Originally Posted by
Horace
Marriott and Sheraton are positioned similarly, although Marriott offers better brand consistency.
It gets more complicated with Renaissance, JW Marriott, Westin, W, and Le Méridien. Hotels within these brands range from traditional full-service to luxury, with varying doses of contemporary "lifestyle" characteristics. Direct one-to-one correlation between Marriott and Starwood brands in this full-service "upper-upscale" field would be open for debate.
Autograph Collection and Tribute Portfolio seem to be positioned similarly (but I've never stayed at a Tribute Portfolio property).
I disagree about hotel age being such a significant factor.
Thanks for your input. I agree that age doesn't have to be a factor. Some of my best stays have been at historic Luxury Collection or Westin properties that have been well-kept. I've also had stays at rather newer convention hotels that needed a refurb well before I visited.
Yep, it's the upper-upscale to luxury levels I'm most concerned with. I've been searching Marriott.com for some of my upcoming destinations in the next year or two and found a number that do not have a SPG upper-upscale/luxury but do have a JW/Renaissance/Autograph/Marriott.
(There's a much larger number of RC than St. Regis but I find St. Regis to be way too stuffy for me...(I imagine RC is the same.)
Thanks everyone for your input.