Articles tagged “starwood”

Interestingly, the Starwood Preferred Guest program, beloved among frequent travelers, ranked near the bottom, and it's never fared well in past J.D. Powers' reports. So, why is it so admired, and why does Marriott want it so badly?

We can only imagine what Anbang and its investor group, as well as Starwood, must be thinking right now.

As outsiders looking in, the bidding war between Anbang and Marriott for Starwood played out like a soap opera. But for Starwood employees, the drama taking place was very real, and the outcome will have a very direct impact on their futures.

We're going to miss the drama Anbang brought to what we all assumed would be your standard merger/acquisition between Starwood and Marriott. Instead, what we got was a story the likes of which the travel industry has rarely seen before.

Anbang very well could have afforded to buy Starwood, and the threat of an Anbang takeover was "very real" for Marriott. We probably haven't seen the last of Anbang. But for whatever reason, Anbang is no longer in the picture, and Marriott and Starwood can now continue to form the world's largest hotel company. Let's see how it goes.

Sorenson seems very happy to see Anbang depart the room and clear the way for a merger he's clearly fought so hard for.

A "roller coaster ride" is definitely one way to describe it.

In a drama where the unexpected was always expected, this latest development certainly delivered. Let's see what happens next.

As we've noted before, Starwood is Marriott's to lose. Now that Anbang has upped the ante, we have to see just how much Marriott is willing to spend to keep it, or if it's willing to let Starwood run into the arms of Anbang and company.

This is a March Madness bracket we understand, but that doesn't make it any less interesting.