Originally Posted by
Dreamwalker
Would a SPG loyalist like to explain what caused SPG to sell ? If loyalty is supposed to increase spend and SPG did the most for it's biggest spenders why did it need to sell? I remember it struggling financially.
I want better perks at Hilton and Marriott. I just gave up my Hilton Aspire and stopped pushing for Platinum elite to remain a free agent for my spend. I use my budget and points at the highest end hotel in the area unless I'm using a FNC or it's a simple trip.
I was really on Hilton's team with the cool perks for cc during pandemic like the resort fee being used for restaurants. My stays at Conrad Chicago and Waldorf Astoria Maldives were top notch. I felt like a Hilton lead the pack with cc and FNC extensions or turning weekend into all nights. The tip more, room service at a request and loss of breakfast was enough I don't care about another coupon card and diamond status.
Now Marriott is saying because we are bigger you should accept what we offer? Why won't someone just be a free agent? Use programs like virtuso or Amex Fine Hotels etc for upgrades on cash paid stays?
Loyalty isn't valued anymore. Look at telecommunications they give discounts to new customers not existing. Any brand that truly values loyalty imo has to take out the short term mindset for long term. These companies worry about share price quarterly if not daily. They can't play the long game imo.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...s-und-resorts/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...international/
Starwood was not performing well. At a time when the hospitality industry was booming and Marriott NI grew 14%+, Starwood's NI fell by 29.4%. #facts lol
We are talking about a company that returned $190 million to shareholders in 2013 and $2.4 billion to shareholders in 2014... at a time when the hospitality industry was booming and Starwood was stagnating. It is very apparent that Starwood had no idea how to grow.
Also:
"At a time when competitors Marriott (MAR), Hilton (HLT), and Hyatt (H) were beating analyst expectations and raising guidance, Starwood’s growth has lagged not only industry growth but also investors’ expectations.
Starwood managed to add only 7,400 rooms in 2014 and 15,700 rooms in 2015. Its occupancy rate was the lowest among the top four players, and its revenue per available room (or RevPar) was the third from the bottom.
Some analysts believe the reason for this could be the last two CEOs’ inexperience in the hotel business."
But truly, the biggest weakness of Starwood was how asset-heavy it was. More than anything that is the reason why they were sold during a hospitality boom.
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I strongly disagree with anyone that believes loyalty programs are supposed to garner the loyalty of guests. IMO these programs exist to:
1) Get customers to book direct rather than through OTAs
2) Source a consistent stream of customers for their franchisees
Of course Marriott cares about retention... but retention of their franchisees. At the end of the day, Bonvoy only needs to be tolerable enough that people will continue to a ) book direct when staying at a Bonvoy hotel b) consider Bonvoy hotels as credible options to begin with.
I genuinely think the difference between OTAs and asset-lite hotel companies becomes smaller and smaller every day?
Is there a huge difference between Hyatt's relationship with SLH and the Hotels.com relationship with a large hotel operator?
I think the rise of soft flags (that essentially have very limited brand standards) like Luxury Collection and LXR are a slow march toward this.