david55

http://greece.greekreporter.com/2017...psa-sa-hotels/

3Cforme

Ownership, management, and branding are very separate things. That's the way it's been since major chains started working an asset-light strategy.

schley

I know Starwood owns very few of the SPG portfolio. No reason to take on the risk.

TerryK

As Marriott doesn't own any of its managed properties, this trend will likely continue. i.e. few currently Starwood owned properties will be sold off soon.

MSPeconomist

Unless I specifically know otherwise, I assume that all chain hotels are only either franchised or managed by the chain and actually owned by some other entity. However, it can be hard to actually ascertain the ownership. For example, when I try to google something like "hotels in [state] owned by [ownership entity]", for the purpose of either booking or avoiding hotels owned by particular organizations, I generally just get a list of the major hotels, including many that I know are owned by someone else. You have to go to the owner entity's website and look for a list of the properties they own, which might or might not be out-of-date.

I wish Starriot, Hyatt, Hilton, etc. would require a statement of ownership on each hotel's official website.

TerryK

Many countries or states require disclosure as such. You can often see a plaque displaying actual owner/operator of the property although sometime it is in an out of the way place.

MSPeconomist

I want to know before arriving at the hotel (and in fact before making a reservation).

James Luckard

According to Starwood's 2015 annual report, the most recent I could find online, they only owned 32 properties, and they had sold 6 the previous year.

I found this list of owned properties dating back to 2013, so I'm sure some are long since sold:

https://s1.q4cdn.com/483583335/files...0-%20Final.pdf

Oxon Flyer

Why ?

What does a guest do differently before making a reservation and before arriving at the hotel when they know who owns it ?

david55

Perhaps not book it. I would want to know the owners mostly for political correctness reasons. ie.. I would never stay at a Trump owned hotel....or whose owner is known to discriminate against gays or minorities.

EuropeanPete

The Grande Bretagne and the King George are owned by Lampsa Hellenic Hotels - originally founded by one of the people behind the Grande Bretagne and which I would expect would still be largely family controlled. I haven't done a full DD on its shareholders though!

MSPeconomist

There are some ownership groups that are notoriously bad and I would like to avoid their hotels. Others are very good; I consider this a positive signal for a hotel which with I am unfamiliar or when I am choosing between several hotels in approximately the same location.

rbAA

Many hotels are owned in REIT's, so you could check those records also. It's funny that the Starwood REIT (symbol STWD) isn't actually SPG, but rather commercial buildings and mortgages. I believe that Marriott started this when they spun off Host and their properties.

EuropeanPete

These hotels are credible contenders for best run Starwood Hotels in Europe, so I think you’re good on that front.

TerryK

Starwood REIT is run by Starwood Capital which is completely separate from Starwood Hotels.