If there’s one complaint that Marriott Bonvoy members consistently have, it’s that Marriott doesn’t have enough hotel brands. Fortunately the company has been listening, and is now adding yet another brand to the portfolio. Okay, of course I’m kidding, but actually…
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Marriott & Sonder enter into licensing agreement
Marriott has announced a new long-term licensing agreement with Sonder, which primarily offers apartment-style accommodations in urban markets, including in North America, Europe, and the Middle East.
These properties will be marketed under a new collection called Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy. The expectation is that 9,000 rooms will be added to the portfolio by the end of 2024, and then there are approximately 1,500 more rooms in the pipeline. With this, Marriott’s full year 2024 net rooms growth is expected to be between 6% and 6.5%.
Starting later this year, Marriott Bonvoy members will be able to earn and redeem points for stays at approximately 200 Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy properties. Full integration of Sonder properties with Marriott’s digital channels is expected in 2025.
For those not familiar with Sonder, the brand was founded in 2014, and has been growing at a pretty fast pace, with properties in over 40 cities in over 10 countries. Sonder lists many of its properties on Airbnb, and is one of the biggest “hosts” on the platform.
Here’s how Tim Grisius, Marriott’s Global Officer for M&A, Business Development, and Real Estate, describes this development:
“We are excited about the addition of Sonder’s portfolio to our system, which will expand our portfolio of longer-stay accommodations in key markets around the world. Marriott has long believed in providing the right product at the right price point for all trip purposes and generations of travelers. With the planned addition of Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy, we will be able to provide guests seeking apartment-style urban accommodations with even more options in the Marriott Bonvoy portfolio.”
My take on the Marriott & Sonder partnership
On balance, I’d say this new collaboration is good news for Marriott Bonvoy members, since it’ll be possible to earn and redeem points for Airbnb-style accommodations. Admittedly there are more questions than answers as of now:
- We’ll see what points earning rates are like, but I wouldn’t expect it to be 10x points per dollar, but probably more likely 5x points per dollar
- I doubt points redemption opportunities will be a great value, but rather I’d guess you’ll get a fixed amount of value per point, like with Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy
- There’s no mention of elite perks, so we’ll see if there are any of those
I suppose more options are a good thing, though the brand inflation at Marriott truly is endless. In the home sharing and apartment segment, you also have Homes & Villas by Marriott Bonvoy, Apartments by Marriott Bonvoy, and Marriott Executive Apartments.
Now, I’m not surprised to see Sonder not wanting to give up its own brand, since the company is continuing to operate independently. Speaking of Sonder, why is the company suddenly partnering with Marriott, when its identity has long been based on essentially being an anti-hotel brand?
Well, the company has been a financial disaster. The company had annual losses of over $250 million in 2020, nearly $300 million in 2021, and then in 2022, the company went public. More recently, the company reported that its 2022 and 2023 financial statements “should no longer be relied upon,” and the company hasn’t reported any financial results since Q3 2023.
So, umm, we’ll see how long this collaboration lasts?
Bottom line
Marriott and Sonder are entering into a licensing agreement, whereby Sonder properties will be bookable through Marriott channels, meaning Bonvoy members will have opportunities to earn and redeem points.
Sonder offers apartment-style accommodations in major cities in North America, Europe, and the Middle East, and has marketed itself as an alternative to hotels. But now you’ll be able to stay at these properties within the portfolio of a major hotel loyalty program.
What do you make of Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy?
Every time I wanted to book an apartment-style accommodation advertised by Marriott (great pictures, lavish description), I was appalled by so many bad reviews on internet. So far I have good experience with Meriton in Australia, otherwise I book individual, non-branded properties.
Why would anyone want to stay at any property owned & managed by this financial disaster of a company? You can expect things to be broken.
Only one new brand?
I stayed in a sonder property before. Looked beautiful in photos. Thought it was a great deal. But there was no regular maintenance. Everything was broken down. For 3 of our 5 days, a fire door in our corridor was shut, so we had to take the lift to one of two floors and then either go up 4 floors or down 5 floors via the stairs in the car park. This total lack of...
I stayed in a sonder property before. Looked beautiful in photos. Thought it was a great deal. But there was no regular maintenance. Everything was broken down. For 3 of our 5 days, a fire door in our corridor was shut, so we had to take the lift to one of two floors and then either go up 4 floors or down 5 floors via the stairs in the car park. This total lack of concern about these types of issues ensures that I would not stay again in a hurry. A friend also recently stayed in another property. He paid for a late check out, but they didn't inform the cleaning staff. He returned and had his stuff all removed from his room and some of the items went missing. No apologies, no compensation.
Not a brand I would recommend.
The downside is more uncertainty for people about whether they're staying in a real full service hotel or an airbnb style property. People who wanted a real hotel will screw up and book these, especially older people and infrequent travelers. Which is probably a big part of of the upside for Sonder, more legitimacy under a known name.
Agree 100%. Had a horrible experience with them in Rome. Elevator was broken most days. Patio door broken and locked shut. Digital door code for the apartment kept malfunctioning, I was locked out for an hour at 1am. Worst of all was the quality of their construction. The walls were paper thin, to the point where when my neighbor ran their sink I swore mine was on.
That stay was years ago and their...
Agree 100%. Had a horrible experience with them in Rome. Elevator was broken most days. Patio door broken and locked shut. Digital door code for the apartment kept malfunctioning, I was locked out for an hour at 1am. Worst of all was the quality of their construction. The walls were paper thin, to the point where when my neighbor ran their sink I swore mine was on.
That stay was years ago and their prices are 2-3x now. Would recommend staying away from them, especially at that price point
A friend of mine got a fantastic deal on a decent-looking Sonder apartment in New Orleans. But when I looked at their offerings in bigger cities, nothing stood out to me as a particular value over what AirBNB and Vrbo offer. Their London footprint, for example, is just new coats of paint and nicer fittings slapped onto long-existing, tiny budget hotel properties. At eye-watering prices.
They have a few of these in Montreal, they seem like nice properties for longer stays. Something most hotel brands don't offer much.
Ben, if you don't consider the MGM Collection to be a Marriott Brand, why are you calling the Sonder Collection a brand?
Ugh. Another Marriott brand? And didn't Marriott just launch an apartment/extended-stay brand? Why not put these hotels under that brand? This is just crazy dillution.
These aren't Marriott properties -- Sonder is an independent company, so they obviously want the Sonder name to be marketed somehow. Otherwise, it would be like Design Hotels being part of the Autograph Collection.
I don't disagree that Marriott has too many brands, but Collections like the Sonder Collection and MGM Collection are different than brands
Except it's "Sonder by Marriott Bonvoy." Emphasis on BY. They could have easily put them in Marriott's new "Apartments by Marriott" or Marriott's older "Marriott Executive Apartments."
Considering how expensive Sonder Edinburgh and Barcelona were when I looked, if they can't make a profit something is majorly wrong!
This will be brand #36 for Marriott. Ridiculous. Marriott isn't a hotel management company anymore. They're just a franchiser with a collection of brands, an IT platform, and a loyalty program -- and one where hotel owners basically do whatever they want, while Marriott collects fees.
I wonder at what point owners of legacy properties start pushing back? Especially owners of the better than average properties -- you know, the properties who don't actively cheat guests.