[If "25 brands have breakfast" rumor is true] Speculation As To Which 5 Will Not
Apr 9, 2018, 12:29 pm
#1
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[If "25 brands have breakfast" rumor is true] Speculation As To Which 5 Will Not
Hearing rumors today that going forward 25 of Marriott's 30 brands will reward upper tier elites with free breakfast during their stays. I'm trying to decide which 5 brands Marriott couldn't get it done for. Here are the 11 contenders, excluding brands where I suppose Marriott could *take away* breakfast. I rank from least likely to comp breakfast to most likely:
Executive Apartments — I imagine many properties couldn't provide breakfast even if desired.
Marriott Vacation Club — this would be impractical at properties with only self-catering, I'd imagine.
Design Hotels — so many different properties with different needs. Might have been hard to negotiate without losing properties.
BULGARI — given the small footprint, I imagine they can slip a no-breakfast rule by people without them noticing.
Protea — total wild card. Have no clue.
EDITION — they could want to protect revenue at the luxury properties. But this wouldn't be competitive with the Luxury Collection or St. Regis hotels in their catalog.
Ritz-Carlton — I have a hard time believing they are NOT going to offer free breakfast at Ritz, given what SPG has done in this segment with St. Regis, etc.
Gaylord — the big convention properties in the Hilton and Hyatt portfolio have free breakfast. Shouldn't be hard to achieve, no?
AC Hotels — my gut tells me there is going to be free breakfast at AC.
Courtyard — I have a feeling they got this done just from symbolism alone. This really stuck in people's craw.
Moxy — Every other brand at this level in their portfolio does a breakfast benefit at this point.
Executive Apartments — I imagine many properties couldn't provide breakfast even if desired.
Marriott Vacation Club — this would be impractical at properties with only self-catering, I'd imagine.
Design Hotels — so many different properties with different needs. Might have been hard to negotiate without losing properties.
BULGARI — given the small footprint, I imagine they can slip a no-breakfast rule by people without them noticing.
Protea — total wild card. Have no clue.
EDITION — they could want to protect revenue at the luxury properties. But this wouldn't be competitive with the Luxury Collection or St. Regis hotels in their catalog.
Ritz-Carlton — I have a hard time believing they are NOT going to offer free breakfast at Ritz, given what SPG has done in this segment with St. Regis, etc.
Gaylord — the big convention properties in the Hilton and Hyatt portfolio have free breakfast. Shouldn't be hard to achieve, no?
AC Hotels — my gut tells me there is going to be free breakfast at AC.
Courtyard — I have a feeling they got this done just from symbolism alone. This really stuck in people's craw.
Moxy — Every other brand at this level in their portfolio does a breakfast benefit at this point.
Apr 9, 2018, 12:50 pm
#2
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My guess is Executive Apartments, MVC, Bvlgari, Edition, and R-C.
Apr 9, 2018, 1:05 pm
#3
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Apr 9, 2018, 1:20 pm
#4
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Do we know for sure that Starriott isn't dropping or combining any brands? I'm assuming that they won't create any new brands until the merger is finished.
Apr 9, 2018, 1:36 pm
#5
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Just don't touch St. Regis...
Going to Bora Bora for our honeymoon in the fall and the free breakfast as a Plat has real value at the StR there (and specifically chose a cash rate with no breakfast included since I assumed I would have it as Platinum)
Going to Bora Bora for our honeymoon in the fall and the free breakfast as a Plat has real value at the StR there (and specifically chose a cash rate with no breakfast included since I assumed I would have it as Platinum)
Apr 9, 2018, 1:42 pm
#6
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I can only think of three options:
- Most expensive brands won't have breakfast (St Regis, Luxury Collection, Ritz-Carlton, Bulgari, Edition)
- Cheapest brands won't have breakfast
- Random brands Marriott doesn't give full recognition to won't have breakfast (Bulgari, Edition, Apartments, etc.)
- Most expensive brands won't have breakfast (St Regis, Luxury Collection, Ritz-Carlton, Bulgari, Edition)
- Cheapest brands won't have breakfast
- Random brands Marriott doesn't give full recognition to won't have breakfast (Bulgari, Edition, Apartments, etc.)
Apr 9, 2018, 1:56 pm
#7
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The Design Hotels relationship is really more of a marketing partnership, and benefits are already limited there for elites, so I'd think that would be one of the five.
Apr 9, 2018, 2:10 pm
#8
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I don't think this is the explanation, but is there any chance that breakfast for elites in 25 brands means free breakfast only for elites (and not for everyone) in 25 brands? If so, then element, RI, and TPS (FFI too?) already offer free breakfast to everyone. Adding Executive Apartments/Execustay and some vacation brand would account for the five missing brands.
Apr 9, 2018, 2:21 pm
#9
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Can the newest generation of Courtyards with the (horrible) Bistro concept even begin to offer breakfast to the masses, let alone free to elites without major retooling? I think they continue a "no" because of this restriction.
Apr 9, 2018, 2:32 pm
#10
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Marriott hasn’t ruled out acquiring/launching more brands going forward, but they’ll only evaluate that possibility once they’ve gotten the 30 current brands in their portfolio lined up as well as the loyalty program and other issues related to the merger. By the look of things, they’ve made great time and things might be getting interesting again very soon.
khabah
Apr 9, 2018, 2:58 pm
#11
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Assuming the 25/30 speculation is accurate, four are easy: Execustay/Apartments, MVC, Design, and Bulgari. They don't offer anything now and are very different from the other brands.
Would seem odd to treat RC, LC, Edition, or StR differently and to avoid breakfast in just one of those.
One of these things is not like the others ....but which one ....
Would seem odd to treat RC, LC, Edition, or StR differently and to avoid breakfast in just one of those.
One of these things is not like the others ....but which one ....
Apr 9, 2018, 3:10 pm
#12
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Isn't Design just the same as Autograph on the Marriott side, that is independent-y, boutique-y hotels that want the benefit of a marketing relationship and ready access to loyalty program members without having to look and feel like a chain hotel? If so, there is no reason they cannot offer a blanket breakfast benefit.
I agree with joshua362, though, that maybe Courtyard will continue to be an odd holdout for free breakfast. That would put R-C back in, which I would *love*.
I agree with joshua362, though, that maybe Courtyard will continue to be an odd holdout for free breakfast. That would put R-C back in, which I would *love*.
Apr 9, 2018, 3:10 pm
#13
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That's actually a very good point. The wait at the current Bistros can be long enough just for the paying guests... elite heavy locations would be completely overwhelmed.
Apr 9, 2018, 3:13 pm
#14
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This is a great point. If they were to even combine two brands (Tribute and Autograph, for example), then you would only be looking at 4 brands without breakfast. Hmm.
Apr 9, 2018, 3:15 pm
#15
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Regarding AC: I've stayed probably a dozen times at different AC hotels where my corporate rate included breakfast. So I think AC properties will be able to give away a breakfast here and there.