Dive Brief:
- Marriott International is prioritizing its branded residences growth, unveiling Monday enhanced benefits for its newly integrated owner recognition platform, ONVIA.
- The benefits, including preferred hotel room rates for owners and the opportunity to earn exclusive experiences, come as Marriott boosts its branded residences pipeline. Currently, the hotel company has 138 open residential locations and a pipeline of 123 projects worldwide. Some 76 are open and 35 are in the pipeline in the U.S. and Canada.
- In January, CBRE forecasted that hospitality companies will look to capture more customers and build brand loyalty by integrating residential assets into branded hotels. Marriott is one of several industry players focusing on growth in the residential space.
Dive Insight:
Earlier this month, Marriott launched its owner recognition program, ONVIA, to “elevate experiences” for branded residence owners. The program offers preferred rates at select hotels within the global Marriott Bonvoy portfolio, preferred access to excursions with The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, as well as culinary experiences, wellness offerings and other perks.
ONVIA is a product of “years of extensive research” and listening to feedback from residence owners and developers, Marriott detailed in a release. The program aims to strengthen brand loyalty by enhancing the experience for existing customers and attracting new ones.
Some 90% of Marriott branded residential owners are Marriott Bonvoy members currently, the company’s chief development officer for U.S. Luxury Brands and Global Mixed-Use, Dana Jacobsohn, told Hotel Dive. In total, Marriott’s loyalty program has more than 200 million members.
Developers remain loyal, too, with the company inking deals with repeat developers who appreciate the name recognition and technical support Marriott offers, Jacobsohn noted. She added that the company has signed some four residential deals with Miami-based developer Related Group, for example.
In the U.S. and Canada alone, Marriott has 35 branded residences in the pipeline. Since year-end 2019, the company has grown its number of open branded residences by nearly 50%, according to the release.
Marriott’s branded residences fall under several of the company’s luxury and premium brands, including The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis, JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, Edition and W Hotels. The branded residence portfolio includes co-located projects with a hotel of the same brand as well as standalone properties, which comprise nearly 25% of open and pipeline projects, according to Marriott.
A project opening in one month, Jacobsohn noted, is the St. Regis Residences, Longboat Key. The co-located property is slated to feature luxury hotel rooms and condominiums, along with amenities like a spa and on-site dining.
“Comfort [and] service is important, so that is one of the reasons that we're seeing growth in the branded residential space,” Jacobsohn said. She added that increased consumer demand for the luxury segment more generally has fueled Marriott’s branded residences growth, as it has for the company’s overall hotel portfolio.
More widely, societal shifts like remote work, rising housing costs, delayed family formation and the prioritization of sustainability goals have driven a convergence of residential and hospitality real estate, CBRE noted in a January report.
Beyond condominiums, though, CBRE predicted that hospitality companies will partner with residential real estate companies to create student housing, co-living and senior communities. That’s not on the docket for Marriott just yet, though Jacobsohn said the company is exploring the branded rental space.
Other hotel companies expanding their branded residential portfolios include Hilton and Hyatt.
