[Brand discussion] Marriott's Luxury Collection vs. Hilton's LXR
 

I'm not sure where this fits in the scheme of the Marriott/Starwood forums, so I'm starting it off as a new thread and will see where others/the mods take it.

Many of us legacy SPG folk have a familiarity with The Luxury Collection as being a literal collection of luxury-level properties with independent identities sharing a common, relatively loose brand that permitted said identities to shine through while conforming to some semblance of unified brand standards. Hilton has recently launched/revived the LXR brand and is positioning it as a luxury-level brand of independent properties in the 'luxury' tier as opposed to Curio Collection's positioning in the 'upper upscale' tier and Tapestry playing in the 'upscale-upper upscale' tier. Essentially, what they've done is mimic Marriott with the following:

• The Luxury Collection - LXR
• Autograph Collection - Curio
• Tribute Portfolio - Tapestry

When looking at the below screenshot I just captured on Hilton's website based on the recent launch of a dedicated website for LXR, my read of LXR is that it is a rather shameless rip-off of The Luxury Collection, and LXR's verbiage of 'a luxury collection' of hotels reminds me of the snafu when Hilton launched their ill-fated Denizen brand in 2009 and it turned out to be an exercise in corporate espionage and leaked trade secrets molded off of Starwood's W brand.

Is this a matter of time before Marriott pipes up and rips Hilton over it à la Denizen, or is this all's fair in [competition] love and war? Would be interesting to know what you guys think or make of it.

khabah

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...4a5420a6ab.png

many on FT care and obsess over these things

same with waldorf and st regis, although waldorf brand was created in order to sign 3 management contracts with 1 company

luxury collection > ITT Sheraton > CIGA
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starwo...ury_Collection
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherat...ury_Collection

hyatt has unbound

You do realize that loyalty programs, the purpose of this website, are nothing but marketing...right?

on the flip side re brands, having many brands is about catering to developers

hilton is competing by being more flexible, marriott has 25% more hotels

wonder if marriott / starwood proposed st regis flag to buyer of mandarin oriental vegas (went with waldorf)

LXR >

presume owner wanted marriott to franchise st regis and W, good they said no

no mention in hilton financials, so may be more like design hotels and SLH ?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherat...ury_Collection
In 1998, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. acquired ITT Sheraton, outbidding Hilton.

hilton could have gotten luxury collection, i think most happy they didnt

That's not completely true. Yes, there is a large marketing aspect to loyalty programs, but there are actually tangible benefits that directly affect customers. Marketing (like coming up with a new name for a collection of luxurious properties) does not.

now confirmed it's franchise, so because no franchise for st regis (& W)
it is a very good thing that marriott does not franchise those top brands
ir.hilton.com/~/media/Files/H/Hilton-Worldwide-IR-V3/quarterly-results/2019/q4-2018-earnings-release.pdf

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/star...ul-2018-a.html

whether hilton can sign properties like in starwood/marriott luxury collection remains to be seen

hilton is doing ok with waldorf, but not necessarily great so far, not doing franchises