Articles tagged “marwood”

Sometimes, being bigger really can be better. Or at least that's what Marriott is telling itself.

With so many brands that fall under the luxury space, this makes sense but we wonder: what will happen to the other 20+ brands? How will Marriott contend with differentiating them, too?

We're getting a bit more insight into exactly how Marriott is positioning all those 30 brands but it remains to be seen how any differences among those 30 will actually play out. All we can say is we certainly don't envy Tina Edmundson's Herculean task to distinguish each and every one of those brands going forward.

It's still very early into the integration of these two massive hotel companies, but so far it's fairly clear what Marriott has in store for Starwood, even if the details have yet to be ironed out.

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.

Travel brands want to think they have a clear view of where competition is coming from, but it often takes distance to understand the true threats.

Marriott and Starwood now allow members who use a co-branded credit card to earn bonus points when booking on the other carrier's hotels. It's a small perk, but it should be added incentive to booking within the network before wandering off to a third-party carrier.

Marriott's CEO was just coming off one of the bigger wins in his career. The future holds some of the bigger challenges.

Here's the former Starwood CEO's take on what's happening in the hospitality industry now, and why brands need to work harder than ever to be more agile and flexible in dealing with disruption. Oh, and he thinks the Marriott-Starwood deal could have been better for shareholders and employees.

Arne Sorenson certainly had a lot to share at this year's Skift Global Forum. Read on for some insight into the company's unconventional decision to link Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest, as well as how he really feels about Airbnb and direct bookings.