Marriott’s Growth Plans and 8 Other Hospitality Trends This Week

How Marriott Plans to Supercharge Growth Starting With 1,700 New Hotels in 3 Years: Marriott says you really can have it all when it comes to a hotel company — both scale and quality. But can you really do that without sacrificing one for the other? Guess we’ll find out over the next three years.

Skift Forum Europe: Ennismore CEO Sharan Pasricha on Reimagining Hospitality. The success of Ennismore’s Hoxton hotels brand is founded on the fact that you don’t have to completely reinvent something to make it exciting or lasting. You just need to know what elements bring you — and your guests — joy (while also making a profit).

What Marriott’s CEO Had to Say About Airbnb, Amazon and Google: Unlike some of its hotel peers, Marriott isn’t giving up on its hopes of being the world’s favorite travel company.

Airbnb’s Potential Investment in Oyo, Explained: This year is shaping up to be the year when Airbnb gets all of its ducks in a row before the big IPO. Investing in adjacent businesses like Oyo is a major part of that strategy. But will any of this ultimately matter — or make a difference — once the company goes public?

Best Western’s New Corporate Brand BWH Hotel Group Signals Big Changes: BWH Hotel Group? That’s Best Western’s new corporate identity, the first change in decades and one that is designed to build its new image as a chain that can offer everything from mid-market to luxury.

A Closer Look at Sonder’s Tech-Focused Bet on Next-Gen Rentals: Hotel-style accommodations brand Sonder has hit on a plausible business that uses technology to wring out inefficiencies from key processes. But several questions still hover around its model, as investment money gushes into the segment.

Can India’s Leela Hotel Brand Be the Same Under Asset Manager Brookfield? The name Leela is held in the same esteem as India’s other legacy hotel brands such as Taj and Oberoi. Will it ever be the same again under Canada’s Brookfield, an asset manager rather than a brand manager?

Destinations Still Rely on Relationships to Attract Events: Some convention and visitor bureaus have turned to technology gimmicks and other new methods to highlight their destination’s finest attributes, but personal relationships and experience remain vital. Relationships really do matter.

Millennium Hotels Relaunches a Simplified Loyalty Program: Millennium’s new revenue-based loyalty program is slightly reminiscent of Mandarin Oriental’s Fans of M.O. which launched last year — light on complexity but still valuable for fans of the brand.

The Meticulous Detail and Effort Behind the Hotel Bathrobe: A room in a luxury hotel is certainly incomplete without a bathrobe. But beyond satisfying guest expectations, brands are realizing that spiffing up their wraparound options can shower them with extra benefits.