Marriott International, which on Friday announced the
completion of its $13 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts,
plans to retain all 30 of the brands overseen by both companies, Marriott CEO
Arne Sorenson said on a conference call Friday.
“The strength of the loyalty program is driven in
significant part by the size of the portfolio and the range in choice,”
Sorenson said. “By having 30 brands with options around the world, we think
that program is stronger.”
With the Starwood acquisition, Marriott appears especially
well-represented in the upper-upscale sector, where the Marriott and
Renaissance brands are joined by Starwood’s Sheraton, Le Meridien and Westin brands. In the
luxury sector, Ritz-Carlton is now a sister brand of Starwood’s St. Regis and
Luxury Collection.
Sorenson said that its agreements with third-party hotel
owners require keeping those hotels’ brands as is through the remainder of
those contracts.
Hotel owners “have made bets with their valuable real estate
with the brand on those hotels,” Sorenson said. “We will work with our brand
teams to drive distinctions between the hotels.”
Regionally, Marriott will try to
balance out the footprints of its legacy and Starwood brands, according to Tony
Capuano, Marriott’s global chief development officer. For instance, in China,
where Starwood brands have a greater presence, the parent company will
emphasize opening hotels under Marriott’s legacy brands.
Conversely, Capuano said
Starwood’s Aloft and Element select-service brands may have “a much sharper
increase” in U.S. hotels than Marriott’s larger Courtyard and Residence Inn
select-service chains.
Marriott CFO Leeny Oberg said on Friday’s conference call
that Marriott will try to sell Starwood’s owned hotels while retaining the management
and branding contracts. Oberg estimated that the hotels are worth as much as $2
billion.
Marriott now oversees more than 5,700 hotels totaling about
1.1 million rooms in more than 110 countries. Its 30 brands are far more than
Hilton Worldwide’s dozen and InterContinental Hotels Group’s 13.
With Sorenson citing the company’s Marriott Rewards and
Starwood SPG loyalty programs as a primary reason to keep all 30 brands, the
company said members of the two programs will be eligible to start transferring
points between accounts starting Friday.