Marriott to take on Airbnb
 

WSJ story
(requires subscription).

Says members will be able to earn and redeem points.
"Marriott, which owns the Sheraton, W Hotels, and Ritz-Carlton brands, would allow home-rental guests to earn and redeem loyalty points as they do when booking a stay at any other Marriott property, said the people familiar with the program."

Also here - Bloomberg story

I can't read the article, but I think it makes sense for some of the big hotel companies to start competing with the home rental companies, or even to acquire one of them.

I've increasingly found myself relying on AirBnB and Homeaway for my personal travel -- I'd say I split about 50/50 with hotels now on vacations. I've generally found more value for my money. The Marriott threads are full of people complaining that they're never upgraded to suites, yet that's exactly what I get when I book an Airbnb, and for a fraction of the price of a hotel suite.

For my upcoming Spain trip later this year, I've booked half the time in hotels and half in Airbnb, where it better fit my budget and desired location.

When I traveling on business I have certain primary drivers for choice; 1) Convenience ( location, food/room, service, parking, security, simple check-in/checkout, roomservice ), 2) Consistency
For bulk of my business stays simply can't see me moving to a AirBnB like product.

When I vacation I am swimming in so many points the idea of burning them on a AirBnB product or even paying for it outright with selection from full on vacation house to cheap digs is indeed exciting.

Now the question can the big old school management/thinking adapt itself and compete in the wildwest new world order, clearly the Taxi services couldn't adapt to Uber/Lyft, lets hope, as hope is eternal.

Agreed. I think the biggest issue for Marriott might be that they won't be able to compete on price with other home rental services. Perhaps they'll have licensing and insurance issues that individuals don't. If the price is significantly higher than competing home rental properties, I'll have no problem foregoing the points for my vacations in order to get a nice apartment at a better price.

“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and we welcome them to the party and wish them bon voyage,” said Airbnb spokesman Chris Lehane.

You have to appreciate this quote.

Chris does have a way with words.

If they were able to integrate home sharing with their portfolio of extended stay properties, they might have something, but they have a long way to go on pricing. A lot of Airbnb travelers are looking primarily for convenience and space, with price being secondary but significant.

I needed two bedrooms for a recent trip in Southern California and cast a pretty wide net among Marriott properties; many of the RIs and similar Marriott properties wanted 3x their base rate for a room with two bedrooms, which made absolutely no sense to me. Ended up getting a private cottage Airbnb in a much better location for barely more than the base rate at those properties.

As someone who uses both AirBNB and Marriott, I'm quite excited at this opportunity. My big pain point with AirBNB remains difficulty picking up a key. My big pain point with Marriott is lack of rooms in my preferred destinations (e.g. North Lake Tahoe/Williamsburg/Haleiwa/etc.) and a proliferation of brands meaning an inconsistent elite experience (e.g. next week I'm staying at the Westin Grand Central...as a Plat will it have a lounge? Breakfast? Resort fee?).

A Marriott homesharing product could meet my needs better than either existing product.

How come all I'm envisioning from this are more IT/website failures?

Prices on their pilot site look decent:
https://www.tributeportfoliohomes.com/


Curious if anyone here has tried this yet.

Great. I was just thinking Marriott had all of their stuff together. Systems working smooth. Happy customers everywhere. Now is def. the time to spread thinner.

I'm wondering if you'll also get elite night credit. Does not say anything about it.
Their trial with TributePortfiolio included this.

I wonder what Marriott is going to do to make this more successful than what Hyatt and Accor have already tried. Flop in the making?

https://skift.com/2018/08/01/hyatts-...ing-struggles/

This is a continuation of the pilot program they did in London (and expanded to other countries). Some of the Tribute Portfolio homes in London looked lovely. For those who don't have WSJ subscription, here's the Marriott press release from yesterday:

https://news.marriott.com/2019/04/ma...r-100-markets/

"Homes & Villas by Marriott International Features Over 2,000 Highly-Curated Homes in the United States, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America, All Participating in Marriott Bonvoy.

Marriott’s expansion into home rentals was developed as a result of the 2018 pilot under the brand extension Tribute Portfolio Homes. Of the guests who booked a home during the pilot, which was only available in select European cities, nearly 90 percent were members of Marriott Bonvoy and over three-quarters were traveling for leisure with family and friends. During the pilot, the average guest stay was more than triple the typical hotel stay.

Starting next week, we expect travelers can search and book homes on the Homes & Villas by Marriott International site – www.homesandvillasbymarriott.com. At that time, travelers searching on Marriott.com for accommodations for three-plus nights in markets where home inventory exists will see links to Homes & Villas by Marriott International, promoting home rentals as an offering to meet their needs. Marriott is in the process of determining how it will sell Homes & Villas by Marriott International through other channels, including the Marriott Bonvoy app and travel advisors, and will provide an update in the near future."

Cheers.