Before Aloft Gets off Ground, Ross Klein Leaves Starwood for Hilton

Mere weeks before its new high-design/low-cost hotel chain known as “aloft” welcomes its first guests, Starwood Hotels has lost Ross Klein, the president of its luxury brands group, which includes the W Hotels, St. Regis, and The Luxury Collection brands. He was also the concept and creative lead for aloft, the new division of W that is expected to reach as many as 500 hotels worldwide by 2012. Klein’s resignation, the New York Post‘s Page Six reported on Sunday, came after months of battling with Starwood president and CEO Frits van Paasschen.