When does the Marriott/Pepsi contract end?
 

Seriously, who even likes Pepsi?

Thankfully, some of the southern (and especially ATL area) hotels provide both Coke and Pepsi as an option.

Not soon enough.... one thing I love about moving to Georgia is that almost every restaurant offers Coca Cola... except for PepsiCo owned restaurants!

The Ritz lounges have secret coke. (That didn't sound right. :D ) Also the Aruba Ren. is owned by the guy that owns the Aruba Coke bottling facility. They serve Coke! Also, was able to get Coke in the JW Bangkok lounge.

I HATE PEPSI!!!! Bring me Coke on crushed ice PLEASE.

+10000.

Hangover + Coke & Ice = great

Hangover + Pepsi = more misery

Guess I am the oddball but I prefer diet pepsi to diet coke.

Same here. DP is much better than DC in my opinion. And no diet cola can top a Pepsi Max! (preferably with plenty of Disaronno or run thrown in)

I prefer DP or PM to DC/CZ.

IIRC, Marriott's contract is one of Pepsi's largest fountain customers (it previously was one of Coke's ten largest). Come renewal time, Pepsi will again "pay" to keep it.

"The [...] memo suggested that Pepsico had agreed to lend Marriott between $40 million and $50 million."

I recall something about Marriott being financially overextended in the early '90s after the 1990 recession and a period of major expansion in the '80s. They owned a lot of hotels before they created a REIT, Host Marriott at the time, and spun it off. Pepsi extended Marriott a large loan, and they have had the soft drink contract ever since.

Because of that history, I do not expect Pepsi to ever lose the contract. Some hotels may have Coca Cola products.

Pepsico doesn't own any restaurants...spun them off back in the late 90s.

Major national fountain accounts include KFC, Taco Bell, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Costco.

Products include Gatorade, Aquafina, Quaker Oats, Tropicana, Frito Lay chips.

Mountain Dew!
 

Hate Pepsi, but Coke has nothing to match Mountain Dew or Sierra Mist.

My first thought on seeing this thread title was "never"

Seriously they have a pretty tight relationship and I don't see it going away anytime soon.

Hmm, interesting, I remember I saw coke product in one of the marriott I stayed last month

JW LA Live also has Coke products (and even a large external Coke billboard visible from the lounge). Very rare as noted.

Rasheed

Hope it never ends!

Agreed ^

Depressing :(

Well... they do not own them... but as part of the spinoff of YUM... there is an agreement for "lifetime Pepsi contract".

Not certain why they can't have both.

first world problem?

I like Dt Coke, but luv Dt Dew !!!!!!

Because that is not how the fountain business works. The sweet heart deals are based on exclusivity.

Nah, Coke is available in nearly every country in the world...but not Marriott properties :(

Pepsi is vile, bitter filth. Coca-Cola is the nectar of the Gods.

But Marriott, as a company, will never leave Pepsi. It's kind of similar to the Delta Airlines / AMEX relationship.

I normally can stand pepsi, but at the lounge at LHR Ren there were only Pepsi and DP there (soft drink). So I took a Pepsi, and after 2 sips I really couldn't stand the sweetness of it :(

Hope it never ends. I much prefer Makers Mark and Pepsi in the lounge than Jack and Coke.

Don't mind Pepsi, but I hate Aquafina

It's difficult for me to appreciate one's feeling rising to hate over water. YMMV.

1. Marriott is a Mormon-family-owned company.
2. The Mormon Church is a large shareholder in Pepsi.

Therefore:
This business relationship is faith-based.
It will last forever.

We have a winner. After two pages of posts, we finally have a solitary answer that at least attempts to answer the question posed as the topic of this thread.

What do I win?

FYI - Pepsi exited the restaurant business at least 1 decade ago if not 2

Pepsi and Marriott have an extremely strong partnership going back to the dark days of the early 90's....Pepsi saw an opportunity and helped Marriott in a time of need when Coke refused- Marriott has been very loyal to Pepsi ever since

the company has shown time and time again that they will do what's right for their stakeholders, the family has shown they are able to set aside their religious beliefs to do what's right for the company's stakeholders as well

when does it end?

i hope NEVER

Pepsi of course :(

^^
This

It was the help Pepsi provided financially. They Have done the same for similar exchange for financial assistance with ecolab who will likely forever be preferred and nearly exclusive vendor for laundry housekeeping and warewashing.

I'm confused by this one as well. Though I do prefer Auqafina over Dasani, it has nothing to do with the product in the bottle. Something about the clear Auqafina bottle makes it feel more "waterish" to me than the tinted bottle Dasani uses.

And here's to hoping Marriott's relationship with Pepsi never ends!

I'm a Pepsi guy, though I will use Coke with Jack. I was at the Renaissance Atlanta Midtown on Friday and they are exclusively Coca Cola. The bartender told me they get written up every year for it by corporate.

+1

OK, now I'm confused; I'm 100% SURE I've had cans of Diet Coke in several Marriott properties (since as we all know, Pepsi is vile, sugary water). Perhaps this is a regional thing (95% of my stays have been on/near the West coast).