Starwood Hotels & Resorts expands in South America

Starwood Hotels & Resorts is rapidly expanding its presence in South America, announcing plans to open three new properties in Peru. In a franchise agreement with Inmobiliaria Inversiones Nacionales de Turismo S.A., Starwood will open its first Westin hotel (scheduled to open in early 2010) in South America in Lima, Peru, as well as two Luxury Collection properties – one in Cusco, the capital of the ancient Inca Empire, and the other in the sacred valley of Urubamba, near the Inca trail to Machu Picchu. The rather lengthy-named Palacio del Inca Luxury Collection Libertador Hotel will open in Cusco in 2009, and the equally long Valle Sagrado Libertador Luxury Collection Hotel in Urubamba in 2010.