St. Regis Turning Down The Linen For America's Cup

The boats are getting wet in a few days, and the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) loyalty program and Starwood’s St. Regis Hotels & Resorts division are partnering with the America's Cup as official hotel and resort. The 34th Annual America’s Cup weighs anchor on July 4 in San Francisco. 

The "official supplier" tie-in means hotel guests and members of parent company's SPG program get exclusive perks like access to boats and sailors. They also get access to the America’s Cup Pavilion and some activations at the St. Regis.

Chris Holdren, SVP at Starwood Preferred Guest, said affluent guests are into hoisting the canvas and eyeing a binnacle now and then. “We know our SPG members have a deep passion for sports like championship racing,” he said, in a statement. 

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One activation under Starwood's "SPG Moments" platform gives the highest bidding member (bidding closed Monday) and a guest boarding passes to an Umpire Rigid Inflatable Boat for all of the day’s races on either Aug. 7 or Aug. 10 through something called the Guest Chaser Moment. 

Also biddable, per the company, are season passes and access to the VIP hospitality club onshore.

The SPG Experience, which is at America’s Cup Park near the Embarcadero and is open to hotel guests during the two-week long race, will include a promotional sweeps -- though the affluent at that level would be loath to use that term. The program dangles a grand prize of one week vacation to any Starwood around the globe as well as other prizes including free night awards, per the company.

The St. Regis hotel chain will also have a limited-edition "St. Regis Aficionado" experience that, per the company, includes access to a private SPG member America’s Cup reception at The St. Regis in Fog City, as well an exclusive meet and greet with one of the America’s Cup competitors. That property includes some on-site activation, including themed drinks, and spa services with names like "All Hands On Deck Massage" (no, don't go there). 

There are some mobile gangways to the race for SPG members not bunking at St. Regis: a #BringMeSPG hashtag offers a chance to get Club72 tickets to the America’s Cup finals care of SPG, or a “St. Regis On the Water”experience including two nights at St. Regis’ beachfront properties.

The race has a raft (pun intended) of major sponsors above the supplier-level position where St. Regis participates. Those include Oracle, Louis Vuitton ( official timing sponsor), Puma, Lexus, Kaiser Permanente, and Chuck Schwab. Other supplier-level participants are Moet, Panasonic, Napa Valley, Red Bull, Garmin, and Nespresso.

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