Hotel giant Marriott International is stepping up its expansion across Europe with plans to add nearly 100 “conversion” properties by the end of 2026.
The US company announced during the International Hospitality Investment Forum in Berlin that these hotels would add more than 12,000 rooms to its portfolio across Europe through the conversion of existing hotels to its brands and the “adaptive reuse” of other buildings.
These conversion and reuse properties will represent more than 40 per cent of Marriott’s European development pipeline over the next two-and-a-half years.
Marriott said its “robust growth plans” would strengthen the company’s footprint across Europe, which already includes more than 800 hotels and 150,000 total rooms across 25 brands in 47 European countries and territories.
Satya Anand, Marriott International’s president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, added: “We continue to see meaningful growth across Europe through conversion and adaptive reuse opportunities, reinforcing the confidence our owners and franchisees have in Marriott International as they look to reposition assets and maximise returns.
“Conversions with Marriott offer owners and franchisees the opportunity to leverage our well-established brands, competitive affiliation costs, the company’s powerful revenue generation engines and Marriott Bonvoy – our award-winning travel programme with more than 200 million members.”
The company said it was “seeing momentum” for conversion and reuse projects in countries such as Italy, Spain, Turkey and the UK across all of its brand segments.
New midscale brand Four Points Express by Sheraton is adding new hotels in the UK and Turkey, while brands such as Moxy, AC Hotels and Residence Inn are particularly expected to expand further through conversions and reuse projects.
Marriott added that 20 per cent of the 100 new hotels were likely to come through its premium collection brands for independent hotels – Tribute Portfolio and Autograph Collection.
There will also be new conversion properties for luxury brands such as The Luxury Collection, W Hotels, Ritz-Carlton and St Regis.
Jerome Briet, Marriott’s chief development officer, Europe, Middle East & Africa, added: “We are particularly seeing momentum across The Luxury Collection, Autograph Collection and Tribute Portfolio brands which allow hotels an opportunity to keep their identity and personality while pulling into the power of Marriott’s global systems.”
Rival hotel firm Wyndham Hotels & Resorts has also lauded its “impressive gains” across the wider Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa region.
Wyndham’s recent developments include the opening of the Vienna House Easy by Wyndham in Berlin, 11 new properties in Turkey, the debuts of the Wyndham Grand in Krakow and Dolce by Wyndham in Milan. The company has also established its first Super 8 hotels in the UK.