First Westin hotel in Xian opens

The first Westin hotel in Xian, China, has opened for business. The Westin Xian includes 329 rooms as well as 32 one- and two-bedroom apartments. The property is the first in the Westin collection to have its own museum — the 70,000-square-foot Xian Qujiang Museum of Fine Arts houses more than 2,000 ancient Chinese artifacts. The property, located across from the 1,400-year-old Big Wild Goose Pagoda, also has five restaurants and lounges as well as about 35,000 square feet of meeting space. Westin parent Starwood Hotels & Resorts is banking on demand from one of the fastest-growing cities in China’s so-called secondary urban markets. Revenue per available room (RevPAR) at Xian’s hotels for the 11 months through last November jumped 17% from a year earlier, according to Smith Travel Research. Only Xiamen, Shenyang and Chengdu had faster RevPAR growth rates among China’s secondary cities, STR said. Starwood has 13 Westin hotels in China, with the Westin Xiamen scheduled to open by the end of the month.