April Monthly Integration 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. Hotels are also 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 any questions.
SUMMARY OF THIS MONTH’S KEY MESSAGES:
- Prepare for Associate Appreciation Week (AAW) May 22-26 | Each year Marriott International marks the anniversary of its founding, May 20, by setting aside a week to express appreciation to its associates across the globe.
- Submit Oracle Property Inventory | IT leaders on property were asked to take action to advise if Oracle Database is in use at their property and, if so, submit their software inventories through the online inventory request form.
- New Expedia Contract-Rate Plan and Deposit/Cancel Policy Clarification | DORMs were provided details on recent changes in Expedia rate loading instructions and asked to take steps to ensure their hotels are successfully displaying on Expedia’s points of sales.
- Special Corporate Pricing & MarRFP Launch | Moving forward, former Starwood hotels will participate in the Marriott centralized Business Transient (BT) pricing process for the 2018 pricing season, which begins on June 19, 2017. Included in the BT pricing process will be the use of the MarRFP (Marriott Request for Pricing) tool.
- Improved Amex Card Services Agreement Teams | As of April 1, all hotels now fall under the terms of Marriott International’s Card Services agreement with American Express. The following changes became effective April 1, 2017:
- The global interchange rate for hotel charges made with American Express Cards is reduced from 2.95% to 2.90%.
- Starwood hotels will receive a slightly higher rebate for HiRoc (Meetings/Events) transactions from the lowest spend tier ($20K – $90K). The interchange discount will increase from 55 bps to 60 bps.
- Integrated GSO Launched April 1 | Within the Americas and Asia Pacific, the Global Sales organization officially launched on April 1, integrating teams across Marriott, Starwood, and The Ritz-Carlton.
- Review Q2 Game Plans and Take Action | Hotels were provided with their Q2 Game Plans at the end of March. These are intended to provide GMs with an overview of the key actions, important items and webinars taking place in Q2.
