Originally Posted by
hockeyinsider
Marriott has really rolled out the Delta brand south of the U.S.-Canada border, which is kind of surprising because it has probably zero name-recognition amongst U.S. customers.
I know they're opening (or maybe it has opened) a fancy Delta in Baltimore, the semi-tired Marriott in Norfolk, Virginia, was re-flagged to Delta, and now the Racine Marriott has been re-flagged to Delta.
On first blush, it looks like they're taking older Marriott properties, particularly office parks/highways, and re-branding to Delta.
A few years, before Marriott acquired Starwood, Marriott International decided it needed a conversion brand to compete with Hilton's DoubleTree. Instead of coming up with an entirely new brand, Marriott decided to use its Delta Hotels brand, which already had presence and name recognition in North America.
A conversion brand allows hotel owners to benefit from Marriott's marketing, Rewards program, reservation system, supply chain, etc., without the cost of complying with all current brand specifications for newly opened Marriott, Renaissance, or Autograph Collection properties.
Hotels previously branded with various different brands have been reflagged to Delta Hotels. There have also been a few new builds. There have even been a few that had at one time been branded as Marriott Hotels.