Not to derail this thread further or flog dead horses, but the fact of the matter remains: they've got way too many brands. Given that many brands on both Marriott's and Starwood's sides overlapped, Marriott would've been smart to capitalize on the opportunity to consolidate their brands and create a tight portfolio, something along the lines of:
- Kill Renaissance, which doesn't stand for anything, and roll their properties into Le Méridien
- Kill Delta, and move their properties to Marriott, Sheraton and Courtyard accordingly
- Kill Tribute Portfolio, and move their properties into the Autograph Collection while moving premier Autograph hotels to The Luxury Collection
And so on.
I understand that certain brands like AC in Spain/Europe, Delta in Canada and Protea in Africa have major brand recognition in their respective markets, and ultimately the company is bound by contracts with owners so the whole thing was spun into offering as wide a portfolio as possible to appeal to as many owners as possible. I'd be alright with this many brands, but seeing as Marriott is incapable of making them follow the rules and continues to water good brands down [i.e. St. Regis Bermuda not looking or feeling like a real St. Regis, new W hotels having plain designs], a hulking portfolio of corporatized, formulaic meh with rules that are confusing and unenforced bodes well for no one... except maybe penny-pinching owners.
khabah