Marriott International travel tips

Vianel Filpo, general manager at Turks and Caicos Collection, a group of luxury resorts, will never forget the day he found an employee suffering from depression so badly that she was considering taking her own life. 

Marriott International revealed on Monday its full-year totals for hotel development in 2022. The most notable figures highlighted a further push by the world’s largest hotelier into the luxury and extended-stay segments.

Marriott International ended 2022 with a robust performance thanks to the post-pandemic resurgence in travel, the company said on Tuesday. It enjoyed record fourth-quarter average room rates, profit at its managed hotels, hotel development plans, and sign-ups for its co-branded credit cards.

Marriott International said on Friday that its chief financial officer, Leeny Oberg, will now also lead the company’s global development organization, responsible for the strategic growth at the world’s largest hotel operator.

Marriott International said on Friday it had received an okay from Mexico’s competition watchdog for its acquisition of the City Express brand portfolio from Hoteles City Express. The news clears the path for the $100 million deal, first announced in October, and which may now close before June.

Reporting by hotel companies on their environmental targets and abatement efforts is improving.

Bulgari Hotels & Resorts opened its eighth hotel on April 4, the Bulgari Hotel Tokyo.

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Marriott International has long relied on its array of 30 brands to appeal to diverse mix of travelers. But the hotel giant increasingly would like consumers to believe its loyalty program gives them access to a surprising mix of lodging. Its marketers appear to hope that travelers will make Marriott’s mobile app their default place to book hotels.

Hyatt Hotels unveiled on Tuesday a new brand, Hyatt Studios, as its entry into upper-midscale extended stay lodging in North America. It expects the first openings in 2024.

News this week that Marriott will make resort fees more fully transparent upfront in the search results of its website and mobile app drew focus once again to the topic of resort fees. Yet research analysts at Truist suggest U.S. hotel groups haven’t expanded the practice since 2019.

Marriott International on Monday completed its $100 million acquisition of the City Express brand portfolio from Hoteles City Express. It has begun selling its 31st brand under the name City Express by Marriott.

Marriott International plans by May 15 to disclose resort fees in the total prices it displays in its initial search results on its website and mobile app. It’s the long-awaited outcome of a 2021 settlement with Pennsylvania — that required the Bethesda, Maryland-based hotel operator to include in fees in upfront total prices.

Marriott International has announced the launch of its apartment-style accommodations with Marriott Executive Apartments, Navi Mumbai in the western state of Maharashtra. This is the brand’s second such serviced apartments with upscale residential extended-stay units in the city after Lakeside Chalet. Located within 45 minutes from the Mumbai airport, the 129 modern apartments include standard rooms, studios, junior suites, one-bedroom apartments and a presidential suite. “We are pleased to announce the opening of our second Marriott Executive Apartments in Mumbai, catering to the new segment of ‘bleisure’ travelers looking to mix business and leisure travel by creating a ‘home from home’ feeling for their longer stays,” said Ranju Alex, area vice president of South Asia at Marriott International. Marriott International CEO Anthony Capuano, who visited India last month, said the country is witnessing strong traction for branded residential properties. Earlier this year, Marriott International launched its Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy — a curated collection of home rentals — in the country for which the brand is in talks with professional management companies and is looking to launch about 500 units in 2023. “The launch of Homes & Villas, allowed us to keep our customers within the Bonvoy ecosystem and it’s not coincidental that we saw our volume of listings grow more than 20-fold over the two years of the pandemic,” Capuano said, adding that 2020 and 2021 were the two strongest years in the history of Marriott’s branded residential business.

International leisure flight bookings from India have increased by 40 percent for trips between June and August compared to the same period in 2022, according to travel solutions provider RateGain. In its latest Pulse report powered by Adara, RateGain said this represents the highest level of outbound leisure flight bookings from India in the post-Covid years, even as demand is still 15-20 percent lower than highs in 2019.

Marriott International said Monday it would expand into the “affordable midscale” hotel category in North America with a new hotel brand — which it hasn’t yet named. The world’s largest hotel company said it hopes the new brand will appeal to guests seeking extended stays, typically at least 15 days.

Anthony Capuano took the helm of Marriott International in early 2021 in what was in some ways a battlefield promotion, following the tragic death of the company’s president and CEO Arne Sorensen. After navigating the tumultuous post-pandemic era, Capuano finally has time to pause and fine-tune strategy at the world’s largest hotelier.

The complexity of point loyalty programs has pushed several travel companies to rethink their strategy, and the most recent to flip the script is Marriott Bonvoy. 

Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy has grown from 60,000 listings to 115,000 in just a year. But the premium short-term rental offering from the world’s largest hospitality group isn’t focused on being the biggest.

I spent last week at two major hotel conferences, and the most intriguing thing I heard was a couple of hotel executives contemplating the coming competition from financial and tech players.