Deanna Ting

AccorHotels continues to make strategic investments that attempt to round out its overall portfolio. Investing in a boutique chain like Germany's 25hours is a good way to grow its boutique and lifestyle hotel offerings.

Smart travel companies already know that the Chinese travel market will be absolutely crucial to their future growth and success. But the way they approach that market is what counts, and to do so, they need to be well-informed and tech savvy.

If there's anything Airbnb can teach to hotels, it's this: pay more attention to data and know how to use it.

It's clear hotels are focused on technology as a means of improving the overall hotel guest experience, but they also need to balance those investments with service and personalization to see the kind of return on investment they want to have.

Airbnb seems increasingly focused on forming loyalty links with airlines, especially as the company prepares to branch out into other sectors of travel beyond just accommodations. Could an Airbnb loyalty program be far off?

Read on for our takes on all 13 of Hilton's brands.

Forget what you think you thought you knew about hostels. Today's hostels are still budget-friendly, but also incredibly design-forward and sophisticated.

While kudos should be rightly given to Airbnb for wanting to take a step toward fighting discrimination and bias on its platform, there don't seem to be many changes on its site that would make those efforts even stronger. And the new terms of service make it even clearer that should you be discriminated against on Airbnb by one of its other users, the company does not assume any legal liability.

We knew this was coming, but it's still tough to take the news in. What will be interesting to continue watching is how and when Marriott eventually moves to its new HQ building in Maryland, and how many Starwood employees will want to transfer to Maryland from Connecticut.

Many companies, regardless of industry, could learn a lesson from these hotel organizations about how to make their employees feel valued, recognized, and rewarded for their hard work. And it's notable that of the 25, three are hospitality companies on this year's Fortune list.