Marriott International completed its $355 million acquisition of lifestyle hotel brand CitizenM, the company announced Wednesday.
The move brings 37 open hotels, or more than 8,700 rooms, into Marriott’s portfolio. Two more CitizenM hotels, totalling more than 300 rooms, are also in development.
"As travelers continue to seek innovative lodging offerings that blend technology with genuine, people-first hospitality, the citizenM brand is the perfect addition to our portfolio," said Marriott President and CEO Anthony Capuano in a statement.
Plans for the acquisition were announced in April. Marriott now begins the process of integrating CitizenM hotels into its systems and platforms, according to the announcement. They will remain bookable via CitizenM platforms until the integration is complete, which Marriott expects to be later this year.
According to Marriott, there are “more details to come” about how CitizenM’s subscription program will work following integration, but the program is currently still live.
The CitizenM acquisition is part of Marriott’s broader strategy to build its select-service portfolio globally, per the announcement. In his statement, Capuano pointed to other select-service lifestyle brands the company is currently growing, including AC Hotels, Moxy and Aloft.
Earlier this week, Marriott opened its largest AC Hotel in North America in Arlington, Virginia, following a multimillion-dollar renovation of the former Crystal City Marriott.
Competition for talent and resources in the lifestyle space is heating up as hotel players expand in the increasingly popular segment, hospitality industry leaders told Hotel Dive earlier this year.
On the heels of the acquisition announcement, however, industry experts warned that Marriott would need to be wary of cannibalization as it integrates CitizenM into its portfolio of similarly positioned lifestyle brands, particularly Moxy.
Marriott CFO Leeny Oberg, however, told Hotel Dive in April that the company has “a proven track record of being able to acquire brands and then grow them as part of our overall system, but at the same time, preserving what makes them unique and attractive to the guests.”
The Federal Trade Commission granted Marriott approval for the CitizenM acquisition last month.
