Hotel Brands
 

Can someone with a good knowledge of the program give me a ranking of their hotel brands, from entry-level to upscale, including Ritz-Carlton, which I would assume to be at the very top? And are there non-branded hotels like SPG's luxury collection? Thanks!

I think most would say:

Full Service:

Ritz Carlton
JW Marriott
Marriott/Renaissance (at parity)
AC by Marriott

The Autograph collection varies too widely to generalize.

As for the non-FS hotels, depends on what your looking for:

Courtyard - like a FS wannabe
RI - generally considered "nicest" of the long-term stay brands (although YMMV)
Townplace Suites/ SHS - slightly lower on the food chain
Fairfield - basic, clean motel

Again, most hotels are franchised and while there are brand standards, there are significant differences based on age, size, renovations, etc...

What a loaded question, considering the variety of brands inside each group.

Edit: Disregard. I didn't see this was Marriott specific on my Droid FT app. Thought it was comparing all brands.

Well in general. It's like Park Hyatt > Hyatt Regency.
Thanks for the help.

I think they tell you the rank on the first page of Marriott.com:

"Iconic Luxury", "Luxury", "Lifestyle|Collections"...

the brands in the order others are providing them to you does not always equate to price as well.............. for instance, the Singapore Marriott is frequently more expensive on the weekends (I'm headed there from 16-19 Nov) then the Singapore Ritz Carlton.............

But just in case a newbie wants to go out and reserve Singapore RC, and for the sake of complete disclosure, you do not earn points at this hotel.

True, but it is a very nice hotel with great views from the room (and from the bathrooms as well). Definitely a step up (or more) from the Marriott.

Hotel research company Smith Travel Research classifies hotel chains into market segments by average rate. You can see the details here. Their scale segments (for chain hotels) are currently Economy, Midscale, Upper Midscale, Upscale, Upper Upscale, and Luxury.

This is where they put Marriott's brands (sorted alphabetically within each segment):

• Luxury: Bulgari, Edition, JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton
• Upper Upscale: Autograph Collection, Marriott, Marriott Conference Center, Marriott Executive Apartments, Renaissance
• Upscale: AC Hotel by Marriott, Courtyard, Residence Inn, Springhill Suites
• Upper Midscale: Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites

Marriott collects hotels with flexibility in brand standards in the Autograph Collection. For example, some (but not all) of the US Autograph Collection hotels are part of Kessler Collection (which has issues).

And on that note they should know that you do not earn full points for Residence Inn or TownePlace Suites

No one should ever refer to ACs as "full service"; they are not, not even close. I know that is how Marriott wants to categorize ACs sometimes, but they are more in line with Courtyards, average to below average Courtyards.

Or at Execustay and Marriott Executive Apartment only 2.5 poinst per dollar spent on nightly rate only and every 3 nights stayed will entitle Members to 1 night toward Elite status.

And points for incidentals are only earned at JW Marriott, Marriott, Renaissance, and Autograph Collection.

Just be aware that brand or tier (FS/Upper Upscale/Upscale/Upper Midscale) is not the same thing as quality.

For example, there are places where the Fairfield Inn is much nicer than the Residence Inn, even though on all brand-ranking charts the Residence Inn seems to be a slightly higher-up brand than Fairfield Inn.

In general, each brand has a varied collection of hotels which aren't all the same and aren't all run the same. An above-average (for that brand) hotel in a lower brand is likely to often be a better experience than a below-average (for that brand) hotel in a higher brand.