“We are seriously considering rebranding the hotel,” Sonia Nastase, the general manager of Howard Johnson, told Mediafax Thursday.
She declined to comment on a possible rebranding to Sheraton.
Former four-star hotel Dorobanti, with 285 rooms, was reopened under the Howard Johnson brand at the beginning of 2004, following an investment of about EUR30 million. The hotel is indirectly owned by businessman Radu Dimofte, who also controls hotels Ramada Parc and Ramada Plaza in northern Bucharest.
Over 500 hotels worldwide operate under the Sheraton brand.
In 2008, firm Sigma Towers signed a partnership with Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide to open a five-star Sheraton hotel in Cluj. The hotel will be opened on January 1, 2016, according to Starwood Hotels’ website.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is one of the world’s largest hotel operators. It is present in about 100 countries and employs 171,000 people. The company also owns brands Le Méridien, Westin and Four Points.
The group is listed in New York and reported revenue of $4.6 billion for the first nine months of 2013, down 3.9% on the year. Starwood Hotels has a market capitalization of $14.4 billion.