Holy Moly. Marriott is acquiring Starwood [Hotel Business, not Timeshares]

[WalnutBaron]

Just curious. Will the Starwood hotels be rebranded as Marriott or a subsidiary like Starwood by Marriott?

Marriott's CEO announced in his press conference this morning that all Starwood brands would be retained, meaning Marriott would be managing over 30 hotel brands after the merger is completed in mid-2016.

 

[bazzap]

On to Tahiti and Bora Bora! FINALLY!

And back to Mauritius and the Seychelles, but now with Marriott brand benefits.
Plus another Indian Ocean option we have not yet had a chance to try, The Maldives

 

[Luvtoride]

A win for Marrriott Rewards loyalists

As stated by many above, I see this as a positive for us MR members with more access to more and higher end resort hotels in many nice locations. I'm would think that Marriott will handle the transition of SPG members into MR as quickly and fairly as possible. They do not want to alienate this 50% increase in MR members to their program out of the gate. I can see Chase rushing to issue millions more MR Visa cards too.
I would also be interested to see how MVCI tries to bring this new brand into its Explorer collection. I bet there will be some new opportunities for additional travel options for DC points members with this acquisition as well.
I guess I'm more positive than some about Marriott's intentions.

 

[Mr. Vker]

And back to Mauritius and the Seychelles, but now with Marriott brand benefits.
Plus another Indian Ocean option we have not yet had a chance to try, The Maldives

Great! Now I can be more jealous of your travels via Facebook.

 

[SueDonJ]

As stated by many above, I see this as a positive for us MR members with more access to more and higher end resort hotels in many nice locations. I'm would think that Marriott will handle the transition of SPG members into MR as quickly and fairly as possible. They do not want to alienate this 50% increase in MR members to their program out of the gate. I can see Chase rushing to issue millions more MR Visa cards too.
I would also be interested to see how MVCI tries to bring this new brand into its Explorer collection. I bet there will be some new opportunities for additional travel options for DC points members with this acquisition as well. ...

SPG's Senior VP says this morning that they're not looking for a swift integration, that SPG members can plan on SOP for the near future:

"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."

(Thanks to LisaRex who posted the entire statement in Post #13 in the Starwood forum thread.)

I guess I'm more positive than some about Marriott's intentions.

I'm positive about this as a Marriott Rewards member. If I were an SPG member, not so much based on the overall sentiments on flyertalk.com threads.

 

[Sicnarf]

Despite what others say, I'm holding on to my 500,000+ SPs. I'm quite hopeful that Marriott will adopt the best of the two rewards programs benefiting both current Starwood and Marriott rewards members alike. And having access to lots more hotel locations is definitely a huge bonus!

I may be overly optimistic but I'm hoping that ILG can somehow expand the use of my SOs to lots of other locations as well!

 

[Jason245]

SPG's Senior VP says this morning that they're not looking for a swift integration, that SPG members can plan on SOP for the near future:

"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."

(Thanks to LisaRex who posted the entire statement in Post #13 in the Starwood forum thread.)



I'm positive about this as a Marriott Rewards member. If I were an SPG member, not so much based on the overall sentiments on flyertalk.com threads.

Once the deal is closed. ..spg vp gets his pink slip and his promise goes with him..give. how airlines merger intigrated the ff programs..expect the worst of both..after all.. when you are the largest, your need to spend money to retain and compete goes down...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[Werner Weiss]

Just curious. Will the Starwood hotels be rebranded as Marriott or a subsidiary like Starwood by Marriott?

Marriott currently claims 19 brands. That includes Marriott Vacation Club, but not The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club or Grand Residences by Marriott. If you count those two, Marriott has 21 brands.

Starwood currently claims 11 brands.

Marriott is already touting a combined company with "30 Leading Brands."

Chances are the corporate Starwood name will go away (there are no hotels with giant Starwood signs on them). But St. Regis, Luxury Collection, Tribute Portfolio, Le Méridien, Design Hotels, W Hotels, Westin, Sheraton, Four Points, Aloft, and Element will give Marriott more brands to franchise.

I could see Tribute Portfolio merged into Autograph Collection. But a downtown with a Westin, Sheraton, Le Méridien, Marriott, and Renaissance is likely to still have those hotels branded the same way after the merger closes.

 

[jd2601]

Barony Beach

I am sure this thought is premature but wonder if this may have a positive effect on Barony Beach? I know many of the MVC are situated with Marriott properties on site and have enjoyed amenities at Lakeshore and Canyon Villas. Is Barony the only property with a Starwood property?

It would be nice if the Westin would be integrated and some amenities at the Westin Resort were made available to Barony guests.

 

[SueDonJ]

I am sure this thought is premature but wonder if this may have a positive effect on Barony Beach? I know many of the MVC are situated with Marriott properties on site and have enjoyed amenities at Lakeshore and Canyon Villas. Is Barony the only property with a Starwood property?

It would be nice if the Westin would be integrated and some amenities at the Westin Resort were made available to Barony guests.

It's nice to think about shared amenities but somebody has to pay for them. DSVI's MF's increased 15% in 2012 when that board re-negotiated limited reciprocal benefits with the adjacent JW Marriott, and continuing annual increases are guaranteed to the JW by the agreement. Here are the ongoing cost details from the Desert Springs Villas 1 - Spa benefit returns! 2011 thread:

• The cost of the new license fee is $57.50 per unit week owned. This is about a $12 per unit week increase from the license fee in effect during 2009, when DSV last had a license agreement to use the hotel's facilities. Currently, without a license agreement DSV owners have to pay $175 per week for a pass to use the hotel's facilities good for two adults and up to four children under 18 years old.

• The new license agreement allows for an annual increase in the license fee, which is pegged at CPI plus 1%. This is the same arrangement as was under the now expired agreement. There is a difference however. If the license agreement's renewal option is taken, then in year 6 there is a onetime 10% license fee increase. In the following years, the annual fee increase reverts to CPI plus 1%.

• While DSV Owners will again have access to the hotel's spa, exercise room, pool areas and tennis courts, the license agreement will not include access to these facilities on Saturday or Sunday. On those days, if any DSV Owner wishes to use the hotel's facilities, the Owner will have to pay the same amount as hotel guests are charged.

So as a Barony Beach owner, I want no part of an agreement with the adjacent Westin Hotel unless the fees for it are charged outside of Barony's MF's. Pay-per-use is okay, being held hostage to fees for offsite amenities that I may not use is not okay.

 

[pedro47]

Look liked the major players in the hotel industry will be Marriott's, Hilton and Wyndham after this purchase.

 

[Helios]

I haven't been impressed with many Marriott hotels, though I'm prepared to hope for the future. Even with a 2:1 exchange I'm not sure that's enough for value. I'm spending all my SPG points today (I have 297,000 left at the moment, as I slowed acquiring them this year) with reservations late next year or further which I can cancel if the terms of the acquisition look better than expected for us.

<music> This is a dark day for SPG members. </music>


Sent from my iPad

I agree with this one. I would love to see ILG but MVC and merge SVN, MVC, and Hyatt timeshares...:hysterical:

 

[Werner Weiss]

Look liked the major players in the hotel industry will be Marriott's, Hilton and Wyndham after this purchase.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) is also huge, with its major brands: InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, Holiday Inn Express, Hotel Indigo, Candlewood Suites, and Staybridge Suites.

Here are the ten largest hotel companies in the world, by room count (pre-merger):

http://www.hotelnewsnow.com/Article/15510/10-largest-hotel-companies-by-room-count

Of course, you can measure "largest" in a number of ways, including revenue, market cap, number of properties, number of rooms, and even number of loyalty program members.

 

[dioxide45]

Just curious. Will the Starwood hotels be rebranded as Marriott or a subsidiary like Starwood by Marriott?

I suspect limited rebranding of properties as others have said. The Starwood name will go away, but no hotel carries that name.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...ng-vistana-timeshare-unit-to-interval-leisure

According to the above article Starwood retained 55% of the new timeshare company. So will that mean that Marriott will also own parts of Sheraton and Westin timeshare unit? That will be interesting.

I believe Starwood shareholders will retain 55% ownership of the old Starwood timeshare company. I understand that to mean that Interval Leisure Group will issue new shares to current Stawood shareholders that equal 55% of the Interval Leisure Group after the completion of the deal.

It is likely that the ILG/Starwood deal will be done long before the Marriott/Starwood deal, so then when Marriott acquires Starwood, they will issue 0.92 shares of Marriott International plus $2 per share for each current share to all Starwood shareholders. So current Starwood shareholders will end up some combination of Marriott shares, Interval shares and $2 cash. Many of those Marriott shareholders are also owners of MVW shares due to the divestiture of that business from MI several years ago. In the end they are both two different companies with two different boards. Though there may be some of the same people sitting on each board.

 

[Quilter]

I wonder if yesterday's system trouble at Owner Services and the website being down had anything to do with today's announcement. I began calling at 9:45 a.m. yesterday and it was down all day. The first rep said maybe back in 10 mins. and even offered to call me back when it was working. The rest of the reps during the day all said they doubted it would get fixed that day. Glad to get through this morning. First call a recording said things were too busy and said I would have to call back later. I did call back. . .right after I disconnected and got through to an 8 min. hold time. Rep was great but the system was very s-l-o-w.

 

[Quilter]

Years ago I thought the spg program was fine. The annual fee on the credit card was low and the bonus for points to air miles was nice. Then the fee kept increasing, the annual hotel certificate was difficult to worthless. The Marriott Rewards/ Chase Ultimate Rewards combo was much better.

I also thought the comparison of Fairfield Inns on my route from MI to HHI or FI was much better than Four Points. Finding Four Points was difficult and the one I did find was shabby.

Why do people think the spg program is superior?

 

[dioxide45]

I wonder if yesterday's system trouble at Owner Services and the website being down had anything to do with today's announcement. I began calling at 9:45 a.m. yesterday and it was down all day. The first rep said maybe back in 10 mins. and even offered to call me back when it was working. The rest of the reps during the day all said they doubted it would get fixed that day. Glad to get through this morning. First call a recording said things were too busy and said I would have to call back later. I did call back. . .right after I disconnected and got through to an 8 min. hold time. Rep was great but the system was very s-l-o-w.

I doubt it, I don't know what kind of integration they would be doing between MVW system and anything to do with Starwood. The merger won't even impact MVW unless they add some Explorer Collection options.

I don't even know what if anything Marriott Hotels would be integrating with Starwood. The deal isn't even close to being closed. I suspect yesterday's issues are just the regular issues we see from time to time. We have seen the points reservation system down at times, sometimes for considerable lengths of time.

 

[dioxide45]

I would expect absolutely no integration between Marriott timeshares and Westin/Sheraton timeshares. Marriott International will be the winner in the end since they will earn a franchise fee from both Marriott Vacations World Wide and Vistana Signature Experiences for nothing more than them carrying their respective names on the properties. The only way to get in to each others properties is will to still trade through Interval International.

 

[SueDonJ]

I would expect absolutely no integration between Marriott timeshares and Westin/Sheraton timeshares. Marriott International will be the winner in the end since they will earn a franchise fee from both Marriott Vacations World Wide and Vistana Signature Experiences for nothing more than them carrying their respective names on the properties. The only way to get in to each others properties is will to still trade through Interval International.

Vistana Signature Experiences is being spun off and acquired by Interval Leisure Group, and the acquisition of Starwood hotels by Marriott, Int'l is, "subject to Marriott International and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide shareholder approvals, completion of Starwood’s planned disposition of its timeshare business, regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions." (See the paragraph just above the section, "Conference Call at 9:00 am ET ..." at the news.marriott.com link.)

How does MI earn franchise fees from Vistana if the ILG acquisition of Vistana has to be completed before MI can acquire the Starwood hotels?

jd2601 asked upthread about eventual agreements to share amenities between MVW timeshares and nearby Starwood hotels which will then be under MI's umbrella, which could be the case at Barony Beach Club and the Westin Hotel next door. While I'm not in favor of those agreements any time they involve fees being included in the MF's, I can see how they could happen in ways similar to the few current agreements between MVW timeshares and MI hotels.

If I took your train of thought way off track into neverland or if you post was in reference to something other than jd2601's, just ignore me. This is all a little bit confusing.

 

[dioxide45]

How does MI earn franchise fees from Vistana if the ILG acquisition of Vistana has to be completed before MI can acquire the Starwood hotels?

VSE (Starwood) timeshare properties will continue to carry the Westin and Sheraton names. Those names will at some point be owned by Marriott International.

Just like MVW paying Marriott International a $50MM franchise fee, I recall reading at some point of a similar fee between VSE and Starwood. That deal will then be acquired by Marriott International in its acquisition of Starwood Hotels. So in the end Marriott International earns the franchise fee from MVW and VSE because it owns the brands that those timeshare properties carry. Who else would VSE/ILG be paying to carry the Westin and Sheraton names on their properties? Unless it rebrands them.

 

[JIMinNC]

I wonder if yesterday's system trouble at Owner Services and the website being down had anything to do with today's announcement. I began calling at 9:45 a.m. yesterday and it was down all day. The first rep said maybe back in 10 mins. and even offered to call me back when it was working. The rest of the reps during the day all said they doubted it would get fixed that day. Glad to get through this morning. First call a recording said things were too busy and said I would have to call back later. I did call back. . .right after I disconnected and got through to an 8 min. hold time. Rep was great but the system was very s-l-o-w.

Absolutely not. Today's announcement was just the announcement of the merger legal agreement. No integration work can even begin until all shareholder and regulatory approvals are received and the transaction closes. That will take months - then months or even years longer to integrate systems as needed. Plus, since this merger involves Marriott International and not Marriott Vacations Worldwide, even then, there will be minimal impact on the Marriott Vacation Worldwide timeshare systems - maybe just some additional Explorer Collection offerings. This is a hotel deal for Marriott, not a timeshare deal.

 

[JIMinNC]

How does MI earn franchise fees from Vistana if the ILG acquisition of Vistana has to be completed before MI can acquire the Starwood hotels?

Because franchise and licensing fees are often recurring, annual fees, not just up-front fees. So once Marriott owns the trademarks to the various Starwood brands sometime in 2016, any ongoing licensing fees that Vistana is obligated to pay to Starwood would then be paid to Marriott International instead as the new owner of those trademarks.

 

[BocaBoy]

http://thepointsguy.com/2015/11/marriott-to-acquire-starwood-hotels/

WSPG is significantly more rewarding than Marriott Rewards.....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.

In my opinion, SPG's best feature is the 25,000 airline miles for 20,000 points, but I actually think the Marriott Rewards program is overall much better than the SPG program. As for keeping both programs, Arne Sorenson said on CNBC this morning that they would be keeping the Starwood brands but merging the loyalty programs.

 

[BocaBoy]

Look liked the major players in the hotel industry will be Marriott's, Hilton and Wyndham after this purchase.

Actually, I think IHG is currently the largest company in the hotel industry by room count. After the Marriott acquisition of Starwood is complete, IHG will still be second biggest by that measure.

 

[SueDonJ]

... How does MI earn franchise fees from Vistana if the ILG acquisition of Vistana has to be completed before MI can acquire the Starwood hotels?

VSE (Starwood) timeshare properties will continue to carry the Westin and Sheraton names. Those names will at some point be owned by Marriott International.

Just like MVW paying Marriott International a $50MM franchise fee, I recall reading at some point of a similar fee between VSE and Starwood. That deal will then be acquired by Marriott International in its acquisition of Starwood Hotels. So in the end Marriott International earns the franchise fee from MVW and VSE because it owns the brands that those timeshare properties carry. Who else would VSE/ILG be paying to carry the Westin and Sheraton names on their properties? Unless it rebrands them.

Because franchise and licensing fees are often recurring, annual fees, not just up-front fees. So once Marriott owns the trademarks to the various Starwood brands sometime in 2016, any ongoing licensing fees that Vistana is obligated to pay to Starwood would then be paid to Marriott International instead as the new owner of those trademarks.

DOH! Of course! Thanks for putting me back on track.