stuartpig

I have noticed a few UK hotels are now marked, on the booking screen, as converting to Delta hotels. Just stayed at Durham and that will go in September. Slough is changing on the 22nd of August. I have been told Bristol City will change to Delta, too. Apparently this will allow them to work on improving the product. We’ll see!

Horace

Yes. On the official Marriott website, the room selection page for the Durham Marriott Hotel Royal County now has this: "Please note - From September 2022 this hotel will be transitioning to a Delta Hotel by Marriott. We expect minimal impact during your stay."

I stayed at the Durham Marriott Hotel Royal County a few months ago. Although the building is old (apparently with numerous additions over years) and has an odd maze of hallways and rooms that could use a refresh, I was happy with our stay. As a Titanium Elite member, weeks before our arrival, I was upgraded from basic "Deluxe Room" to a "Superior Riverview Room, Larger Guest room, 1 King." The breakfast buffet in a spacious restaurant was a pleasure. Our room, while dated, was large, clean, and comfortable.

In the US, Delta Hotels often have "The Delta Pantry" as an alternative to a traditional Executive Lounge, instead of providing breakfast in the restaurant as an alternative. (This is allowed for Delta Hotels in the Marriott Bonvoy Terms & Conditions.) I hope the Durham Marriott Hotel Royal County will keep its excellent breakfast buffet as a benefit for Platinum Elite and above, despite rebranding to Delta Hotels.

Another "feature" of Delta Hotels in the US is that they often have uninspired locations along highways because they were built under brands such as Ramada or Holiday Inn over the past 50 years. In contrast, the Durham Marriott Hotel Royal County has an excellent location a short walk from the historic center of Durham.

If the Durham Marriott Hotel Royal County had to be rebranded because it's too quirky compared to "normal" Marriott Hotels, it's too bad that the decision wasn't to bring it up to the standards of Autograph Collection or Tribute Portfolio, were individuality and quirkiness are positive attributes.

Johnny Rocket

Delta’s ranking within the Marriott hotel hierarchy seems to depend on who you ask. Before Marriott acquired the brand, Canadian guests would likely compare Delta properties to a Marriott or Sheraton. Marriott calls Delta an “entry-level full-service” hotel chain.

Delta Hotels do not offer a free full breakfast for elites like a full-service Marriott property would. They also don’t offer free breakfast to all like a limited-service brand such as Fairfield Inn would.

Oxon Flyer

The UK is blessed with quite a number of dated/ugly 1970's Marriott hotels - Bristol and Slough being prime examples - so it's interesting to hear that they are being Delta'd in the same way was as in the US.

ElevatorEnthusiast

I don't think the point about breakfast is true and it doesn't match my experience - see the following screenshot from the Lounge Access Guarantee (Delta is included the same with Marriott, etc.). I've had great experiences with Delta in Canada but have not stayed at one in the US as most get poor reviews.

Raffles

Preston is converting too.

maisondubonheur

Anybody been to the Delta Milton Keynes? It's the same price as the Moxy, so wondering which one to choose for one night.

stuartpig

Preston needs some work. Last time we were there the air conditioning didn’t work, the TV was crap, no fridges in rooms apart from superior. Asked for a two double and someone moved us to a superior the day before and then they struggled to put us back in a two double.

omk298

Northampton is also changing to Delta. It's perfectly adequate but nothing special.

Are we expecting some new Marriott branded hotels in any of these towns/cities?

stuartpig

Not that I know of. I wish we could get some sparkly new full service Marriotts . Like the Leicester one. That opened 16 years ago and there hasn’t been a new full service outside of London since.

Horace

I checked over a dozen UK Marriott hotels on Marriott.com, including those already mentioned in this thread. The majority of the ones I checked now have a message on their booking pages that they "will be transitioning to a Delta Hotel by Marriott" in August or September 2022, along with, "We expect minimal impact during your stay." Here's a list of soon-to-be Delta Hotels. There are undoubtedly more.

Aberdeen Marriott Hotel
Bristol Marriott Hotel City Centre
Durham Marriott Hotel Royal County
Heathrow/Windsor Marriott Hotel (Slough)
Liverpool Marriott Hotel City Centre
Manchester Airport Marriott Hotel
Newcastle Gateshead Marriott Hotel MetroCentre
Northampton Marriott Hotel
Preston Marriott Hotel
Swindon Marriott Hotel
Tudor Park Marriott Hotel & Country Club

Marriott International has positioned the Delta Hotels brand for hotel conversions, allowing hotels with weaker brand affiliations and independant hotels to join the Marriott Bonvoy family. Hotels typically undergo an efficient renovation involving modern furniture and other cosmetic upgrades, without having to meet all of the brand standards of a new-build Marriott, Renaissance, Westin, or Sheraton.

It's unusual for a Marriott Hotel to rebrand to a Delta Hotel. I can think of one in Racine, Wisconsin, USA. There might be a couple of others. But there's never been a massive Marriott-to-Delta conversion such as what's now happening in the UK.

Johnny Rocket

Marriott is transitioning the majority of its UK regional hotels to its Delta brand over the next three months.

Source :
https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/0...ding-as-delta/

Marriott treats Delta Hotels as a ‘conversion’ brand, like Hilton’s DoubleTree or IHG’s voco. A ‘conversion’ brand has very few brand requirements, allowing hotels to defect from competitors with minimal investment.

Which Marriott hotels are converting to Delta?

Regional UK Marriott hotels converting to Delta imminently:

CITY HOTELS:

• Aberdeen
• Bexleyheath
• Birmingham
• Bristol (City)
• Durham
• Edinburgh
• Huntingdon
• Liverpool
• Manchester Airport
• Newcastle MetroCentre
• Northampton
• Peterborough
• Preston
• Slough (Heathrow / Windsor)
• Swansea
• Swindon
• Waltham Abbey
• York

COUNTRY CLUB HOTELS:

• Breadsall Priory
• Forest of Arden
• St Pierre
• Tudor Park
• Worsley Park

Regional UK Marriott hotels which seem to be remaining:

CITY HOTELS:

• Bournemouth
• Bristol (Royal)
• Cardiff
• Glasgow
• Leeds
• Leicester
• Manchester V&A
• Portsmouth

COUNTRY CLUB HOTELS:

• Hanbury Manor
• Lingfield Park

All of the London hotels appear to be staying with the Marriott brand.

If you look at the hotels which are remaining, they are primarily ‘bigger city’ properties.

This doesn’t explain why Birmingham, Durham, Edinburgh and Liverpool have failed to make the cut, or why Bournemouth, Leicester and Portsmouth stay.

It could be for a number of reasons:

• Marriott wanting to sharpen up its brand positioning in the UK, which explains the loss of the country clubs and some of the second tier properties

• Marriott downgrading some hotels which no longer meet its brand standards in terms of room quality, facilities etc

• Marriott potentially laying the groundwork for future UK expansion by clearing the way for new, better Marriott-branded hotels in some cities

• Marriott wanting to get some momentum behind the Delta brand, which is well behind target in terms of the number of UK openings – it is now seven years since the chain was acquired and conversion brands are meant to grow quickly

It isn’t clear why so many hotels have agreed to swap brands, given that the Delta Hotels name is less well known. It is possible that they were offered a sharp reduction in brand fees, and switching a large number of hotels at once will help establish the brand more quickly.

Over time you could potentially expect the Delta properties to move away from Marriott standards in areas such as room service, room refurbishment etc.

In terms of Marriott Bonvoy benefits, little will change. You still earn points at the same rate, and it shouldn’t impact redemption pricing.

In terms of breakfast benefit, the rule is the same. Platinum and Titanium members of Marriott Bonvoy receive free breakfast if they choose it as their welcome amenity.

In terms of timing, the transitions will start in August, September or October depending on the hotel.

littlevoices

Edit, Johhny Rocket had taken the text from the blog, but I see I'd missed the earlier identification from stuartpig not the blog, so missed that, sorry
Probably would be fair to flag the source of this, a well known UK blog (as far as I am aware): https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/0...nding-as-delta run by Raffles

It's an interesting one as nostalgically I made my lifetime status (perhaps 1000 nights so far) across the majority of this portfolio, but having moved to Asia I can see the brand difference as most Marriott hotels in the UK I'd be staying at to earn status/points far more than as a go to brand. It probably won't make much of a difference therefore to my stays (I don't live in the UK anymore), but Marriott are going to have to move quickly to maintain brand awareness, which could be nice to see a fresh influx of properties outside of London. Strategically it will be interesting to see what will do

I could see that the implications for the USA may be more stark, as if you think that the Marriott UK portfolio is old and dated, have you been to a lot of the US ones.... The UK brand standard "full English breakfast" will fill you up in the morning with variety more than the USA lounges I've been to (health not withstanding).

Raffles

Did an article today which has what I think is the full list: https://www.headforpoints.com/2022/0...ding-as-delta/

Oxon Flyer

This sounds very much like a convenient corporate solution to deal with the problem of a stale / outdated / underinvested “Marriott” brand and associated hotel infrastructure.

Well, let’s hope this isn’t the case. Same price for lower standards doesn’t sound a particularly attractive proposition.