Sharon

Thanks for posting.

There seems to be two issues here .

First, the OP referenced some confusion about what the term "Marriott-family hotels" mean in the context of this forum and suggested a similar forum doesn't exist in other hotel forums. You've cleared that up in terms of the meaning and a quick review of other hotel forums (SPG, Hilton) shows they have similar threads. In that context, using the SPG approach of Starwood hotels to the effect of Starwood Hotels in City XX would lead to more confusion since some might think a Marriott thread called Marriott hotels in city XX only covers Marriott's and not Renn's, CY, FI, etc. The wiki has cleared that up and I can't see any confusion.

Second, two or three posters appear to be offended by the use of the word "Family." I'm not sure what to say about that other than to note that it seems to be a thinly veiled attack on the Marriott family's religion. Marriott International is a publicly traded company and while the Marrott family founded the company, I've yet to hear anything to suggest that the founders religious beliefs control Marriott hotels. Indeed, it is deeply offensive and contrary to the FT TOS to attack people's religious beliefs -- particularly those that have nothing to do with the business operations. And ... I say that as I sit in a very busy bar at a Marriot-family hotel wrapping up the last project of the day.

I'll also note that the suggestion that the Marriott business is focused on families is a bit on the silly side. This is my fifth Marriott-family property of the week -- a Marriott, an Edition, a Courtyard, and two Renn's. As I've read a couple of comments by two or three of the posters, I wondered was I missing something ... have I been surrounded by a demographic group that I don't belong to and just missed it ... so I've been watching and I've yet to see a family this week in a Marriott-family hotel. I can't really say whether Marriott's are more "family-friendly" than Starwood properties -- I'd guess they are both family-friendly (just google Starwood friendly -- but I've yet to see one this week.