How Marriott Plans to Recharge Sheraton’s Brand — Source: TOPHOTELPROJECTS

During Marriott International's recent Investor Day event, the company's chief commercial officer, Stephanie Linnartz had an optimistic message for those interested in the brands that make up the company's portfolio: as the new custodian of Starwood's brands, Marriott is confident that its leadership will be able to create better experiences for guests and, ultimately, drive more revenue.

Marriott International acquired Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. in a blockbuster $13 billion deal in Sept. 2016, which elevated Marriott to the world's largest hotel chain. The recent event at the New York Marriott Marquis marked the company's first Investor Day since the massive Starwood deal.

A topic of great focus at Investor Day was Sheraton, which is now the third largest brand in Marriott International's portfolio. However, due to Sheraton's delivery and owner ROI, in recent times it has become a brand that has faced much scrutiny. At Investor Day, Linnartz acknowledged that Marriott was well aware of this, but the plan is to focus on Sheraton's upside moving forward now that it is a part of Marriott International. She shifted the focus by telling stories of past success carried out by the Marriott brand.

"Sheraton has been plagued by poor consumer perception in North America," Linnartz said, highlighting both the physical product and service. "There is a wide gap between the best and the worst hotels. There has been poor quality assurance and inadequate accountability."

Linnartz then assured those gathered that Marriott International was working hard on a turn around with both owners and franchisees involved with Sheraton.

Specifically, Linnartz indicated six initiatives with the potential to spur a resurgence for Sheraton. These six initiatives are:

  1. Address quality gap;
  2. Ensure accountability;
  3. Implement quality assurance process;
  4. Apply operational excellence and rigor;
  5. Engage and align owners;
  6. Renovate hotels.

But Linnartz also acknowledged that in the global hospitality industry success is not something that struggling brand can so much as hope to obtain overnight, saying, "It can take three to six months after owner buy in and renovations, but we believe Sheraton will benefit from our scale. We have turned brands around, but it takes time."

Linnartz pointed to the past success stories of brands that found themselves in situations similar to the one Sheraton is in now, specifically Fairfield Inn and Suites, Courtyard, a brand that went through a mega refresh to come out the other side far more appealing to both customers and owners alike.

In 2007, the Courtyard Brand was turning 25 years old and also facing competition from the likes of Hilton Garden Inn. It hadn't had a major facelift in some time. Marriott then put Courtyard through a refresh program that included renovations, renovations that were specifically crafted to bolster the brand's lobbies and guestrooms. Courtyard now has nearly 1,100 properties, plus a pipeline of 280 hotels.

During the Investor Day meeting, Linnartz refrained from suggesting that Marriott International would sell the Sheraton brand in whole, or even take certain properties to convert into other Marriott brands.

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Jule Grass
Marketing Manager
+49 4261 4140 309
TOPHOTELPROJECTS

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