W Hotels and Bliss Spas have been an unshakable combination for Starwood Hotels. But after a tough year for the travel and tourism industry Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. has sold off the Bliss spa unit for $100 million to Steiner Leisure Limited. The Bliss and Remede brands will stay at the Starwood's W Hotels and St. Regis Hotels. Bloomberg News quotes Chief Executive Officer Frits Van Paasschen who said during a conference call in October that the company was looking at "assets that are non-core or that are so attractive that we can still get a good multiple."

The Bliss spa brand was founded in 1996 in New York City. The brand quickly grew and has become famous for its playful approach ot beauty and skin care treatments. The Bliss brand includes not just the Bliss and Remede spas but also branded products. Bliss products are also sold outside the spas through an e-commerce and catalog business and distribution in Sephora and many major department stores.

The brand is a natural fit for Steiner Leisure Limited which is a provider of spa services. The company operates spas and salons on 126 cruise ships and in 51 resort spas and two luxury day spas for brands that include Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Harrah's Entertainment, Hilton Hotels, Holland America Line, InterContinental Hotels and Resorts, Marriott Hotels and many others. Steiner Leisure also owns and operates five schools that offer degree and non-degree programs in massage therapy and,skin care, training spa professionals for health and beauty positions at Steiner spas and salons.

We write about hotels when they enter foreclosure and its nice to see that some of them get out of it too. The W Scottsdale hotel in Arizona has announced a resolution to its battle with contractors and with its lender HSH Nordbank AG. The hotel's developer, Los Angeles-based Triyar Cos., has paid off the hotel's $82 million mortgage for an undisclosed amount. Lawsuits between Triyar, Nordbank and general contractor Hunt Construction Corp. were dropped. The Wall Street Journal reports that Triyar Chief Executive Michael Mahoney said that hotel is the first to "successfully come out of the situation with the whole project restructured without the need for bankruptcy or foreclosure." It's a pretty neat feat at a time when the number of hotels in foreclosure is reaching an unprecedented height. Details on how Triyar did it haven't been revealed but Mahoney said the developer put together money and an outside investor chipped in. The hotel remains open and has a variety of special offers available include an offer that when you stay two or three nights the second or third night will be charged at a rate equal to your birth year (for example, if you were born in 1970, your first night would be $269 but your second night is only $70).

W Hotels Worldwide just unveiled its first ever hotel in South America, W Santiago and The Residences at W Santiago in Chile. The W brand's 33rd hotel, W Santiago is the cornerstone of a larger, mixed-use complex, Isidora 3000, which includes a convention center, boutique office space, and high-end retail shops in addition to the W Hotel and W-branded residences. Developed by the Territoria Group, W Santiago is located in the heart of the fashionable El Golf district of the Chilean capital city and surrounded by the magnificent peaks of the Andes. Renowned New York designer Tony Chi partnered with native Chilean designer Sergio Echeverria to create cutting edge interiors for the hotel and residences that are a cool, contemporary take on the varied Chilean landscape. The property features several restaurants and bars as well as a rooftop pool overlooking the city lights (above).

Since the W Hotels brand launched in 1998 their properties have featured a reinterpretation of the classic hotel Presidential Suite, dubbed the Extreme Wow Suite. Now W has commissioned Paris-based architect / designer Patrick Jouin to create the Extreme Wow Suite of the future, taking technologically advanced customization to the max. The resulting design includes hidden details and elements of surprise in addition to every imaginable luxury. The main feature of the suite is a large pod (above) housing a bathtub that can move around to capture different views, containing movable screens that will display greeting messages, time, temperature and information on the location city. The concept suite was just unveiled in Sao Paolo, Brazil as part of a special touring exhibition entitled "Le Paris de Patrick Jouin."

As part of World AIDS day today, W Hotels has announced that it will be the official hotel partner of (RED)WIRE, the new online music magazine by (RED). Applying the (RED) idea to music, (RED)WIRE helps to buy lifesaving medicine and other services for those living with HIV/AIDS in Africa by contributing a portion of the proceeds from memberships to the Global Fund, which works to help eliminate AIDS globally. Subscribers will pay for a subscription that will entitle them to exclusive tracks from artists including U2, John Legend, The Killers, Kid Rock and Coldplay. Half of the money goes directly to Africa and half goes to the artists and the music company.

All W Hotels in the United States will be giving guests access to a free, two week membership to (RED)WIRE during the month of December and will feature a (RED)WIRE package that includes a six month membership, Through December 2009, W Hotels" (RED)WIRE package will include in addition to accommodations, a limited edition USB drive featuring beautiful (PRODUCT)RED-inspired artwork from African artist Joseph Amedokpo, which connects guests to exclusive content on (RED)WIRE, a six month (RED)WIRE membership and a special bonus track from (RED)WIRE artist John Legend as well as two INSPI(RED) cocktails.

To celebrate its 20th anniversary this fall, the San Diego Automotive Museum (SDAM) is staging a a $75 million Ferrari exhibition. Ferrari: Cavallino Rampante will run from October 1st through the end of the year. Over 30 classic Ferraris will be on display, some for the very first time, during the exhibit which is being mounted in partnership with the Ferrari Owners Club of America.

SDAM will host a variety of events during the three-month show, including a two day Autostrada dei Deserto (From Shore to Sands) rally on Oct. 10-11 complete with a lavish party at the chic W Hotel San Diego. The first half of the exhibit will feature historic racing Ferraris, and the second half will focus on classic touring vehicles including a 1963 Ferrari 250 GT/L "Lusso", valued at over $2.5 million, and the beautiful 1965 275 GTB pictured above. See the gallery for more.

As my colleague Deidre Woollard noted the other day, Istanbul has become something of a hotspot for foriegn brands. In addition to the Christian Dior boutique she wrote about, Marc Jacobs, Chloé, Bottega Veneta and Jimmy Choo have all recently opened shops in the Besiktas district, aka the SoHo of Istanbul. The centerpiece of the neighborhood is undoubtedly Starwood's new W Istanbul (which she mentioned as well). This is the first European outpost for W, the fastest growing luxury hotel brand in the world with 22 properties and 18 more in development. Here's a tour of the hip new hotel which W constructed out of a row of beautiful 1870s townhouses. The W Istanbul features 134 luxurious guest rooms including 26 suites -- many with their own private gardens, terraces and cabanas -- a branch of chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's New York hotspot Spice Market, a sexy Sip Lounge bar, and a signature spa. It also boasts spectacular views of the Bosphorus, the renowned waterway between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara.

[via UrbanDaddy]