Marriott owns fewer than ten of its hotels. The company operates as a brand and management firm, letting franchisees own properties instead. Expanding the brand into residential multifamily housing could damage it if done wrong.
This is a massive move. This is a really bold move. This is like, wow, you're going to take a legacy brand like Marriott and you're going to put that on multifamily. Like, this could backfire and really hurt them if it's not done properly. But what's really astonished me about Marriott over the years— and you and I talked about this a little bit before we started recording— I have a good friend that's worked for Marriott as a trainer for a long time. Marriott has done an exceptional job about being so good as a brand that you would think they own the hotels. They don't. I once had this guy ask me, he's like, how many hotels do you think Marriott owns? And I'm like, I don't know, hundreds, maybe thousands. And he's like, fewer than 10. They are all independently owned. Marriott is a management brand.
