On the I-35 northbound service road just south of downtown Austin, TX, five Marriott brands sit on contiguous plots: Marriott, Spring Hill, Fairfield, Courtyard and Residence Inn. What's the marketing tactic here? How unusual is this cluster of five Marriott brands?

Just makes me wonder where the TownePlace Suites was. ;-)

I've regularly seen two or three Marriotts together (Fairfield Inn and Courtyard; Residence Inn and Fairfield; Marriott, Courtyard, and Springhill Suites are a few of the common combinations)
But, I've never seen five.

I'm sure it gets some benefit. I once went to a wedding at a Marriott resort, but stayed at the neighboring Courtyard. (whereas I would probably have ended up at another brand otherwise.)

The best example I've seen: In Marriott Village, Lake Buena Vista, FL, there is a Courtyard, Fairfield and Springhill in the same complex. Another Courtyard and the RI are across I-4 and the Marriott World Center can be seen in the distance from all of them. The Renaissance is just north on I-4.

It's definitely a marketing strategy which seems to run up and down the brand chain. I've seen several twos and threes, mostly involving Courtyard, Fairfield, and SpringHill. In Orlando they've developed Grand Lakes, which includes a JW and a Ritz-Carlton, which are jointly marketed as the "Grand Lakes Experience."

[This message has been edited by fcrit (edited 01-04-2003).]

In addition to marketing advantages, I think the placement of these properties also has a great advantage to Marriott financially in maintenance and other areas. They have one set of landscapers and landscaping equipment for three properties. They can coordinate one shuttle bus. They can interchange parts between facilities, and I am sure there is overlap of food services, housekeeping supplies and possibly even staff (Socrates?).

At the Marriott Village properties in Little Lake Bryan in Orlando, they do allow guests to use any of the three pools in the complex, which is a great advantage if you are staying there (kids get bored with one pool after awhile...the 3 there are each different and its fun to have options).

I have no way of knowing for certain, but there are so many places where a CY is adjacent to an RI, that I've always assumed that the real estate is owned as a single package.

I don't know about ownership in the US.
The European hotels are franchised and often acquired after buying another chain (e.g. many Ramadas are now Courtyards). So Marriott had often no (direct) influence where a property is located and if there are several at the same place.
The properties are independent and have to achieve their own profit. As long as a property is successful, there's no need to close it though another Marriott property is in the neighbourhood.

I've stayed at 3 of the 5 properties on several occasions. As I understand it, all are owned by one franchisee and this was the first time this many various Marriott properties were opened at relatively the same time and in the same location.
We frequently use these AUS locations for national sales meetings because of their geographical location, proximity to the airport and the low cost of traveling to/from AUS.

Stayed at the Marriott AUS back in November, and thought the same thing, having never seen so many brands side-by-side. Thought the hotel was pretty nice, with underground parking even, and a fair amount of meeting space for that size property.

AtlMan

Early on New Year's Eve, I walked from the Residence Inn past three other brands to the Marriott Austin South for a quick dinner. The Marriott's only restaurant was closed at 6:30 p.m.!