People in Glass Houses...

In the past 38 months, no fewer than 38 new hotel brands have been introduced in the US, according to a recent report from PricewaterhouseCoopers. The luxury end now includes Baccarat Hotels, a brand that promises to bring to life “the legendary history of Baccarat Crystal ... through stunning visions of architecture and design.” Starwood Capital Group (unaffiliated with Starwood Hotels) actually acquired 86% of the exclusive French crystal maker for €2.6 billion in 2005, so it makes perfect sense to us that they use the brand name on their new, super-luxury properties. The first Baccarat Hotel is slated to open in 2010 in Maui, to be followed by Anguilla and Atlanta. If you can’t wait that long, you’ll have to make do with a visit to Baccarat’s Cristal Room restaurants in Paris and Moscow, or B Bars in Tokyo and Osaka. (Other interesting luxury extensions in the hotel category include the Vera Wang Suite at the Halekulani Hotel and Palazzo Versace, which won first and second place respectively in our 2006 extension survey.)