Without wanting to start a row, I wouldn't designate Design Hotels to be a conversion brand. That's what Delta Hotels is to Marriott: somewhere to park ropey old hotels whose owners aren't prepared to invest any more in the hardware so Marriott has a choice to reflag to the anonymous Delta or lose the hotel from the system because it's a brand liability.

Design Hotels are independently owned and managed hotels that decided to join the Design Hotels marketing and reservation platform *and* enabled their inventory on Marriott's reservation systems. They can be great boutique hotels and the lack of Bonvoy elite benefits (no breakfast etc.) reflects their arms-length relationship with Marriott corporate. In this respect Design Hotels is no different to other hotel marketing brands like Leading Hotels of the World or Small Luxury Hotels of the World although of course the individual hotels that make up the membership are quite different.

None of this impacts on whether Inhabit is a viable option in London for mainstream Bonvoy members. Its rates would have to be quite a bit lower than the Marriott Maida Vale for me to even consider it.