Originally Posted by
blahmeh14
I wonder if Marriott was expecting this, or if it was a sudden departure? I'm guessing that they can't call themselves an "EDITION" hotel anymore because that is a Marriott/Ian Schrager Company brand trademark. I wonder if there are also trademarks on certain EDITION hotel design/branding elements that they'll now have to modify. Does this property now get to independently reap the benefits of Marriott's expensive brand concept/design work with Ian Schrager's company after just five years of being flagged?
I wonder what this signals as to a further decline of the EDITION brand. Marriott started out in 2007 thinking that there were going to be 100 EDITION properties by 2020. However, almost 10 years later, plans for only 15 have so far been announced. And now, after only 4 properties have been completed, there has already been an exit. With the Starwood merger probably putting some pressure on Marriott to consolidate the combined company's brands in the coming years, perhaps this signals the curtailing of the EDITION brand?
I know I'm a little a little out of the loop, but I just noticed that the Istanbul Edition was no longer part of the chain. This would mark the second departure after the first hotel, the Honolulu Edition, left the chain not long after it opened. Shocker!
I wonder what'll happen to Edition. Marriott made it clear after the merger that W and Edition would stay with Edition being pitched as a more luxurious and exclusive lifestyle brand in the same space as W. I wonder how that stands now seeing that they've been on a roll with W since the merger closing [Algarve, Budapest, Melbourne and Prague signed since November with Sydney in the near-confirmed rumor mill].
The next few months will be interesting indeed... who knows what the future of Marriott's brands will hold?
khabah