February Monthly Recap | Former Starwood-Branded Hotels
Franchise Management Companies | Moving forward, we will continue to provide a monthly recap of the key changes shared with – and tasks asked of – former Starwood-branded hotels related to the integration. We appreciate your support in ensuring your hotels remain informed and engaged throughout this process.
SUMMARY OF THIS MONTH’S ACTIVITIES:
GMs and Change Champions at former Starwood-branded hotels continue to receive weekly emails and have the opportunity to participate in Check-In calls, which are held on Tuesdays on an as-needed basis. This month, calls were cancelled on Feb. 7 and Feb. 14 as there was no urgent information to share with Change Champions. However, hotels were encouraged to take a look at the latest Webinar Calendar to see a summary of all other discipline-specific webinars taking place, and to contact change.champions@marriott.com with questions.
SUMMARY OF THIS MONTH’S KEY MESSAGES:
Owner & Franchise Services Account Management Webinars: GMs were invited to participate, along with their management companies, in webinars to learn more about Marriott’s franchise account management strategy and how we support and interact with franchise management companies. For details, view the post on mi360.
guestVoice:
Office Hours: Office Hours were held on Feb. 7 and Feb. 8. All guestVoice users were encouraged to attend to learn more about tools and resources to support Staff Service and Check-in scores. Subject Matter Experts were on the line to help answer your questions about the system.
SPG Reviews to be Integrated into guestVoice: Beginning Feb. 9, 2017, hotels were able to review and respond to Starwood Preferred Guest Reviews in guestVoice. As a reminder, the Reputation Management Index (RMI) will be replaced by the 48-hour guest response score which can be found within guestVoice.
No Brand Standard Waivers & Variances in 2017: All former Starwood and Marriott brand standards will be migrated and posted to a global repository in Q3 2017. The brand standards migration is currently underway, and there is no need to submit new waivers and variances this year. Previous waivers and variances are being reviewed and written into standards as applicable. Each standard will be written to be global while also including regional and brand differentiations. Visit The Platform for more information.
Procurement: Franchised properties who have signed up with Avendra should receive guidance on conversion activities from their assigned Avendra field rep. Questions can be directed to Avendra customer service at customerservice@avendra.com. Questions on brand specifications can be directed to Ask.Ops@marriott.com.
2017 Marriott Select Brands GM Conference: As a reminder, this conference will be held March 29-April 2 in New Orleans, LA. All Aloft, Element and Four Points GMs are encouraged to register and attend.
Vistana Fully Participates In Marriott Business Rates / StarBiz Rates | Effective immediately, associates of Vistana locations and corporate offices are eligible for the Marriott business rate at the Marriott portfolio of brands. The email informed Front Desk Associates that they should accept Marriott, Starwood, and Vistana identification or corporate cards (American Express for legacy Starwood and Bank of America Visa for Marriott) at check-in. Likewise, Vistana properties will offer the Starbiz rate to all eligible recipients. Associates can use www.starwoodhotels.com/starbiz when booking rooms using the StarBiz Rate.
