Deanna Ting

Marriott — and well, any company wanting to get into private accommodations — should heed the advice of AccorHotels CEO and pay close attention to how they manage those rentals and how they can leverage their existing hospitality labor force to do it.

We'd pay good money just to see hospitality executives try to guess which hotel brands belong to which companies.

We've noticed IHG has a knack for announcing new brands without giving them names first, so any takers on what the name of IHG's newest not-yet-named brand will be?

Even if it seems like Hyatt is jumping on the bandwagon for asset-light, China-centric hotel growth, it's clear the company wants to do so on its own terms.

Like AccorHotels CEO Sebastien Bazin recently said at Skift Forum Europe, you don't limit the number of friends you have, so why limit the number of brands any one hotel company can own?

AccorHotels is definitely in the mood to buy. But the bigger question is, now that it has all of these things, how will the company actually integrate them all so that they're successful?

Just like everyone wants a piece of the tours and activities industry right now, everyone in hospitality wants a cut of the vacation rental business, too.

If you really want a better understanding of today's hospitality industry, you've got to hear it from the owners first because, without them, all those brands would be nothing more than ideas.

Leave it to Marriott to figure out a way to make homesharing work for the hotel industry. But as we've noted before, this space has its challenges, and figuring out the logistics and differences between managing homes and hotels will be crucial.

You won't want to miss what Merchiers has to say about the battle for online travel dominance, as well as Airbnb's growth plans for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa this week at Skift Forum Europe.