I think it is pretty funny to equate shabby, archaic, '70s-vibe Sheratons with "Nordstrom" and Marriott properties with "Sears." Marriott has got its problems but a plethora of properties that look/feel like time travel back to the Ford Administration is not one of them.

I stayed in a pretty threadbare, neglected Four Points in Kansas City last year where the (nonetheless very pleasant) staff readily told me Marriott was requiring the owner to sink X-million dollars into the place to bring it into the 21st century or risk being deflagged, and the reluctant owner was considering his options. I haven't been back but the place is probably a Ramada now.