STAMFORD, Conn.—Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide announced the debut of Aloft Tucson University. The opening also marks the completion of another Aloft conversion project, helping to accelerate the brand’s global growth. Owned by Starwood Hotels, the former Four Points by Sheraton property underwent a significant renovation to reposition it as an Aloft hotel. Catering to next generation travelers, Aloft Tucson University offers 154 loft-like rooms.
“We are thrilled to debut the Aloft brand in Tucson, a vibrant city for both students and young professionals who appreciate the Aloft brand’s style aesthetic and buzzing social scene,” said Brian McGuinness, senior vice president, specialty select brands for Starwood. “Conversion projects like this one are becoming an increasingly important growth channel for the Aloft brand, allowing us to enter even more markets, more quickly as we move closer to the 75th hotel milestone.”
Adjacent to the University of Arizona campus, the hotel offers an outdoor pool, w xyz bar, 24-hour fitness center, and 1,723 square feet of flexible meeting space. Aloft Tucson University is one of several Aloft conversion projects including Aloft San Francisco Airport, Aloft Nashville West End, and the Aloft Dallas Downtown – an adaptive re-use project that transformed a historic railroad depot into an Aloft hotel.
“This is the second Aloft conversion, following the recent opening of Aloft SFO, that Starwood has undertaken on at one of our owned properties,” said Simon Turner, Starwood’s president of global development. “We are great believers in the conversion opportunity for the Aloft brand and we have had very positive feedback from developers who have seen what we have accomplished. These two conversion projects have proven that a fully on-brand Aloft can be created from an existing hotel property at a cost that provides attractive returns to owners.”
