Marriott International

The world's largest hotel chain by room count, headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. Owns or franchises ~9,000 properties across 30+ brands following the 2016 Starwood acquisition.

Tiers (rough hierarchy)

• Luxury: Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, JW Marriott, Edition, W, Luxury Collection
• Premium: Marriott, Sheraton, Westin, Le Méridien, Renaissance, Delta, Autograph, Tribute Portfolio, Gaylord
• Select: Courtyard, Four Points, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield, Protea, AC Hotels, Aloft, Moxy
• Longer stays: Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites, Element, Marriott Executive Apartments

Sub-brand placement isn't always intuitive. Autograph and Tribute are independent hotels under the Marriott banner — quality varies more than within the flagship lines.

Loyalty: Marriott Bonvoy

Single program across all brands since 2019. Earning baseline is 10 points / USD spent (5x at Element / Residence Inn / TownePlace). Elite tiers: Silver (10 nights), Gold (25), Platinum (50), Titanium (75), Ambassador (100 + USD 23k spend).

Suite upgrades are confirmable at Platinum+ but only as Suite Night Awards (book in advance) — not the same as Hyatt's auto-upgrades.

Notes

• The post-Starwood IT integration was rough through 2020. Booking

history and elite credit issues are mostly resolved; old Starwood property nights are usually present in Bonvoy now.

• Property variability is higher than Hyatt or peer chains. A

Marriott in Frankfurt and a Marriott in Bangkok can feel like different brands.

• The "5th night free" award booking is the headline value extraction

— book 5+ award nights in a single stay and the cheapest night is free.