Ya, that stood out to me too. But when you look at the breakdown of all cat 8 hotels, only 12 of the 61 are Marriott legacy which is almost exactly the same ratio of 6 in 32. So it’s not all that surprising.

But it does show that Marriott leadership views the best legacy SPG (LSPG) properties as more upscale than the best legacy Marriott (LMAR) properties.

as for elite benefits, none of the LMAR properties on the best/outlier lists will give free breakfast and/or lounge access; in fact, only one LMAR in the entire cat 8 portfolio does and it’s in the bottom 10 - Domes of Elouda. Meanwhile, every single one of the LSPG properties grants these benefits, even the st Regis Maldives.