Following American Apparel into Second Life, Starwood Hotels is launching a new hotel line in the MMORPG before the first hotel opens in the real world.  They are documenting the progress of the build (due to open in Second Life in September) on their new Virtual Loft blog.

According to Starwood:

"This September, Starwood Hotels will become the first company in history to open a new hotel brand inside of a virtual world. Prior to opening to the public in 2008, aloft hotels will offer a sneak preview inside of Second Life. As we build our virtual aloft hotel, this weblog will track the progress of the development, giving you an in depth insiders view of how a virtual hotel is created."

The hotel in question is an off-shoot of the W called "aloft"  They also have a more traditional site within the Starwood domain.

This is an interesting twist on the product teaser/preview…  And this approach could be followed not just for soon-to-launch products, but advanced concepts.  I think we’ll continue to see inroads into this area, perhaps automakers making their concept cars available for sale, rent or even free for Second Life residents…

David Lewis