Marriott’s newest hotel brand, the Autograph Collection, will make its debut in Europe with the opening of four hotels in Spain. The hotel company said it plans to have the Europe Autograph Collection open by May 2011.

The concept of Marriott‘s Autograph Collection has been a great success in the U.S. since it launched year. Independent boutique hotels, with a historical and elegant touch, join the collection to add rooms to Marriott portfolio and offer guests Marriott benefits. The U.S. hotels include the newly open Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, the Algonquin Hotel in New York and the Kessler Collection hotels in Orlando, Florida and Savannah, Georgia. As for Spain, travelers can look forward to the following:

  • AC Santo Mauro, Madrid, Spain: The first of two Madrid hotels will offer 50 rooms in an elegant late nineteenth-century building, which was once the residence of the Duke de Santo Mauro.
  • AC Palacio del Retiro, Madrid, Spain: The second Madrid hotel, also a 50-guestroom property – takes over a Spanish residence, complete with original mouldings, woodwork and stained-glass windows.
  • AC Palacio de Santa Paula, Granada, Spain: The 75-room AC Palacio de Santa Paula is located in the historic center of Granada and in what used to be the Santa Paula Convent, and within walking distance of La Alhambra.
  • AC Baqueira Hotel & Spa, Baqueira, Spain: For the more off-the-beaten-path traveler, 102-room AC Baqueira Hotel & Spa will be the first ski resort in Marriott International’s portfolio in Europe, located in Baqueira-Beret ski station near the Pyrenees.

Marriott’s Autograph Collection hits the Las Vegas Strip

The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, one of the most expensive hotels ever built, will undoubtedly add a bit of posh to the already flashy Las Vegas strip when it opens in December. But the bigger news: The Cosmo’s opening marks the entrance of Marriott into Las Vegas.

The hotel joins Marriott International’s Autograph Collection – a brand the hotel group launched last year as a way for unknown luxury hotels to maintain their boutique-like feel while tapping into the vast Marriott consumer database – and to date is one of the most high-profile hotels in the group. The Cosmopolitan will also be featured as a partner hotel on The Ritz-Carlton website.

It took $3.9 billion to build the Cosmopolitan, which will have 2,995 guestrooms once it is fully completed next year. The new luxury resort is located adjacent to CityCenter Las Vegas and is the Autograph Collection’s first casino resort.

[via HotelsMag.com]