[2015] Marriott to acquire Starwood hotels

It was announced today that Marriott will acquire Starwood hotels.

Here is an article from CNBC

http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/16/marriott-to-buy-starwood-for-122b-in-cashstock.html

I wonder how this will influence SVO since it is being spun off to ILG.

There's also a thread in the Marriott forum: Holy Moly. Marriott is Acquiring Starwood [Hotel Business, not Timeshares]

What does this mean for you?

While the deal is absolutely fantastic news for Marriott Rewards members, who will eventually have access to Starwood’s arguably higher-end portfolio, the implications aren’t so positive for the Starwood Preferred Guest program — and its 21 million members. SPG is significantly more rewarding than Marriott Rewards, which only last month announced plans to up its game a bit in order to catch up with the competition.

We can of course hope for Marriott to adopt the SPG program, but with fewer than half the members of Marriott Rewards, that certainly isn’t likely. And there is some hope that Marriott could operate the Starwood Preferred Guest program alongside its own, as IHG is currently doing with Kimpton, though with less competition in the lodging industry there may be little incentive to do so in the long term.



Read more: http://thepointsguy.com/2015/11/marriott-to-acquire-starwood-hotels/#ixzz3rfASCuxl


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Interesting news. I can't imagine that they'll operate two different loyalty programs, so I'm glad that I haven't stockpiled SPs. I'll probably be cancelling my SPG AMEX in favor of a card that gives more favorable earnings power to leisure travelers.

I'm still optimistic that the SVO internal exchange system (e.g. SOs) will remain relatively intact for a few years, but it'll be interesting to see how they're going to work out an SO->MR conversion.

I'm wondering how they'll map the elite status. Of course one can only speculate at this time. Starwood Gold is certainly very valuable (at least in my travels) but I doubt they would map to Marriott Gold, same with Platinum. Marriott Silver can be obtained fairly easily through their Chase credit card and I'd hate to see gold members get downgraded to silver.

I wonder how this will change the developer pitches of SPG gold. Buy now and lock it in :hysterical:

Ditto to a previous post, all with hopes they keep SPG, but as with anything publicly traded, the point is not to create value for the consumer, rather the shareholder.

Does this make HRA even more of an odd-duck than before? Or does it make it simpler? I can't get my head around it....

HRA was only semi-Starwood, and the only non-Starwood branded TS in the SVO system. Now the resort that HRA has deeded access to (Atlantis) is Marriott affiliated, though still owned by a private equity real estate company (Brookfield). Starwood resort brands will be within the Marriott portfolio, but HRA will be Interval affiliated.

Is HRA now the 'Kevin Bacon' of the resort version of six-degrees-of-Kevin-Bacon?

Wow, this is not what I expected or wanted. I'm making a bunch of reservations today just in case...and I suggest you do the same (can always cancel). I chose SPG years ago on purpose since it had a more valuable redemption and earning ratio vs Marriott. The game is changing!


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Interesting news. I somewhat feel as though the spinoff of the timeshare was in preparation for and helped enable this merger with Marriott. This is conjecture on my part.

Also, some of the properties are adjacent to a Westin hotel, which was interesting with the spin off, but now is more interesting with the purchase by Marriott and possible branding changes. My assumption is that the Westin Brand and the relationships in those locations between the timeshare units and the hotels will continue.

Going forward, I wonder if this makes it less likely that timeshare properties will intermingle with hotel properties. Somehow, this whole things seems to make it less desirable to be a timeshare owner.

This has totally caught me off guard.

Last year, it was US Airways merger that sucked hard......Now Starwood being bought by Marriott really can't be a good thing for me.

Now what to do with my 200,000 starpoints?

tomandrobin said:

This has totally caught me off guard.

Last year, it was US Airways merger that sucked hard......Now Starwood being bought by Marriott really can't be a good thing for me.

Now what to do with my 200,000 starpoints?

Click to expand...

Use then asap

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Jason245 said:

Use then asap

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Biggest problem with that is as a timeshare owner, many things are planned far out.

Christmas booked, Easter booked, Memorial Day weekend booked, 2 weeks at ST John booked, Labor Day booked, October Cruise/Disney booked, Christmas booked.

We don't use SP's for hotel stays - would you recommend transferring them to our favorite airline?

FWIW, here is what is posted on SPG.com:

"Today we’re excited to share the news that Starwood Hotels & Resorts will join together with Marriott International to create the world’s largest hotel company. For our Starwood Preferred Guest® (SPG®) members, this will mean even more choices in even more places, giving you access to 1.1 million rooms across 5,500 hotels and resorts in more than 100 countries.

We will work to bring you the very best of SPG and Marriott Rewards®, two of the most rewarding loyalty programs in our industry. Our members are at the core of everything we do, and that will not change.

Today is the first day of a long journey as we combine our two companies. For now, we remain separate, and there is no change to your SPG program status, your Starpoints® or your existing reservations. You will continue to earn Starpoints and elite stay/night credit for your stays, as well as bonus Starpoints for any promotions in which you are participating. There is no change to how you manage your SPG account or book reservations.

Over the coming months, as we have more to share, we’ll be sure to reach out to you by email, at spg.com and via twitter (@spg). In the meantime, we remain at your service wherever you need us — whether in our hotels, at spg.com, on the SPG mobile app or via our Customer Contact Centers.

Thank you for sharing your travels with us.
Chris Holdren
Senior Vice President, Starwood Preferred Guest"

tomandrobin said:

Biggest problem with that is as a timeshare owner, many things are planned far out.

Christmas booked, Easter booked, Memorial Day weekend booked, 2 weeks at ST John booked, Labor Day booked, October Cruise/Disney booked, Christmas booked.

Click to expand...

Are your flights already booked? SPs are actually pretty useful for booking flights, too.

Jason245 said:

Use then asap

Click to expand...

I agree with this. I have no interest in Marriott hotels. They are inferior, downmarket products. I guess we will burn our points and say goodbye.

LisaRex said:

Are your flights already booked? SPs are actually pretty useful for booking flights, too.

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I forget, who pays for the 5000 pts bonus when you transfer 20K to airline miles, AMEX or Starwood?

This sale news makes the current SVN promotion offer to sell SPG pts much less appealing.

Does anyone know if starpoints transferred/converted to Delta sky miles ever expire?

For those of you who say Marriott is inferior to Starwood, you are likely to be thinking of the Courtyards and Residence Inns. JW Marriotts are on par with Westins. In my business travel life, I loved JW Marriotts. I just don't find their reqards program as rewarding as Starwood's.

Marriott to buy Starwood

Marriott to buy Starwood to create world's biggest hotel chain.

http://news.yahoo.com/marriott-buy-starwood-hotels-12-2-billion-deal-111819799--sector.html

Marriott to buy Starwood

CNBC -- Marriott International will buy Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide for $12.2 billion to create the world's largest hotel chain with top brands including Sheraton, Ritz Carlton and the Autograph Collection.

The combined company will own or franchise more than 5,500 hotels with 1.1 million rooms worldwide and give Marriott greater presence in markets such as Europe, Latin America and Asia including India and China.

Marriott currently has three-quarters of its rooms in the United States. Starwood, which also owns St. Regis and Aloft hotel brands, gets nearly two-thirds of its revenue from outside the country.

Starwood had essentially put itself up for sale in April, when it said it was considering strategic alternatives, taking about 14 percent off its stock up to Friday's close.

The company, which had a market value of $12.67 billion as of Friday, had reached out to InterContinental Hotels Group, Wyndham Worldwide and sovereign wealth funds for a possible deal since July, sources had told Reuters.
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I don't think this is going to change much, if anything, for us timeshare owners. Marriott timeshares are owned by MVC and Starwood (soon to be Vistana) will be owned by Interval. I don't see how anything can be combined there unless Interval buys MVC also. They already purchased Hyatt. I actually wouldn't mind Marriott managing HRC. I'd like to see some Marriott management expertise there since it never has risen to Starwood quality anyway.

Fortunately, I arranged hotels in Madrid and Valencia for a October '16 trip to Spain. The Westin in each location was a great deal for cash and points. This morning used my remaining Starpoints for an additional room at Westin Madrid for my daughter and mother-in-law. I have always found wonderful value for Starpoints in Europe. Much better than airline transfers.

suzannesimon said:

I don't think this is going to change much, if anything, for us timeshare owners.

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I agree, especially in the short term. The exception may be Elite Owners who valued the connection between the hotel and timeshare wings.

If they make too many changes they will anger the SPG folks and loose a lot of business. If they combine programs and then charge higher point values for the Starwood Hotels as they do for Marriott they will also lose a lot of customers. This was not good news. Does anyone know if one can get elite gold status just by the amount charged for Marriott or does it require room stays?

I wonder how this will affect starpoint conversions from timeshare weeks and other SPG participation via SVN. Lifetime SPG platinum for 5 star elite members? Enrollment in gold program for all members?

I am happy, however, about the greater selection of properties we will have on the hotel side. At least domestically, I know I have personally been a bit limited in certain locations in the past due to a lack of Starwood properties.