St. Regis hotel opens amid struggling economy

It’s a tough time to be a hotelier, but Paul James is taking the long view.

James, the global brand leader for St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, said opening one of Starwood Hotels’ marquee lodgers in Buckhead on Tuesday was a cause for joy, not consternation.

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BRANT SANDERLIN / bsanderlin@ajc.com

The 151-room St. Regis held a grand opening ceremony that featured a bottle of champagne being broken by a sword.

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“You don’t build a hotel for what it will do in the next six months,” he said, adding that lodging is cyclical and downturns are to be expected.

Atlanta hotels have struggled with the recession, with occupancy down and revenue falling. Luxury brands have taken a beating from the absence of business travelers, one of the segment’s most loyal customers.

The 151-room St. Regis, Atlanta’s latest luxury hotel, opened Tuesday with the traditional champagne saber — breaking the bottle of bubbly with a sword — and a host of dignitaries.

“I salute the team that has brought us this handsome property,” Buckhead Coalition president and former mayor Sam Massell said.

James said hoteliers — especially luxury brands — are very strategic in where they build. When Starwood first started talking to developers about bringing the St. Regis to Atlanta about five years ago, officials considered the city a good fit because the luxury market had few players and because of the city’s Fortune 500 companies.

Those same principles exist today, James said, despite the recession and the addition of a few more luxury nameplates in the intervening years. Success is dictated more by the fit with the market, not any particular economic climate.

“Atlanta is such a commercial club,” James said, adding that St. Regis-Atlanta is only the chain’s 16th hotel. “We only want to be in key cities, capital cities that can support this brand.”