Deanna Ting

Roots run deep between Host Hotels and Marriott, obviously. But the fact that Host also owns properties that fly under Starwood and Marriott's brands, among others, gives its perspectives on ownership and operations some serious weight when talking about the future of the big merger and the direct booking wars.

Marriott may have won Starwood in the bidding war of the year (thus far), but it's clear there's a lot of work that lies ahead for the company as it prepares to close its big deal by mid-year.

Even though Marriott's CEO has said all 30 brands will survive the merger, we still think it's only a matter of time before Tribute Portfolio is culled and rolled into Marriott's competing Autograph Collection. Even so, it's good news for Starwood to see this kind of rapid growth for its newest of brands, especially during such a period of intense transition.

Online travel agencies and the looming Starwood-Marriott merger won't get Hilton down, according to Hilton's CEO. Solid first quarter earnings suggest a stable year ahead for the company. But will alienating online travel agencies and pursuing an asset-light strategy ultimately result in success? We'll have to see how the rest of the year plays out.

Big turmoil in hospitality is continuing in 2016.

AccorHotels is now one step closer to purchasing the Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissotel brands for $2.9 billion.

From the looks of it, this new experiment seems like a smart move for Airbnb to test out: it broadens Airbnb's appeal even further to guests who expect or want more hotel-like amenities at an Airbnb, and it helps them compete against other startups that try to offer a more service-oriented home-sharing experience.

Actually, these results aren't all that surprising when you think of them in the bigger scheme of things. Today's honeymooners, many of whom are Millennials, are traveling with the same Millennial mindset we've been seeing across all types of travelers, regardless of whether they're traveling for business, leisure, or a special occasion like a honeymoon.

Many travel and tourism brands are harnessing the power of 360-degree video to inspire travelers, but this is the first time we've seen it used to convert direct bookings. It'll be interesting to see the results of this campaign by the end of this year.

In fact, given all the praise that Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson has heaped on Element in recent weeks, it wouldn’t surprise us if Element’s growth gets even bigger when Marriott takes over. Element hotel owners and developers are probably thanking their lucky stars, too, knowing this brand won’t be going away anytime soon.