The St. Regis Aspen Resort

by Carolyn Sackariason, Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Friday, February 18, 2011

When Thosapong Jaruthavee came as a guest to the St. Regis Aspen, he liked it so much he decided to buy it and completely renovate the property.
Jaruthavee, an Asian hotelier and a partner in Bangkok-based OptAsia, the group that bought the St. Regis last September for $70 million, now plans to put $30 million into renovating the hotel.
“What’s a better guest testimony than they bought it?” said Kristi Kavanaugh-Bradley, director of sales and marketing for the St. Regis Aspen.
The hotel will close April 4 and reopen the weekend of the Food and Wine Classic, scheduled for June 17-19. However, the complete renovation will not be done until December. From mid-June until December, the hotel will have 90 rooms available. The bulk of the renovation will occur when the hotel is closed.
All 179 guest rooms will get a complete overhaul, including removing the existing bathrooms and inserting separate showers and stand-alone bathtubs. The rooms also will have new lighting, flooring and free-standing beds wrapped in leather.
The last time the St. Regis was renovated was in 2004, when the Remede Spa and residences were added, as well rooms over Aspen Sports.
Perhaps the most essential upgrade will be a complete physical renovation of the front office, concierge area, lobby and Shadow Mountain Lounge, said St. Regis Aspen General Manager Senih Geray.
Once the renovation is complete, luggage carts and bellman services will be moved to the back of the house so that activity no longer impedes circulation and flow when entering the hotel.
“That clutter will no longer be in the lobby,” Geray said.
Kavanaugh-Bradley noted that Asian hoteliers have for years been recognized as leaders in offering a superior guest experience. Part of that is because they make sure the service aspect of operating a property is not visible, she said.
People relax in the lounge area of the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen on Thursday afternoon. Renovations to the hotel will see it closed April 4, reopening the weekend of the Food and Wine Classic, running June 17-19. Complete renovations will not be done until December.
When Jaruthavee bought the hotel, he had a certain vision in mind for it but at the same time, he has been working with the locally-based management team to make sure the renovation stays in line with the Aspen community’s needs.
That means the large courtyard in the middle of the property will remain as-is so it can be a venue for large events, Kavanaugh-Bradley said.
“We’re protecting that space,” Kavanaugh-Bradley said. “We’ve had a tremendous opportunity to weigh in.”
The courtyard also will feature outdoor seating off the lounge for both apres and summer dining.
Laurent Rottet, owner of Rottet Studio, has been retained as the designer of the project, and local architects Sarah Broughton and John Rowland have been hired for the interior remodeling.
The current restaurant will close and be turned into a catering space. A new restaurant will be located in the space where Whiskey Rocks once lived. The new restaurant is scheduled to open in December and will provide al fresco dining in the summer, a fireplace and a Mill Street entrance.
A new library will be added to the lobby space currently occupied by telephone vestibules. The library will feature bookshelves, sofas, game tables and a fireplace.
The downstairs ballroom will be remodeled and designed in the spirit of the Gilded Age, which is when the founder of the St. Regis, John Jacob Astor, first established the hotel in New York in 1904.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc., the entity that sold the hotel, has a 50-year management agreement to continue operating the hotel as a St. Regis.
Geray said it’s a healthier arrangement to not have the same company own and operate a property. With a separate owner, Starwood now can focus on what it does best — manage the property and sell the St. Regis brand, Geray said.
Relieving itself of owned properties has been Starwood’s business strategy for a few years.
The hotel opened in 1992 as a Ritz-Carlton and the upcoming renovation will be the third in the property’s history.
Kavanaugh-Bradley said beginning in April, a sales effort dubbed “Say Good-bye to An Old Friend” will be launched.
People relax in the lounge area of the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen on Thursday afternoon. Renovations to the hotel will see it closed April 4, reopening the weekend of the Food and Wine Classic, running June 17-19. Complete Renovations will note be done until December.

Winter 2008/2009 Contact: Shannon Huddy
Public Relations Manager
(970) 544-7184
[email]Shannon.huddy@stregis.com[/email]

FACT SHEET - The St. Regis Aspen Resort Green Initiatives

Implementation
The St. Regis Aspen Resort formed a Green Committee in March 2008. The committee is made up of 16 employees representing each department of the hotel. The committee meets monthly to brainstorm on innovative ways increase the hotel's efficiency and staff awareness of environmental issues. The Green Committee is an evolution of the former Energy Committee, which was formed in 2000.

Energy Conservation
 Solar E-Tubes - The resort is nearing completion on a large capital investment in solar Evacuation Tube technology, which will decrease the hotel's dependence on natural gas. Using the sun's energy, the over 1300 solar e-tubes mounted on the hotel's main building roof will heat a liquid solution in vacuum tubes, which resemble copper and glass torpedoes, to temperatures above boiling point at the tips of the tubes. A water and glycol solution will then circulate around the tops of the tubes and tie in to the resort's domestic water preheat loop through the use of heat exchangers. There it will provide heat for domestic water for sinks and showers, and the heated pool and whirlpool. Any excess solar capacity will go into a domestic water storage tank that is being converted to accept and store over 2800 gallons of solar heated water -- dispensing it to the guestrooms at the programmed temperature as needed by means of a sophisticated electronic mixing valve.
 3-way Compact Fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) are currently in all guest rooms, which totals to approximately 2,150 light bulbs. Before the switchover, if all lights in a guest room were on, those bulbs would use 1,055 watts of electricity. With the new CFLs, the maximum wattage used is 173 - an improvement of over 600% less lighting energy.
 CFLs are used in all meeting room and ballroom can lights
 CFLs are used in all corridor sconces.
 T-8 Fluorescent Tubes are used in all offices.
 The hotel uses energy-efficient, low-voltage bulbs in its landscape lighting.
 The hotel provides subsidized bus passes to all employees to encourage use of mass transit. Employees pay only $100 (which is 20 percent of cost) for six months worth of bus transit between Rifle and Aspen.
 A sophisticated ozone generation system, an effective germicide, enables ninety percent of laundry loads to be washed in cold water. Banquet linen, which accounts for 10 percent, is washed in warm water.
 A product called HeatSavr is used in the outdoor pool to reduce heat loss to evaporation (acts like a thermal blanket).
 Many of the major motors in the hotel's central plant have variable frequency drives (VFDs), which run the motor speed by set parameters, instead of running at full speed all the time.
 The hotel's cooling plant has recently been upgraded to make maximum use of the cool air from outside to cool the building, using chillers only when it is too warm outside to cool the building through natural means.
 A sophisticated building automation system (BAS) maximizes building equipment efficiencies, schedules heating and cooling (HVAC), turns lighting on and off, and activates snowmelt systems.
 An energy-saving hood system called Intellihood, which was installed in May 2008, uses hood fans based upon VFD parameters that run at a lower voltage unless they sense smoke and heat.
 Windows on the lobby level and bridge have been tinted with a high quality solar film to screen out ultraviolet light and reduce cooling loads.
 Computers and monitors are set to turn to low energy settings after just a few minutes of inactivity.
 Motion detectors, which automatically turn off lights when there is no activity, have been installed in approximately 60 percent of the back-of-house (BOH). An ongoing program is in place to install monitors in the remaining BOH areas.

Water Conservation
 High efficiency toilets that use only 1.28 gallons of water per flush (the most water conscious available) were recently installed in all guest rooms. The standard for low flush toilets is 1.6 gallons. These new toilets save more water and, remarkably, work better than the 3.5 gallon-per-flush models they replaced.
 A new program is in place to provide guests with the option to decide whether they'd like their linens changed.

Recycling/Reducing
 The hotel recycles glass, paper, plastic, aluminum, printer cartridges, electronic waste, batteries and cardboard.
 The hotel uses 100% post consumer "Aspen" brand office paper from Boise Cascade.
 Double-sided printing is used wherever possible. Daily reports such as the Next Day Arrival Report are always printed in this manner.
 The hotel practices a "paperless" front office as much as possible, having converted many processes, including guest profiles, preferences and folios, to an electronic format.
 Used grease from our kitchen is remanufactured into bio-diesel through an arrangement with a local company.
 Pallets are saved and stored for pick-up and reuse.
 Re-useable, washable cups are now used in the staff dining room, reducing the waste from the disposable cups previously used.

Cleaning Products/Practices
 The hotel uses an eco-friendly carpet cleaning service, Dwell Carpet, that uses non toxic cleaning solutions that contain no hazardous components as defined under the criteria of the Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration. These chemicals are the greenest in the industry. Dwell Carpet also builds its own efficient cleaning machines that use less water than conventional cleaning machines.
 The hotel uses an eco-catalyst that is not harmful to the environment to keep drains clear.
 Zero Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paints are used throughout the hotel. These paints contain none of the potent chemical odors typically associated with fresh paints.
 The housekeeping department uses Eco-Lab window cleaner and air freshener to clean all guest rooms.

Future Endeavors
The following items are initiatives that The St. Regis Aspen Resort is researching and hopes to implement in the future.

 A Starwood initiative to install recycling containers in individual guestrooms will be complete by summer 2009.

Memberships/Accreditations
 Aspen ZGreen business
 Member of Green Hotels of America
 Member of the Colorado Association for Recycling

[url]http://www.elitemeetings.com/property/st-regis-aspen/[/url]

http://www.elitemeetings.com/property/st-regis-aspen/

ASPEN, Colorado - Aspen is the ultimate meeting venue, and the St. Regis Aspen Resort offers the finest incentive. The hotel, part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts, is ideally located at the base of Aspen Mountain in the heart of a world-class, year-round destination. With 179 elegant guestrooms and suites, 25 two- and three-bedroom residences, and the luxurious Remde Spa, the St. Regis Aspen Resort promises a memorable event. Whether hosting an elaborate corporate launch, a small boardroom meeting or an elegant wedding, the St. Regis Aspen Resorts anticipatory service and luxurious surroundings ensure success.

Meeting Facilities
As Aspens largest conference venue, the hotel hosts gatherings of up to 1,000 people in its more than 20,000 square feet of meeting space. The St. Regis Ballroom, the largest meeting facility in Aspen, accommodates up to 750 guests. The luxurious surroundings provide a magnificent backdrop for business or social gatherings during any season of the year. Automobile access is available in the ballroom. Newly renovated, the Aspen Room, complete with a cozy fireplace, offers a warm, intimate venue for parties of up to 250 people or seated dinners for up to 120 people. The Aspen Room is located on the lobby level of the resort, adjacent to Olives Aspen restaurant.

The Business Center
The Business Center offers four workstations for computer access, additional working areas, and a television monitor to provide guests with ongoing financial news and reports. The business center provides guests with complimentary high-speed Internet access. Services available at the Business Center include ISDN line rental, computer rental and DSL installation " with two DSL lines available for groups. The hotel offers 24-hour business services. In addition, all guestrooms offer complimentary WIFI access, and some rooms are equipped with printers.

Professional Meeting Services
The St. Regis group of hotels is known for its trademark superlative service. A professional conference services manager works with each meeting planner to implement every detail of a groups event. Each group receives the personalized attention of its own concierge to organize anything from outdoor recreational activities to a unique night out on the town.

Group Technology: StarGroups and Reservation Connections
StarGroups, a signature Starwood program, offers personalized, complimentary Web sites for meetings and events. A St. Regis conference services manager creates this customized Web site, including logos and images, welcome messaging and any related links. The page has a unique URL which can be sent to attendees or posted within the company web site. Features of this complimentary service include:

- Event and destination information such as dining options, transportation and local weather.
- The ability for attendees to make, modify and cancel reservations 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
- Instant booking confirmation via e-mail.
- Secure access to real-time group reports, such as pick up versus block, anytime, from anywhere.
- Ability to create a click through e-mail blast to direct late bookers to StarGroups page.

Reservation Connection, another signature Starwood program, provides seamless reservation integration between Starwood and the third party housing bureaus Passkey and Travel Planners. Any meeting planner also now has the ability to send an Excel-formatted rooming list directly to a Starwood property through a secure website. This rooming list is processed into StarLink and then transferred through IPS directly into the Property Management System (PMS).

With Reservation Connection groups can:
- Transfer reservations minutes after cut-off.
- Eliminate errors associated with manual data-entry.
- Upload group reservations with the click of a mouse.
- Upload complete rooming lists with over 1000 reservations in less than 2 hours.
- Improve attendee satisfaction with more accurate reservations.
- Eliminate the need for paper rooming lists.
- Provide a meeting planner with a property rooming list and confirmation in a timely fashion.

Wedding Planning and Catering Services
The St. Regis Aspen Resort wedding coordinators plan weddings with the care and attention they would give to their own. They create tailored events and can fulfill any request. The resorts experienced staff work to offer a truly memorable day with a variety of indoor and outdoor spaces. The wedding coordinators plan all types of wedding events, including rehearsal dinners, bridesmaid luncheons, day-after brunches, and even the occasional rock stars bachelor party.

The resorts on-location catering services provide the highest-quality food and drink for private functions of all sizes. Executive Chef Patrick Dahms creates specific menus to cater to guests every need. St. Regis Aspen works with both on- and off-site venues to create unique memories in the Aspen area.

The Town
A town distinguished by its long and rich history, Aspen is the ideal place to host a meeting. Aspen is known for world-class skiing as well as arts and cultural events year round. Musicians from around the world travel to Aspen to perform opera, jazz, blues, classical music and works by contemporary composers at the summer music festivals. Nobel laureates lead lectures at the Aspen Institute and modern-day Picassos teach workshops at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center. Aspens cultural scene has continued to grow and now spans dance, theatre, history, literature and music. Shopping, dining, and galleries rival big cities, with more than 80 restaurants and bars, over 160 retail shops and more than 30 art galleries.

Recreational Activities
There are numerous outdoor activities for groups to enjoy throughout the seasons, including golf, fly-fishing, paragliding, hot air ballooning, rafting, hiking, biking, cross country and Nordic skiing, ice skating and more. The St. Regis Aspens concierges will gladly arrange any activity. Aspen Sports, located at the St. Regis Aspen, is a year-round recreation and sport activity center that provides ski, bike, and fly-fishing rentals as well as retail. Aspen Outfitting located in the lobby offers fly-fishing and clay-shooting instruction as well as horseback riding and bird watching tours.

The St. Regis Aspen Resort was named one of the top five mountain resorts and top 20 hotels in North America by Cond Nast Traveler, one of the top 25 resorts in North America by the Zagat Survey of Fine Hotels & Resorts, and one of the top 10 ski hotels in the world in 2007 by Cond Nast Traveler readers. With an elegant mountain dcor and signature superlative service, the St. Regis Aspen Resort offers its guests the best that this mountain retreat has to offer. For reservations or more information, call 1-888-454-9005 or 970-920-3300 or visit the website at www.stregis.com/aspen.

Contact: Shannon Huddy
St. Regis Public Relations
(970) 544-7184
Shannon.huddy@stregis.com

Aspen, Colo. " St. Regis Aspen has forged a new relationship with local non-profits through a special promotion this spring. The hotel is supporting Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club, Aspen Valley Medical Foundation, Aspen Music Festival and School, and Jazz Aspen-Snowmass this spring by donating 10 percent of proceeds from special room rates to these organizations. Through May 31, 2008, each room booked under organization-specific promotion codes nets that non-profit 10 percent of a special $195 room rate the hotel is offering.

St. Regis Aspen continually looks for way to reach out to the community, says St. Regis General Manager Senih Geray. Our local non-profits do so much for the people in our Valley. This program is the hotels way of supporting these important organizations.

Throughout the year, St. Regis Aspen will also offer local non-profits complimentary use of its board room on a space-available basis, and provide favorable rates to non-profit organizations holding events held at the hotel.

In addition to enjoying the special $195 rate for a luxurious room including complimentary valet parking, guests participating in this promotion can take advantage of a 20 percent discount on select services at Remde Spa and $29 nightly specials at Olives restaurant. Hotel amenities include a heated outdoor pool and whirlpools, the tranquil Remde Spa, a fitness room, Olives Aspen restaurant, Shadow Mountain Lounge and the cozy Astor Library.

St Regis Aspen, Remde Spa and Olives remain open throughout the off-season. Through May 2, Remdes hours are 11 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. From May 3 through June 7, the spa is open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. on Saturdays, and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday through Friday. Through May 13, Olives is open for breakfast and lunch daily and for dinner Wednesday through Sunday. Nightly dinner service resumes on May 14.

For more information or room and dinner reservations, call 970-920-3300. For spa service bookings, call 970-429-9038. www.stregisaspen.com, www.remede.com
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April 24, 2008
Contact: Jeanette Darnauer
Darnauer Group
(970) 925-9010
jeanette@darnauer.com