Stamford, Connecticut-based Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (a subsidiary of Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott International), is scheduled to open the Hotel Inglaterra on 1 December 2017 in the city of Havana, Republic of Cuba. The Hotel Inglaterra will be amongst the company's 122-property The Luxury Collection.

On 16 March 2016, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide reported that the company would in 2016 manage two (2) properties in the Republic of Cuba- the Hotel Quinta Avenida (rebranded as Four Points Sheraton Havana on 27 June 2016) and Hotel Inglaterra; and had signed a Letter of Intent to manage a third property, Hotel Santa Isabel.

No reason(s) has been provided for the twenty-one month delay in implementing the management contract for the Hotel Inglaterra or the signing of a management contract for the Hotel Santa Isabel.

"HAVANA--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (“Starwood”) (NYSE:HOT) today signed three new hotel deals in Cuba, marking the first U.S. based hospitality company to enter the market in nearly 60 years. This announcement follows receipt of authorization from the U.S. Treasury Department for Starwood to operate hotels in Cuba. Long-time Havana icon, Hotel Inglaterra, will join The Luxury Collection and Hotel Quinta Avenida will become a Four Points by Sheraton. Both hotels will undergo renovations before raising their new brand flags later in 2016. The Company also announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent to convert the famed Hotel Santa Isabel into a member of The Luxury Collection."

The three properties to be managed by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide are owned by Republic of Cuba government-operated Gaviota SA., controlled by Republic of Cuba government-operated Grupo de Administracion Empresarial S.A. (Enterprise Management Group), or GAESA, which is, in turn, controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of the Republic of Cuba (FAR).

Marriott International, before acquiring Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, reported in 2016 that it was exploring property management opportunities in the Republic of Cuba.

Economic Eye On Cuba

Starwood Delays One Hotel And Has Not Commented Upon Another

U.S. - Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc.