Originally Posted by
DJ_Iceman
My last stay there I casually asked some of the staff if they were getting ready to leave Marriott completely, because all the branding really is "Wailea Beach Resort"--they minimize the Marriott aspect like crazy (and they didn't used to).
I'm guessing because this was a legacy Intercontinental that the owner wanted distinct branding. Maybe when the contract with Marriott was signed the naming convention that's presently used by Marriott wasn't in existence. These days, Marriott seems to use SEO [search engine optimization] to name its properties.
There are maybe a dozen legacy Marriott properties, plus a similar number of legacy Starwood properties, that don't adhere to the naming conventions or didn't until recently. For example, Grosvenor House, a J.W. Marriott was rebranded in late 2018 as the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House. But the Moana Surfrider, a Westin Resort & Spa is still the Moana Surfrider, a Westin Resort & Spa. Another example are legacy Marriott's Marriott resort-designated properties in Mexico. Most or all of them were jointly branded "Casa Magna" until recently. Likewise, IHG's Intercontinental has or had properties in Mexico jointly branded as "Presidente."