Aloft returns, re-invented. One of the first brands ever to enter Second Life, the Aloft concept by Starwood Hotels is re-launching their hotel on Tues 8th May.

Aloft was arguably the brand pioneer in using SL as a market research tool, encouraging feedback from virtual visitors on layouts, colour-schemes and configurations from their island which have been received and analysed by Starwood employees.

The soon to be re-opened Aloft island will be showcasing the new hotel design based on the market research.The launch party takes place on the 8th at 5pm PST.

Interestingly, despite being one of the first brands into SL, Aloft scored very poorly in a recent Reperes study on the perception of brands in SL. I would attibute this primarily to the fact that the bulk of the sample used for the research was comprised of residents who joined in the last quarter – as this time period has been the greatest uplift in residents – and they simply were not aware of Aloft.

Strategically, this is important news because it demonstrates that Starwood Hotels has successfully received valuable research from their initial SL campaign which is now being used to drive the re-freshed initiative.

Brian McGuinness, Vice President of aloft hotels was quoted as saying,

“The Second Life community has been highly influential in our development process. At aloft, we are open in personality, open in design and open to adventure – much like the residents of Second Life. Whether we are knocking down real walls or virtual walls, our goal is to provide business and leisure travelers with the next generation in hotel accommodations.”