Deanna Ting

An SEIU partnership would have helped Airbnb score brownie points with Americans supporting the Fight for $15. But even if the deal had gone through, it's very doubtful whether Airbnb would have been able to get its hosts to hire unionized cleaners.

It'll be interesting to see how Marriott International positions the Delta Hotels and Resorts brand globally in comparison to its other brands, including its own Marriott brand and Sheraton, following the merger with Starwood.

Although Carlson Rezidor saw one of its best years, financially, in 2015 since 2007, 2016 is proving to be a challenging one for the company, which has also been rumored to be up for sale.

Unlike Starwood's deal with Marriott, which definitely had its share of ups and downs, its timeshare spin-off to Interval Leisure Group went pretty smoothly by comparison.

Translation: Show them you care, but don't go overboard.

At the outset, there's not much difference between this pilot and ordering GrubHub from your phone or computer as you normally would at home. However, if Hyatt Centric can make the program more seamless and integrate it into part of the hotel food-and-beverage experience, this pilot could point to the future of hotel room service.

Airbnb is on a mission to get legalized and gain more acceptance in cities throughout the U.S. A partnership with one of the nation’s biggest labor unions to encourage hosts to hire cleaners for at least $15 an hour would be the next big step if Airbnb can convince hosts to sign on the usually more expensive unionized labor.

Just as Airbnb has had a transformative impact on the home sharing and vacation rental business, it hopes to do the same by going beyond just offering stays into offering actual travel activities and experiences to its community. It'll be very interesting to see how they do it.

More hotel companies, especially those that occupy the upper upscale and luxury categories, are seeking to expand their guest offerings beyond the traditional guest room or hotel restaurant to build loyalty, offer more “authentic” experiences, and distinguish themselves from the competition.

At a time when most hotel loyalty programs are so highly coveted and promoted by hospitality companies, but also increasingly complicated in some cases, it's interesting to see how Wyndham's easy-to-understand approach is working to help attract new customers and reward them.