Starwood hotels hit by unrest in Libya, Bahrain

Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the US-based hotel chain, said occupancy rates in its Bahrain properties tumbled to as low as five percent following widespread unrest in the Gulf kingdom.

The company, which operates 63 properties in the MENA region and plans to open 41 more by 2014, has also been hit by uprisings in Libya, where it oversees two hotels.

We are in the heart of the city in Bahrain so we fall within the curfew zones and yes we are down to those levels [of occupancy],” said Neil George, vice president acquisitions and development.

“Our focus is on making sure our associates are safe, the building is safe and our assets are safe and our guests are safe.”

In Tripoli, the Four Points Sheraton is under “lock and key” while the under-construction Sheraton Tripoli, scheduled to open in September 2012, will “most likely be delayed”.

The company said Monday it would press ahead with hotel openings in countries such as Egypt, Syria and Jordan, despite ongoing turmoil in the region.

“We have 50 hotels today in the Middle East, 66 if you take the Middle East and North Africa and over the next few years we will probably add 25 more, that are already signed and under construction.,” George said. “We want to expand in markets where we see further potential, markets like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.”