Hotel Giants Race to Add Rooms: Marriott in the Lead, Hilton Gains Ground
Photo Credit: A guest room at W Hotel Hoboken with big windows and views of the Manhattan skyline. W Hotels
Skift Take
Marriott's dominance in hotel room count remains secure. But changing growth rates across the major hotel groups create shifting power dynamics.
Hotel groups increasingly measure their competitive strength by the number of rooms under management, and 2025 projections show Marriott still ahead — but Hilton expanding at a fast clip.
Analysts track the number of net rooms added each year because each new hotel tends to add marginal profit over time. Marriott calls this metric "net rooms growth," while other companies call it "net unit growth" (or NUG) or "net system growth."
Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta has said he popularized the concept roughly 18 years ago, when he took the company public.
Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano expressed a sentiment common among hotel leaders with a joke in 2024: "[It] will probably be on my tombstone one day."
2025 Forecasts for Room GrowthMost major hotel groups have issued guidance for 2025.
Marriott now expects this year's net rooms growth to be "approaching 4.5%" after terminating its licensing deal with Sonder earlier this month. That move r
