Rosewood Hotels & Resorts is an international luxury hotel and resort company operating 31 hotels in 16 countries, currently owned by Hong Kong-based Rosewood Hotel Group (formerly New World Hospitality and rebranded in May 2013). It was founded in Dallas in 1979 by Caroline Rose Hunt, the daughter of oil tycoon H. L. Hunt. The company was sold by Rosewood Corp. and Maritz, Wolff & Co. in 2011 to New World Hospitality for $229 million, along with five of the properties that were sold for $570 million.[3][4]
History
Foundation
Rosewood was founded by Hunt in 1979, who wished to create residential-style luxury hotels with attentive personalized services.[5] A year later, Hunt converted the mansion of Texas cotton magnate Sheppard King into Rosewood's first hotel, The Mansion on Turtle Creek, located in the upscale Turtle Creek neighborhood.[6][7][8]
Acquisition
Hong Kong-based company Rosewood Hotel Group (formerly New World Hospitality and rebranded in May 2013) is a subsidiary of Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, a privately owned Hong Kong-based company. Previously, Rosewood Hotel Group was the hotel management arm of New World China Land, a subsidiary of New World Group. The company announced in June 2011 that it had signed a purchase and sale agreement to acquire Rosewood Hotels & Resorts from Rosewood Corp. and Maritz, Wolff & Co. The Chief Executive Officer of Rosewood Hotel Group, Sonia Cheng, stated the deal "represents a strategic direction for our company to establish a robust presence in the international luxury hospitality arena and, particularly with our strong Asia base, Rosewood will be positioned for substantially accelerated global growth."[9][10] The deal was completed on July 29, 2011, with Rosewood Hotel Group stating in a press release that Rosewood would operate as the ultra-luxury brand of its business and that the company was looking to double the size of Rosewood's property portfolio within five years.[11] The company uses Canary Technologies for its check-in and check-out software, so that guests can do so virtually.[12]