Hotel guests are notorious for treating their temporary living quarters with utter disregard; the phrase “trashing a hotel room” has been part of cultural parlance since at least the dawn of the rock star. Even the poshest of resorts often fall victim to their guests’ worst proclivities. In spite of all the obvious risk involved, one artist thought it would be a good idea to not only have his artwork displayed throughout a luxury hotel, but to install that artwork in the form of headboards. Now he’s suing the hotel after finding out that guests have apparently been treating his art like any other piece of hotel furniture — which, obviously, includes being in the background of porn videos. [More]
marriott
Artist Sues Hotel, Claiming His Paintings Became Infested With Bedbugs, Were Used In Porn Shoots
By 10.20.17
Tourists Claim Marriott Rescue Ship Denied Them Boarding After Hurricane Irma
By 9.13.17
Earlier this week, several cruise lines sent ships to rescue people stranded on Caribbean islands after Hurricane Irma ravaged the area. Hotel mega-chain Marriott attempted to undertake a similar rescue mission to St. Thomas, but that effort has come under fire, after some stranded tourists claim they were denied boarding simply because they weren’t guests of the hotel. [More]
Marriott Bringing Boutique Hotel Rooms To Coachella Tents
By 3.16.17
In the past, Coachella concert-goers interested in getting a bit of a taste of the hotel life would have had to trek away from the music festival to an actual hotel. Now, Marriott is bringing its boutique hotel flare to the festival’s field with a handful of luxury tents. [More]
Marriott May Offer Communal Rooms With Shared Living, Kitchen Spaces
By 1.30.17
When you travel with a group, it can be a pain to book adjoining rooms, and even then you all have to cram into one person’s room or lay claim to the lobby bar if you want to get together. This is one reason why groups are increasingly turning to Airbnb and similar services, and why Marriott may try rooms with communal spaces. [More]
Why You Might Not Find A Bible In Your Hotel Room Nightstand
By 12.5.16
There are several things a traveler expects when staying in a hotel: that room service is available, the beds won’t be as comfy as your own, and there will be a Bible in the nightstand. Guests of Marriott’s latest hotel chains — Moxy and Edison — can remove the latter expectation from their list: the chain won’t include the holy book in rooms. [More]
Marriott Preparing To Battle Expedia, Priceline With New Starwood Assets
By 9.22.16
With online travel agency options whittled down following the $1.6 billion Orbitz-Expedia merger in 2015, and hotels already offering customers perks for ditching the third-party travel sites, it might be hard to imagine the rivalry between the likes of Expedia, Priceline, and major hotels could get more contentious. But it apparently can, and is about be thanks, in part, to the completion of a mega-hotel merger between Marriott and Starwood Resorts. [More]
Data Breach At 20 Hotels In 10 States May Have Exposed Guests’ Payment Card Data
By 8.15.16
The operator of several hotels across 10 states and Washington, D.C. — including Starwood, Marriott, Hyatt and Intercontinental locations — says guests may have had their payment data exposed by hackers who targeted the businesses with malware starting last year. [More]
An Improved Spirit Airlines Still Comes In Last In Customer Satisfaction Survey
By 4.26.16
A year ago, low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines made its debut in the American Customer Satisfaction Index with a thud, coming in dead last among airlines in the annual survey. But even with a 15% improvement over last year’s score, Spirit still couldn’t escape the cellar. [More]
The Bidding War Is Over: China’s Anbang Insurance Drops Pursuit Of Starwood Hotels
By 4.1.16
Just three weeks after crashing Marriott’s party and throwing billions of dollars in the ring to take over Starwood Hotels — the operator of brands like Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin, and W — China’s Anbang Insurance Group packed up its bids and decided to go home, leaving Marriott and its $13.25 billion to be crowned the merger winner. [More]
Bidding War Continues: China’s Anbang Insurance Offers $14B For Starwood Hotels
By 3.28.16
Just when you thought $13.6 billion was enough to put an end to the bidding war for Starwood Hotels — home to brands like Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin, and W — and crown Marriott the victor, the other suitor, China’s Anbang Insurance Group, comes back to sweeten the deal with an offer of $14 billion. [More]
Marriott Beefs Up Bid, Buys Starwood Hotels For $13.6 Billion
By 3.21.16
Momentum in the tug-of-war over Starwood Hotels — home to brands like Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin, and W — has shifted once again. Only days after China’s Anbang Insurance appeared destined to win with its “superior proposal,” Marriott managed to dig deep with the help of a few billion additional dollars.
Starwood Backs Away From Marriott Deal After New Buyer Offers $13.2B
By 3.18.16
Earlier this week, it looked like the $12 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels — which includes brands like Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin, and W — by Marriott was in doubt after last-minute interest from China-based Anbang Insurance Group. Today, there is no doubt; that original deal is dead and Starwood is going with the higher offer from Anbang. [More]
Marriott’s Acquisition Of Starwood Hotels In Question After New $14B Takeover Bid
By 3.14.16
Five months after Starwood Hotels and Resorts – which operates brands like Sheraton, St. Regis, Westin, and W – announced it would sell itself for $12 billion to Marriott to make the world’s largest hotelier, the company revealed that it had received an unsolicited takeover bid of roughly $14 billion from a group of suitors. [More]
Marriott, Samsung Partner To Offer Hotel Guests Virtual Reality Headsets, Because Why Not?
By 9.9.15
Have you ever walked into a hotel and thought, ‘Man, this isn’t how I pictured things when I booked the room.’ While you can’t exactly change the layout or furnishings of the room – unless you switch hotels – a new partnership between Marriott and Samsung could let you escape the reality of your humdrum lodgings for a bit. [More]
The Boutique Hotel You Stayed At Was Probably Owned By A Mega-Hotel Chain
By 4.13.15
At one time, booking a hotel room for the night meant picking between one of about two dozen or so brands: Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Best Western, Comfort Inn, just to name a few. Today, consumers have more than 113 brands owned by the 10 largest hotel chains in the U.S. to choose from, and the long list of options doesn’t appear to be shrinking anytime soon. [More]
Marriott Testing In-Room Access To Netflix, Hulu, And Other Streaming Services
By 1.20.15
Just a week after Marriott buckled under backlash from the public by saying it would no longer block guests from using their personal WiFi devices, the company announced a plan that just might persuade customers from streaming content to their personal devices via WiFi: Offering in-room entertainment access to Netflix, Hulu, Pandora, and other streaming services. [More]
Marriott: It’s Okay, We Only Want To Jam Your Hotspot In The Rooms You Actually Need It In
By 1.2.15
Last fall, Marriott got in trouble for jamming the signals from users’ portable hotspots in one of their conference centers. That’s illegal, and the FCC fined them big bucks for it. Now the hotel chain is trying to make it legal, which has gone over very poorly in the public eye. But wait, Marriott says — we don’t want to stop you from using personal hotspots in your room! We only want to block you from using them in shared spaces where you could actually benefit from having them. [More]
Google, Microsoft Face Down Hilton, Marriott In Fight Over Blocking Hotel Hotspots
By 12.24.14
Hotel wifi really sucks sometimes: it can be expensive, insecure, and slow all at once. When there’s a convention in town, the network’s so overloaded you can’t connect at all. So travelers bring their own mobile hotspots. It’s a win for the consumer, but not for the hotel that suddenly loses the ability to charge you more fees. And that’s the core issue behind a regulatory fight that has hotels and tech firms arguing over what consumers are allowed to do. [More]
