Travel 1

There are so many different hotels in the world, but did you know that a mere handful of companies owns almost all of them? Most hotels are franchises of large hotel chains: Accor, Best Western, Choice, Hiton, H World, Hyatt, International Hotels Group (IHG), Marriott, and Wyndham.

Accor, headquartered in France, is Europe’s largest hotel chain with 55 brands:

https://group.accor.com/en/brands

Accor operates 5,700 hotels and over 840 thousand rooms worldwide. The company is present in 110+ countries. Accor’s loyalty program, known as “ALL: Accor Live Limitless,” was launched in 2019. 

Best Western Hotels & Resorts

Best Western Hotel and Resort was founded by M.K. Guertin in 1946 in Phoenix, Arizona. What started as an informal referral system among hotel operators in California has become a global hospitality company. Best Western has 19 brands in its portfolio, which features Best Western, Best Western Plus, and Best Western Premier. Best Western operates approximately 4,300 hotels and 311 thousand rooms across 100+ countries. The Best Western Rewards program gives its members access to perks like exclusive rates, points that never expire, and free nights across all its properties.

Choice Hotels International

Choice Hotels International, based in Maryland, USA, is a global hospitality group founded in 1939. What started when seven motel owners formed a marketing cooperative called Quality Courts United has morphed into the hospitality group we know today. Choice Hotels has 22 brands falling into three distinct groups: luxury (Radisson, Ascend), comfortable (Quality Inn, Sleep Inn), and for longer stays (Everyhome Suites.) Choice Hotels operates 7,000 hotels and nearly 570,000 rooms in 40 countries. The Choice Privileges loyalty program provides rewards like preferred parking, low rates, and gift cards.

Hilton was founded by Conrad Hilton and has grown from a single hotel in Cisco, Texas to the global enterprise that it is today. Hilton Worldwide operates nearly 7,800 properties with over 1.2 million rooms across 126 countries. Hilton Honors is the company’s loyalty program. I recently got lucky and stayed in Conrad Seoul (they even upgraded my room!)

Hilton Honors has a network of 18 brands from value-focused to high-end luxury:

Canopy by Hilton.

Conrad Hotels & Resorts. (My best stay so far was in the Seoul Conrad!)

Curio Collection by Hilton.

DoubleTree by Hilton.

Embassy Suites by Hilton Hotels.

Hampton by Hilton.

Hilton Garden Inn.

Hilton Grand Vacations.

Hilton Hotels and Resorts.

Home2 Suites by Hilton.

Homewood Suites by Hilton.

LXR Hotels & Resorts.

Motto by Hilton.

Signia Hilton.

Tapestry Collection by Hilton.

Tempo by Hilton.

Tru by Hilton.

Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts.

H World Group

H World Group, previously named Huazhu Group, is a prominent global hotel operator based in China. H World has 9 brands in its portfolio, including HanTing Hotel, JI Hotel, and Steigenberger Hotels & Resorts. H World operates 10,286 hotels with over 1 million rooms in 18 countries. The H Rewards loyalty program gives members access to exclusive offers, attractive rates, gourmet vouchers, free breakfast, and more across all its hotel brands.

Hyatt, headquartered in Chicago, IL, USA - the smallest hotel chain in this list (but I frequent

them much more than the others proportionally), has the following brands:

Alila.

Andaz.

Caption by Hyatt.

Destination by Hyatt.

Grand Hyatt.

Hyatt.

Hyatt Centric.

Hyatt House.

Hyatt Place.

Hyatt Regency.

Hyatt Residence Club.

Hyatt Zilara.

Hyatt Ziva.

JdV by Hyatt.

Miraval.

Park Hyatt.

The Unbound Collection by Hyatt.

Thompson Hotels.

Tommie.

UrCove.

Hyatt operates 1,350+ properties with over 300,000 rooms in over 70 countries. World of Hyatt Loyalty Program is this chain’s loyalty program.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG)

InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) is a prominent British multinational hospitality company headquartered in Windsor, England. IHG’s origins date back to 1777, when William Bass founded Bass Brewery in Burton-upon-Trent, England. This became one of the largest breweries in the UK. By the mid-20th century, Bass Brewery diversified and entered the hospitality industry by acquiring Mitchells Butlers—a chain of hotels and pubs—in 1969, the Holiday Inn brand in 1988, and the InterContinental brand in 1998.

IHG Hotels & Resorts has a wide range of 17 brands:

Atwell Suites.

Avid Hotels.

Candlewood Suites.

Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts.

EVEN Hotels.

Holiday Inn Club Vacations.

Holiday Inn Express.

Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts.

Hotel Indigo.

HUALUXE Hotels and Resorts.

InterContinental Hotels & Resorts.

Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants.

Regent Hotels & Resorts.

Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas.

Staybridge Suites.

Vignette Collection.

Voco Hotels.

IHG has over 6,430 hotels and 954,000 rooms across 100+ countries, with the largest number located in the Americas. IHG One Rewards provides benefits like a free stay for 2 kids, dining deals, member-exclusive 10 percent savings on app bookings, and more. There are over 130 million members in the One Rewards program.

Marriot, founded in Washington, DC, USA, operates nearly 9,000 properties with over 1.6 million rooms across more than 141 countries. Its expansive portfolio makes it the largest hotel group to date. Marriot Bonvoy was launched in 2019, following the merger of Marriott Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG), and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards programs. With more than 210 million members, Bonvoy is the largest loyalty program in the hospitality sector.

Marriott Bonvoy, the world’s largest hotel chain by room volume, has the following brands:

AC Hotels Marriott.

Aloft Hotels.

Autograph Collection Hotels.

Bulgari Hotels & Resorts (does not participate in Marriott Bonvoy)

Courtyard By Marriott.

Delta Hotels.

Design Hotels.

Edition.

Element by Westin.

Fairfield by Marriott.

Four Points by Sheraton.

Gaylord Hotels.

Homes and Villas by Marriott.

JW Marriott.

Le Meridien.

Marriott.

Marriott Executive Apartments.

Marriott Vacation Club.

Moxy Hotels.

Protea Hotels.

Renaissance Hotels.

Residence Inn by Marriott.

Sheraton.

St. Regis Hotels & Resorts.

The Luxury Collection.

The Ritz-Carlton.

TownePlace Suites by Marriott.

Tribute Portfolio.

W Hotels.

Westin Hotels & Resorts.

From https://www.hotel-development.marriott.com/brands

Wyndham has the following brands:

AmericInn by Wyndham.

Baymont by Wyndham.

Days Inn by Wyndham.

Dazzler by Wyndham.

Dolce Hotels and Resorts by Wyndham.

Esplendor Boutique Hotels by Wyndham.

Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham.

Howard Johnson by Wyndham.

La Quinta by Wyndham.

Microtel by Wyndham.

Ramada by Wyndham.

Ramada Encore by Wyndham.

Registry Collection Hotels.

Super 8 by Wyndham.

Trademark Collection by Wyndham.

Travelodge by Wyndham.

TRYP by Wyndham.

Wingate by Wyndham.

Wyndham.

Wyndham Garden.

Wyndham Grand.

Wyndham, founded in Dallas, TX, USA, has over 9,000 properties and 885,000 rooms, with operations across 95 countries. Wyndham Rewards, its loyalty program, has about 101 million registered members.