There was lots of speculation as to what would happen with Starwood Hotels and Resorts, since they were looking to be purchased by someone anyone, and today we find out that it is not Hyatt who purchased Starwood, but Marriott. Press release here.
The resulting company, which will most likely not be named Marriwood or Starriott, will be the biggest hotel chain in the world, with 5500 properties and 1.1 million rooms. Infographic from Marriott below:
From a loyalty points standpoint, I’ve long found SPG points to be waaay more valuable than Marriott points, so it looks like I’ll be finding a way to use mine before the deal closes, since I imagine SPG points will be converted to Marriott points at some multiplier. Nothing was mentioned in the press release about changes to the SPG program, this is just my speculation.
What do you think about the deal? I personally would’ve preferred Hyatt from a loyalty program standpoint but want your thoughts.
It’s probably better that it wasn’t Hyatt. If they’re going to ruin the SPG program anyways, I’d rather them not drag Hyatt down as well.
There were some Canadian news outlets posting this information, too. Though, you were probably before them. I saw the news here first like every American should.