Developing a new hotel concept takes years but Starwood has decided to start building a market for their new chain aloft now by creating a new island in the virtual gaming world Second Life. Over the next two months, the development company which is building the virtual hotel will share their experiences in a blog. This open sharing of plans and encouragement of feedback matches the socialability of brand image planned by Starwood for aloft, targeted to young business professionals who want to socialize when they travel. From the overview press release:

The public spaces are designed to draw guests from their rooms with a communal lobby and bar, which provide a cozy space to grab a drink with friends, read the paper, or work on your laptop via wireless access. In the backyard; an open-air area, guests can socialize outdoors or attend aloft events.

Virtual Aloft: Welcome to the developers report, 2006-Jul-24, by Cory Edo (via ClickZ)

The goal of the "aloft in SL" project is to create a virtual aloft hotel within Second Life. Throughout this project, I’ll be blogging about the creation process – how we start a project, what issues we run into, how we implement concepts, and how it all comes together at the end to create a functional and beautiful space that not only achieves the goals of the client, but delights and inspires those that visit it as well.