The july issue of Forbes Asia has a neat story on Marriott and its core product of customer service.

The article states that Marriott will build a new hotel in China every month for the next three years. Mrt already has 20 hotels in the Shanghai area.

Every time I see all the hotels popping up around China I wonder how they will be filled. Then I look around and see all the people.

It will be interesting to see if the foreign brands can keep up the growth, especially with all the Chinese chains that are so much more fairly priced.

it seems that high-end prestigious local brands have yet appeared as of now(believe in future it will be established ) so there are still slots for some ambitious western chains for increasingly upscale demanding
but in the realm of second class or motel' local chain brands are more competitive as to being "fairly priced"
whether jin jiang is a successful brand ? any input from expert ?

Jinjiang is decent enough at running budget hotels like their Jinjiang Inn chain, but they are dreadful wrt the top 25% of the market. Just look at the Peace Hotel. When they ran it, ADRs were around 800. After they passed the baton to Fairmont that figure magically doubled.

Another example: JC Mandarin v. Portman. They are basically in the same location (across the street from each other), but the Portman costs twice as much as the JC Mandarin with 90% occupancy. Why? People like the Portman. It's not just about money.

The Forbes article talks about the franchise owners, or investor hotel owners and the asia owners fee structures. ( asia owners don't have thresholds )

In asia, a lot of discount hotel prices are in package deals, air+hotel+tours. C-trip is great at some of these deals which have the western hotels like Mrt, SPG, IHG, Hyatt, etc. as hotel options. Two of my examples- BJ to Lhasa on CA and the Sheraton , BJ to Sanya on CA at the Ritz both were 50% discount as an air/hotel with airport transfers. If booking hotels on C-trip, do not expect to get the membership reward points, but other member benefits are offered upon hotel check in, such as free internet & EL benefits. The CA milage on *A is at 50% on some of these flights.

SPG has some great property locations in China. Mrt has 7 brands in china and has brand consistency in the upper midscale and luxury segments.

BTW, do not expect any 50% package discount deals in the 40 day CNY holiday window....

Why not? That's the deadest time of the year for these hotels.

Not for places like Sanya, where food & hotel rates double, triple, etc. for CNY.

In places like BJ & SH, the golden week & CNY room deals will vary on the Mrt brands depending on the franchise owner. And some will close the EL's during the chinese holidays in SH & BJ.

Other than Sanya, can you name one city in China in which prices actually increase around CNY?

it reminds me of KunLun 5*hotel? beside the third ring road
months ago I came up to see it under a massive remolding ,don't know if it was the same case
tks

Yep, Hangzhou and Beihai

I would actually argue that the Kunlun is an exception to the rule. Sure, it's not as nice as the Westin across the street, but those guys run a pretty tight ship, and the property is popular with the Middle Eastern set. Give the sushi a pass, though.

Thanks Moondog

it helps me in some way ^

Just did stay at the 3 year old Renaissance resort in Haitang Bay, Sanya. Huge outdoor pool area, and great beach. Marriott only has 3 properties in Sanya now, but is building 4 more for 2014/2015. Haitang bay area is developing !.

also posted a trip update on the Marriott forum .

But, avoid the chaos of CNY in Sanya.

I have been very loyal to SPG over the years but too many Chinese cities do not have SPG hotels or they are located in "resort" areas and are not practical for day to day business.

In China, I have started to use Marriott and Wyndham Hotels more and more. It's just more of them around.

Jin Jiang Hotels, Home Inn, 168 Hotels are great in a pinch. You know what you are getting and it is bare essentials only. However they are no where near western standards.

I like chain hotels because there is a certain amount of consistency that is expected. More Marriott hotels will be really welcome.

I like western hotels in China because I have a bit more confidence that the food is safe. They are also more likely to have some staff who speak English well. You're less likely to run into situations like "phoning for a taxi is not a service that the hotel provides," incoming faxes that aren't delivered, or failure to understand English when one asks to place a collect phone call (with the charges reversed) or even to understand the request in Chinese.