# Stockholders of Marriott Vacations Worldwide and ILG Approve Merger



## bb70 (Aug 28, 2018)

OK, saw someone else post on facebook. Thought I would ask here as well.

I know it is just speculation at this point, but can anyone weigh in on what the merger will mean for Hyatt owners?


*Stockholders of Marriott Vacations Worldwide and ILG Approve Merger*


*ORLANDO, Fla. – August 28, 2018 *– Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (NYSE: VAC) and ILG, Inc. (NASDAQ: ILG) today announced that at separate special stockholder meetings the stockholders of both companies approved proposals relating to Marriott Vacations Worldwide’s acquisition of ILG. 


https://www.marriottvacationsworldw...orldwide Announces Shareholder Approval.shtml


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## WalnutBaron (Aug 29, 2018)

At this point, we can only speculate, as Marriott has made no official announcement of their plans (understandable, since the merger has not--until today--been finalized). On the one hand, I'm reassured knowing that Marriott owns and manages the largest luxury timeshare brand in the world, and that owners in that system seem to be happy with the product. 

On the other hand, I always get concerned when an industry consolidates to this degree, because it inevitably results in higher prices and, too often, reduced quality. A good example of this is the consolidation of the U.S. airline industry.

As far as specifics, we'll just have to wait for an official announcement, which will likely be several more weeks--if not months--away.


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## sts1732 (Aug 29, 2018)

I agree with WalnutBaron in that, there goes the neighborhood. With the inevitable higher cost, reduced quality, and a Marriot way of doing things. As a deeded owner I am not overly optimistic. Haven been doing multible Ts's with Hyatt for over 20 yrs. Maybe I'm to old, don't like change, but with the spiraling downward trend in being a deeded owner I guess the only thing I can hope for is a golden parachute (as if that's gonna happen)
The one thing I found interesting in the article was, "99% of both parties were present". Once again I'm in the wrong 1%...…...Oh well...…..In trying to keep a positive thought perhaps as a Hyatt owner some good will come of it and I'll get my golden parachute. In todays culture it was only a matter of time, as more and more get gobbled up...…….
As a side note, I received the info for voting for the next board of Pinion Pointe. Has any one else noticed the several different applicants who were associated with competing TS's in positions of higher office that now have been gobbled up, now seeking a place on the board? Perhaps a seeding project???? Knowing full well it's everyone's right to seek office, just seems kinda strange with the new announcement.


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## VacationForever (Aug 29, 2018)

sts1732 said:


> I agree with WalnutBaron in that, there goes the neighborhood. With the inevitable higher cost, reduced quality, and a Marriot way of doing things. As a deeded owner I am not overly optimistic. Haven been doing multible Ts's with Hyatt for over 20 yrs. Maybe I'm to old, don't like change, but with the spiraling downward trend in being a deeded owner I guess the only thing I can hope for is a golden parachute (as if that's gonna happen)
> The one thing I found interesting in the article was, "99% of both parties were present". Once again I'm in the wrong 1%...…...Oh well...…..In trying to keep a positive thought perhaps as a Hyatt owner some good will come of it and I'll get my golden parachute. In todays culture it was only a matter of time, as more and more get gobbled up...…….


I do love the Marriott timeshare product. 
Higher costs - most likely.  Reduced quality - I think not.  We own Vistana and Marriott, and have visited a couple of Hyatt timeshare properties and our favorite is still Marriott in terms of quality.


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## sts1732 (Aug 29, 2018)

VacationForever said:


> I do love the Marriott timeshare product and feel that
> 
> Higher costs - most likely.  Reduced quality - I think not.  We own Vistana and Marriott, and have visited a couple of Hyatt timeshare properties and our favorite is still Marriott in terms of quality.


We have stayed at several Marriott's, and found them to be very nice, My intended comment to "quality" was not to product, but to services/options.


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## Sapper (Aug 29, 2018)

WalnutBaron said:


> At this point, we can only speculate, as Marriott has made no official announcement of their plans (understandable, since the merger has not--until today--been finalized). On the one hand, I'm reassured knowing that Marriott owns and manages the largest luxury timeshare brand in the world, and that owners in that system seem to be happy with the product.
> 
> On the other hand, I always get concerned when an industry consolidates to this degree, because it inevitably results in higher prices and, too often, reduced quality. A good example of this is the consolidation of the U.S. airline industry.
> 
> As far as specifics, we'll just have to wait for an official announcement, which will likely be several more weeks--if not months--away.



Someone in the Marriott thread speculated it would be JAN 2019 before we hear anything from Marriott approaching an official announcement. So, I'll make some popcorn and watch the fun speculation roll in. I'm guessing increased owner cost is a given.

Also in the Marriott thread, @JIMinNC <paraphrasing> mentioned the possibility of Hyatt Hotels not being thrilled with a competing company (Marriott) having marketing rights over Hyatt branded properties, and brought up the terms they made in the sale to ILG allowing Hyatt to have their branding removed form the properties. He also mentioned the possibility of the Hyatt properties being sold to some other entity due to a lack of "synergy" with the other Marriott properties.

My response was:
A) This is pure profit for Hyatt. As long as Marriott agrees to not diminish the Hyatt brand in any way, I can see them going along with a Marriott deal.
B) Hyatt does not go along with the deal, and Marriott rebrands all of the Hyatt properties into some specific sub-brand (ie, Marriott H Collection).
C) Hyatt does not go along with the deal, and pushes (legal threat) for the properties to not be under Marriott control. Marriott spins them off back into an independent company with an IPO to fund it. Marriott would control a large percentage (49%), and would mandate specific ties to use II for trading. This would both keep the Hyatt properties under Marriott's thumb and continue to allow trading from all other Marriott owned properties (so they could use trading into them for marketing purposes). 

I doubt that Marriott will sell the Hyatt properties to any competing companies.


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## pacman777 (Aug 29, 2018)

own lots of Vistana Westin timeshares and couple of Hyatt pinon pointes. I think Westin timeshare resorts are nicer than Hyatt timeshares in general. I find Vistana’s online reservation and points system (for mandatory resorts that have staroption usage) so much easier and friendlier than Hyatt’s system. I’m not a fan of the fixed deeded week and unit as I much prefer the floating week within a season. Hoping this Marriott acquisition will allow for all current owners (resale or otherwise) to be able to join a club and point system to trade within these great Hyatt, Marriott and Vistana resorts


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## hcarman (Aug 29, 2018)

bb70 said:


> OK, saw someone else post on facebook. Thought I would ask here as well.
> 
> I know it is just speculation at this point, but can anyone weigh in on what the merger will mean for Hyatt owners?
> 
> ...



We were at a Marriott Vacation Club presentation recently (we own both Hyatt and Marriott) and the sales person told us that Marriott Vacation Club Owners would be able to trade into Hyatt Residence Club but not the other way around?  Don't see how that could possibly work - especially since Hyatt is much smaller.  I am sure it was a ploy to sell more Marriott Vacation Club points.


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## VacationForever (Aug 29, 2018)

hcarman said:


> We were at a Marriott Vacation Club presentation recently (we own both Hyatt and Marriott) and the sales person told us that Marriott Vacation Club Owners would be able to trade into Hyatt Residence Club but not the other way around?  Don't see how that could possibly work - especially since Hyatt is much smaller.  I am sure it was a ploy to sell more Marriott Vacation Club points.


Ploy to sell more MVC points. Salespersons don't know anymore than what we know.


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## Sapper (Aug 29, 2018)

VacationForever said:


> Ploy to sell more MVC points. Salespersons don't know anymore than what we know.



Or less...


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## heathpack (Aug 29, 2018)

pacman777 said:


> own lots of Vistana Westin timeshares and couple of Hyatt pinon pointes. I think Westin timeshare resorts are nicer than Hyatt timeshares in general. I find Vistana’s online reservation and points system (for mandatory resorts that have staroption usage) so much easier and friendlier than Hyatt’s system. I’m not a fan of the fixed deeded week and unit as I much prefer the floating week within a season. Hoping this Marriott acquisition will allow for all current owners (resale or otherwise) to be able to join a club and point system to trade within these great Hyatt, Marriott and Vistana resorts



It’s interesting how much taste plays into these preferences.

We like Hyatt timeshares the best- to us there is a swank vibe that we prefer.  Westin and Marriott to us are more like gated-community, middle America nice.  We own in all three systems and just bought another Marriott, so we’re not complaining about any of them.  But definitely to us the Hyatts are the pick of the litter.


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## TravelTime (Sep 4, 2018)

Would most Hyatt owners prefer to be spinned off and sold or would you prefer to be integrated into Marriott Vacation Club and have all your current choices as well as all the new options under the Marriott umbrella?


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## Fitzriley (Sep 4, 2018)

pacman777 said:


> I’m not a fan of the fixed deeded week and unit as I much prefer the floating week within a season. Hoping this Marriott acquisition will allow for all current owners (resale or otherwise) to be able to join a club and point system to trade within these great Hyatt, Marriott and Vistana resorts




I LOVE my Fixed Deeded Week and Unit and hate the floating week I have (_had_, I finally converted it) with my other timeshare. I do NOT want to join a point system that I think is oversold and rigged to allow you to deposit but never use and allows units to be rented instead of made available for owners. Two different issues, really, but the idea of giving up my deeded week and unit frightens me! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!


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## lizap (Sep 4, 2018)

heathpack said:


> It’s interesting how much taste plays into these preferences.
> 
> We like Hyatt timeshares the best- to us there is a swank vibe that we prefer.  Westin and Marriott to us are more like gated-community, middle America nice.  We own in all three systems and just bought another Marriott, so we’re not complaining about any of them.  But definitely to us the Hyatts are the pick of the litter.




Completely agree.  Hyatt has the nicest TSs, including HKB and Beaver Creek.


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## heathpack (Sep 4, 2018)

TravelTime said:


> Would most Hyatt owners prefer to be spinned off and sold or would you prefer to be integrated into Marriott Vacation Club and have all your current choices as well as all the new options under the Marriott umbrella?



It depends on how they integrate us.

Ask me to pay anything more than a nominal fee to join the Marriott system?  No thanks.

Join me up for no or low cost?  Sure, I’ll give it a whirl.

Since I personally think the Hyatts are better than the Marriotts (generally), I’m not keen on flooding the Hyatt waitlists with Marriott folks.  Especially since Marriott will inevitably give some kind of booking advantage to the owners of big points contracts.  All of our timeshares (Marriott, Vistana, Disney and Hyatt) were bought resale and so far Marriott has not been too kind to us (we bought post-DC). So I’m not waiting with bated breath for some sweet deal to be offered to me by Marriott as a Hyatt owner.  My expectations are low.  And since I’m not optimistic about being offered a scenario that benefits me, I’m not thrilled about the idea of any kind of integration with MVC.


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## Tucsonadventurer (Sep 5, 2018)

heathpack said:


> It depends on how they integrate us.
> 
> Ask me to pay anything more than a nominal fee to join the Marriott system?  No thanks.
> 
> ...


There are some nice Marriotts but they are so large. You lose some of the personal touch. Marriott is mostly focused on Vistana now and we were told in a Marriott  presentation that Hyatt is on the back burner. I think that piece of what we were told is correct.


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## WalnutBaron (Sep 5, 2018)

With Hyatt, most of us own deeded, fixed weeks at our home resorts. That won't change, even if Marriott is a points system--unless one willingly donates their deeded week into a points system, which would be ill-advised. I know the company that owns the Marriott timeshare system is separate and distinct from Marriott International (the hotel company), but one of the strategies that has worked so well for Marriott is its branding strategy, which now owns brands as different as Four Points and Fairfield Inns to Le Meridien, Marriott, and Renaissance to St. Regis, JW Marriott, and Ritz-Carlton. This has allowed Marriott to segment the market into micro-markets and cover the broad spectrum of pricing, amenities, and demographic groups of customers.

Will Marriott now look at applying some of these principles in the timeshare industry? I think it's possible, though it won't happen overnight. First, Marriott is faced with an interesting challenge--to transform the hotel images of Marriott, Westin, Sheraton, and Hyatt into timeshare sub-brands that mean something to their owners and which are not carbon copies of each other. They also have to manage to do this without disenfranchising or offending existing owners. But if there is one thing that defines Marriott, it is that they are a great marketing company. So I think it's possible that we see this kind of branding strategy unfold over time.

I would not be surprised if the company is right now conducting focus groups with owners, trying to learn what attributes owners enjoy and appreciate about the various systems that now come under the Marriott umbrella. From there, Marriott may try to accentuate those attributes to begin building brand personalities that they can use to segment the timeshare market and use those elements to more effectively market themselves, both to existing owners as well as prospective ones.


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## AJCts411 (Sep 5, 2018)

TravelTime said:


> Would most Hyatt owners prefer to be spinned off and sold or would you prefer to be integrated into Marriott Vacation Club and have all your current choices as well as all the new options under the Marriott umbrella?


Spin off or sold?  To me if maintenance fees and quality stay in line, it makes zero difference.  Only because I bought primarily to use my weeks.  From a financial view, I think the location of my weeks will in the end be positive, that is comparing what I was paying to what I am paying.  I agree with the others, the answer depends on why you got into a timeshare.


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## sts1732 (Sep 5, 2018)

Fitzriley said:


> I LOVE my Fixed Deeded Week and Unit and hate the floating week I have (_had_, I finally converted it) with my other timeshare. I do NOT want to join a point system that I think is oversold and rigged to allow you to deposit but never use and allows units to be rented instead of made available for owners. Two different issues, really, but the idea of giving up my deeded week and unit frightens me! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!


DITTO...………...


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## mjm1 (Sep 5, 2018)

Fitzriley said:


> I LOVE my Fixed Deeded Week and Unit and hate the floating week I have (_had_, I finally converted it) with my other timeshare. I do NOT want to join a point system that I think is oversold and rigged to allow you to deposit but never use and allows units to be rented instead of made available for owners. Two different issues, really, but the idea of giving up my deeded week and unit frightens me! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER!!



I understand your concern about giving up your fixed week. Fortunately, in the Marriott system you don’t give up your week in order to access the points system. The points system is really an overlay to the weeks system. So, an owner can use their week the way they always have or on an annual basis decide to elect points. It provides for more flexibility when an owner wants that. Otherwise, you use it like you always have. 

Time will tell whether they create a program to allow cross-utilization between the brands.

Best regards.

Mike


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## silentg (Sep 5, 2018)

We have 6 timeshares at 6 different resorts. 5 of the 6 are independent timeshares, we enjoy all of them for the variety and uniqueness of them, only our Orange Lake is affiliated with HIVC. We met a couple while we stayed at HIVC Orlando Breeze. They own a week At HIVC Apple Mountain ?in Ga,
They bought it when it was silver Leaf. They are asked to join HIVC but they want to keep Silverleaf, because they are comfortable with that. They can exchange into other previous Silver Leaf resorts and that’s what they do.
The point I’m making here, with regards to Marriott,Vistana and Hyatt even when they merge, you cannot be forced to upgrade or change your timeshare unless you want to.
Doesn’t mean the Parking Pass people won’t try to get you to go to a presentation.k.
Silentg


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## TravelTime (Sep 5, 2018)

AJCts411 said:


> Spin off or sold?  To me if maintenance fees and quality stay in line, it makes zero difference.  Only because I bought primarily to use my weeks.  From a financial view, I think the location of my weeks will in the end be positive, that is comparing what I was paying to what I am paying.  I agree with the others, the answer depends on why you got into a timeshare.



I meant “spin off” to mean “sold.” However, I am going to be bold and place a bet that Marriott will not sell the Hyatt properties because Hyatt has some great locations that are different and would add value to MVC. My guess (and this is only a guess) is that they will eventually re-brand the Hyatt properties (i.e. get rid of Hyatt brand license) and fold the Hyatt locations they want to keep into the MVC program. I suspect they may sell some locations they do not need. However, I am also assuming if you own a deeded week, you can still use your deeded week as written in your contract. Since Hyatt has a points system already, I am guessing they will offer an affordable way for Hyatt owners to become MVC points members. I am going to be even bolder and offer my “uneducated” prediction that MVC will do the same with the Vistana properties. However, they may keep the Westin and Sheraton brand names since those brands are already consistent with the Marriott hotel merger.


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## CalGalTraveler (Sep 5, 2018)

TravelTime said:


> I meant “spin off” to mean “sold.” However, I am going to be bold and place a bet that Marriott will not sell the Hyatt properties because Hyatt has some great locations that are different and would add value to MVC. My guess (and this is only a guess) is that they will eventually re-brand the Hyatt properties (i.e. get rid of Hyatt brand license) and fold the Hyatt locations they want to keep into the MVC program. I suspect they may sell some locations they do not need. However, I am also assuming if you own a deeded week, you can still use your deeded week as written in your contract. Since Hyatt has a points system already, I am guessing they will offer an affordable way for Hyatt owners to become MVC points members. I am going to be even bolder and offer my “uneducated” prediction that MVC will do the same with the Vistana properties. However, they may keep the Westin and Sheraton brand names since those brands are already consistent with the Marriott hotel merger.



This is a good scenario. It will all depend on their negotiation with Hyatt. A key reason for MVC to stick with Hyatt will be access to the Hyatt customer base which significantly expands their marketing possibilities. If Hyatt Hotel makes this too expensive, then I see MVC falling back on your scenario and they will re-brand Hyatt Residences to one of their upscale brands e.g. Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, Westin etc.


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## AJCts411 (Sep 6, 2018)

[/QUOTE]...and they will re-brand Hyatt Residences to one of their upscale brands e.g. Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, Westin etc.[/QUOTE]

Just as a scenario...in each specific HRC location, would the owners (of deeded weeks) have to vote for such a re-alignment?  Could the owners or even the developer revolt and reject such a re-brand?  
Marriott did this merger to make more money. The only reason any corporation exists. So I wonder aloud also if they would make "moves" to devalue HCR, and dump Hyatt, with the end game of re-branding and buying the deeds up on the cheap?  Those nice colorful "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT" banners do play well.


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## bdh (Sep 7, 2018)

...and they will re-brand Hyatt Residences to one of their upscale brands e.g. Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, Westin etc.[/QUOTE]

Just as a scenario...in each specific HRC location, would the owners (of deeded weeks) have to vote for such a re-alignment?  Could the owners or even the developer revolt and reject such a re-brand?
Marriott did this merger to make more money. The only reason any corporation exists. So I wonder aloud also if they would make "moves" to devalue HCR, and dump Hyatt, with the end game of re-branding and buying the deeds up on the cheap?  Those nice colorful "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT" banners do play well.[/QUOTE]

With HRC as a whole, Hyatt Corp would be the entity to opt out of the re-branding scenario.  Relative to each specific HRC location, each HOA has the option of voting to not resign with Hyatt/ILG/Marriott as the resort management company - while the resort would then control its own fate, kicking out the Hyatt/ILG/Marriott management company would mean the loss of the Hyatt/ILG/Marriott internal exchange option.


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## WalnutBaron (Sep 7, 2018)

...and they will re-brand Hyatt Residences to one of their upscale brands e.g. Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, Westin etc.[/QUOTE]

Just as a scenario...in each specific HRC location, would the owners (of deeded weeks) have to vote for such a re-alignment?  Could the owners or even the developer revolt and reject such a re-brand? 
Marriott did this merger to make more money. The only reason any corporation exists. So I wonder aloud also if they would make "moves" to devalue HCR, and dump Hyatt, with the end game of re-branding and buying the deeds up on the cheap?  Those nice colorful "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT" banners do play well.[/QUOTE]
You say "Marriott did this merger to make more money. The only reason any corporation exists." 

Three comments:

You're right.
You say it in a disparaging way, as if the evil Marriott Corporation has arrived to foul up your Hyatt ownership. Not right.
Why? Remember, the Marriott Vacations Club company paid a huge premium for the Hyatt system. They would be undermining their own bottom line by "devaluing" HRC, "dumping Hyatt", and then re-branding. Not only would this be the height of management idiocy, but the company's shareholders would have the president's head on a plate. Hyatt is a crown jewel in this acquisition, so--if anything--Marriott may decide to find ways to further upgrade HRC in order to further differentiate it from its Vistana and Marriott holdings.
Ultimately, no one knows what Marriott's strategy will be, but the branding and market segmentation strategy makes a lot of sense, and--as I mentioned in an earlier post here--Marriott has proven that it understands well how to slice and dice its target market with great marketing success.


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## Sapper (Sep 7, 2018)

WalnutBaron said:


> ...and they will re-brand Hyatt Residences to one of their upscale brands e.g. Ritz Carlton, St. Regis, Westin etc.



Just as a scenario...in each specific HRC location, would the owners (of deeded weeks) have to vote for such a re-alignment?  Could the owners or even the developer revolt and reject such a re-brand?
Marriott did this merger to make more money. The only reason any corporation exists. So I wonder aloud also if they would make "moves" to devalue HCR, and dump Hyatt, with the end game of re-branding and buying the deeds up on the cheap?  Those nice colorful "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT" banners do play well.[/QUOTE]
You say "Marriott did this merger to make more money. The only reason any corporation exists." 

Three comments:

You're right.
You say it in a disparaging way, as if the evil Marriott Corporation has arrived to foul up your Hyatt ownership. Not right.
Why? Remember, the Marriott Vacations Club company paid a huge premium for the Hyatt system. They would be undermining their own bottom line by "devaluing" HRC, "dumping Hyatt", and then re-branding. Not only would this be the height of management idiocy, but the company's shareholders would have the president's head on a plate. Hyatt is a crown jewel in this acquisition, so--if anything--Marriott may decide to find ways to further upgrade HRC in order to further differentiate it from its Vistana and Marriott holdings.
Ultimately, no one knows what Marriott's strategy will be, but the branding and market segmentation strategy makes a lot of sense, and--as I mentioned in an earlier post here--Marriott has proven that it understands well how to slice and dice its target market with great marketing success.[/QUOTE]


I'm curious what you think of the attached screen shot showing all of the Marriott brands under one group, and then Hyatt separated to the side.


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## bdh (Sep 7, 2018)

Sapper said:


> I'm curious what you think of the attached screen shot showing all of the Marriott brands under one group, and then Hyatt separated to the side.



Off to the right AND with a separating vertical line between Hyatt and all the Marriott brands!

As a Hyatt owner, I'm more comfortable with a Marroitt flag overhead than an ILG flag/rag.


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## WalnutBaron (Sep 7, 2018)

Sapper said:


> Just as a scenario...in each specific HRC location, would the owners (of deeded weeks) have to vote for such a re-alignment?  Could the owners or even the developer revolt and reject such a re-brand?
> Marriott did this merger to make more money. The only reason any corporation exists. So I wonder aloud also if they would make "moves" to devalue HCR, and dump Hyatt, with the end game of re-branding and buying the deeds up on the cheap?  Those nice colorful "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT" banners do play well.


You say "Marriott did this merger to make more money. The only reason any corporation exists." 

Three comments:

You're right.
You say it in a disparaging way, as if the evil Marriott Corporation has arrived to foul up your Hyatt ownership. Not right.
Why? Remember, the Marriott Vacations Club company paid a huge premium for the Hyatt system. They would be undermining their own bottom line by "devaluing" HRC, "dumping Hyatt", and then re-branding. Not only would this be the height of management idiocy, but the company's shareholders would have the president's head on a plate. Hyatt is a crown jewel in this acquisition, so--if anything--Marriott may decide to find ways to further upgrade HRC in order to further differentiate it from its Vistana and Marriott holdings.
Ultimately, no one knows what Marriott's strategy will be, but the branding and market segmentation strategy makes a lot of sense, and--as I mentioned in an earlier post here--Marriott has proven that it understands well how to slice and dice its target market with great marketing success.[/QUOTE]


I'm curious what you think of the attached screen shot showing all of the Marriott brands under one group, and then Hyatt separated to the side.






[/QUOTE]
Interesting, Sapper. I had not seen this, as I am not a Marriott owner. My immediate impression is this: now that Marriott has this huge portfolio of some of the most enviable properties in the timeshare industry, they need to work on differentiation. For example, who could describe the difference between a Marriott timeshare and a Westin timeshare? Whatever differences there are, they are subtle at best and immaterial in most cases. By the same token, I imagine Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis are very similar as well. Having brands that trip over each other or compete directly with each other makes no sense--and so Marriott has most likely been holding strategy sessions to begin the assignment of "brand personalities" aimed at segmenting the market more effectively.

As to why HRC is separated, that's really interesting. If you look at the arrangement of the various brands listed, they run to the high end, luxury brands on the far right. And while I love HRC, there's no way Hyatt is more luxurious than Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis. All of the other brands listed are those truly owned by Marriott--either under their hotel company, their timeshare company, or both--except for Hyatt. 

Marriott is going to want to own the brand--and so my guess is that they will execute one of two strategies: 1) re-brand HRC and create a brand that is distinctly different than the others. This will take time, will require the approval of the various properties' boards, and will require a lot of consumer education as to why the new "X" brand is different from the others; 2) spin off the HRC product altogether. The second option is more expedient, but I doubt Marriott wants to let HRC go because of its unique locations. 

It will be interesting to see what transpires.


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## TravelTime (Sep 7, 2018)

WalnutBaron said:


> You say "Marriott did this merger to make more money. The only reason any corporation exists."
> 
> Three comments:
> 
> ...




I'm curious what you think of the attached screen shot showing all of the Marriott brands under one group, and then Hyatt separated to the side.






[/QUOTE]
Interesting, Sapper. I had not seen this, as I am not a Marriott owner. My immediate impression is this: now that Marriott has this huge portfolio of some of the most enviable properties in the timeshare industry, they need to work on differentiation. For example, who could describe the difference between a Marriott timeshare and a Westin timeshare? Whatever differences there are, they are subtle at best and immaterial in most cases. By the same token, I imagine Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis are very similar as well. Having brands that trip over each other or compete directly with each other makes no sense--and so Marriott has most likely been holding strategy sessions to begin the assignment of "brand personalities" aimed at segmenting the market more effectively.

As to why HRC is separated, that's really interesting. If you look at the arrangement of the various brands listed, they run to the high end, luxury brands on the far right. And while I love HRC, there's no way Hyatt is more luxurious than Ritz-Carlton or St. Regis. All of the other brands listed are those truly owned by Marriott--either under their hotel company, their timeshare company, or both--except for Hyatt. 

Marriott is going to want to own the brand--and so my guess is that they will execute one of two strategies: 1) re-brand HRC and create a brand that is distinctly different than the others. This will take time, will require the approval of the various properties' boards, and will require a lot of consumer education as to why the new "X" brand is different from the others; 2) spin off the HRC product altogether. The second option is more expedient, but I doubt Marriott wants to let HRC go because of its unique locations. 

It will be interesting to see what transpires.[/QUOTE]

Your last paragraph is my prediction exactly. I suspect it is one of these two options for HRC but I agree HRC has some great locations that MVC would be wise to keep.

The one thing I do not agree with is that Marriott is a very good brand manager. I suspect they will keep all the existing brand names except for Hyatt. They have not done any real differentiation of the brands they owned pre-merger so I would suspect they would not do a good job post-merger. I do not know the difference between any of the Marriott brands except Ritz Carlton is high end/luxury and all their other brands are lower end. I would argue that the Marriott brand name is perceived as somewhat more downscale than what Marriott has tried to position itself as. The quality of Marriott-branded hotels varies trememdously too.

To qualify, I do not think Marriott, Westin and Hyatt are differentiated either. If I did not read TUG, I would lump them all together in ther same category. I have always seen the Sheraton brand name as a lower level hotel.

I do not see any brand difference with Ritz Carlton, St Regis and Four Seasons. I may perceive RC and FS as slightly more upscale than St Regis. Not sure why I feel that way.

I think The W has done a good job of branding both in terms of the product and the marketing. It is the only one of the bunch that really feels different. It is more hip, high energy and seems to target a youngish crowd. The rooms and hotels feel very trendy.


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## dioxide45 (Sep 7, 2018)

I think HRC off to the side with the separation is simply just a result of that brand not being part of the same hotel group. Not much to read in to there.


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## eokimber (Sep 8, 2018)

TravelTime said:


> Would most Hyatt owners prefer to be spinned off and sold or would you prefer to be integrated into Marriott Vacation Club and have all your current choices as well as all the new options under the Marriott umbrella?


Prefer to stay Hyatt, and with the associated benefit of pushing points into Gold Passport.  I have stayed at Marriot resorts and did not like the size, although the experiences were okay. 

The new Portfolio program Hyatt floated this year has not been snapped up by Hyatt owners, but we saw possibilities with the Marriot deal and did enroll. Will see how it irons out.


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## lizap (Sep 9, 2018)

dioxide45 said:


> I think HRC off to the side with the separation is simply just a result of that brand not being part of the same hotel group. Not much to read in to there.



This.. All this speculation is fun..


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