Marriott didn’t spend $355M to buy 36 small-room hotels

When Marriott International announced it would acquire the citizenM brand for $355 million in cash, the easy take was to call it "another lifestyle acquisition" in a long list of soft brands and hip logos.

Nicolas Vorsteher

Founder & CEO, chatlyn

chatlyn

More in this category

Real Estate & Investment

More in this category

Brand Marketing

More in this category

Innovation

More like this

Opinion

The Enemy Within: Why We Ignore the AI in Hospitality Operations

The hospitality industry has a dangerous habit of gazing out the window while the house is leaking heat—and money. We are collectively obsessed with external wars: the battle for the customer interface, the fight for direct bookings, and now, the pa...

Mark Fancourt

Co Founder & Principal Consultant, TRAVHOTECH

TRAVHOTECH

More in this category

Information Technology

More in this category

Chatbots, Robotics & AI

More like this

Opinion

How Hospitality Leaders Are Navigating Talent, Tech, and Capital Shifts

The hospitality industry is entering 2026 at a crossroads. Owners and operators are facing a landscape shaped by tightened capital markets, shifting guest expectations, wage escalations, and rapidly evolving technologies. These forces are rewriting ...

Andrew Hazelton

Managing Director at AETHOS Consulting Group

AETHOS Consulting Group

More in this category

Human Resources

More like this

Opinion

This Is Why Customers Trust You

In the past few months, I’ve been writing and speaking about how trust fits into the customer experience. Trust is earned, and once earned, it results in a customer who has confidence to keep doing business with you. I created a metric, the Customer...

Shep Hyken

Customer Service and Experience Expert, Keynote Speaker and Bestselling Author

Shepard Presentations, LLC.

More in this category

CRM & Loyalty

More like this

Opinion

The New Economics of Hospitality: ESG, AI, And Value Creation in The MEA Region

The Middle East and Africa remain among the most dynamic frontiers for hospitality investment. Three trends stand out. First, diversification of economies- particularly in the Gulf, has positioned tourism as a strategic growth engine. Governments ar...

Hala Matar Choufany

President - HVS Middle East, Africa and South Asia, Dubai

HVS

More in this category

Real Estate & Investment

More in this category

Markets & Performance

More like this

Opinion

Blending Tradition and Innovation at The Belfry: A Conversation on the Future of Guest Experience

During my recent conversation with Emma Catterall, Senior Finance Director at The Belfry, I was reminded that the most powerful transformations in hospitality often occur when technology, people, and place work together in harmony.

Florencia Cueto

Director, Global Engagement & Sales Enablement at Shiji Group

Shiji

More in this category

Sales & Marketing

More in this category

Guest Experience

More like this

Opinion

Call of the Mountains: Hotel Investment in the Blue Ridge Mountains

In the past year, a surge of hotel consulting work in the Blue Ridge Mountains of southwestern North Carolina and northwestern Georgia has called attention to this market’s growth. The concentration of investment and development in this region indic...

Courtney Vris

Senior Project Manager and Leader HVS Atlanta office

HVS

More in this category

Markets & Performance

More in this category

Market Segments

More like this

Opinion

Looking for Higher Profitability? Start Your Workflow Automation the Right Way

In today’s hospitality environment (see our previous article), “do more with less” has become more than a mantra, it’s a structural necessity. Modern workflow automation has reached a mature stage; it’s a practical, proven lever for operational tran...

Stephen Burke

Founder and CEO, Robosize ME

Robosize ME

More in this category

Travel Technology

More in this category

Finance & Accounting

More in this category

Chatbots, Robotics & AI

More like this

Opinion

Anticipating the Surge: How Hospitality America is Positioning for the 2026 FIFA World Cup

When FIFA announced that North America would host the 2026 World Cup—describing it as “the largest World Cup in history”—the hospitality sector began preparing for a seismic shift in travel patterns across the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Sixt...

Daniel Lock

VP of Commercial Strategy

Hospitality America

More in this category

Events & Conferences

More in this category

Lodging Industry

More in this category

Markets & Performance

More in this category

Sports Tourism

More like this

Opinion

AI Users Need Agency, Not Agentic

For the past few years, the conversation around artificial intelligence in hospitality has been dominated by a single question: Will AI replace the people who run our hotels, inns, and operations? It is an understandable concern. The industry is gra...

Chris McPherson

Co-Founder and CTO

TakeUp

More in this category

Property Technology

More in this category

Revenue Management

More in this category

Big Data

More in this category

Chatbots, Robotics & AI

More like this

All Latest News

Marriott didn’t spend $355M to buy 36 small-room hotels

The Enemy Within: Why We Ignore the AI in Hospitality Operations

How Hospitality Leaders Are Navigating Talent, Tech, and Capital Shifts

This Is Why Customers Trust You

The New Economics of Hospitality: ESG, AI, And Value Creation in The MEA Region

Blending Tradition and Innovation at The Belfry: A Conversation on the Future of Guest Experience

Call of the Mountains: Hotel Investment in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Looking for Higher Profitability? Start Your Workflow Automation the Right Way

Anticipating the Surge: How Hospitality America is Positioning for the 2026 FIFA World Cup

AI Users Need Agency, Not Agentic

Your content on Hospitality Net?