Will You Want Marriott's Autograph (Hotels?)

November 12, 2009 at 12:16 PM | by juliana | Comment (1)

The news is official: Marriott Hotels has unveiled a new brand, The Autograph Collection.

As we mentioned the other day, this new collection will consist of independent hotels that will retain their individuality but have access to the Marriott reservations systems and guests can use and earn Marriott rewards points here.

Here's the official statement from Marriott's VP of brand management, Don Semmler.

"The Autograph Collection will take the innovative approach of grouping these iconic hotels according to the unique experience that guests are seeking whether it's a resort, historic hotel, boutique arts, or urban edge hotel in a dynamic gateway city. Each hotel will be highly unique and distinct with its own identity, appealing to a growing segment of our customers who are looking for an experience that an independent hotel can deliver."

Marriott hopes to add about 25 hotels by the end of 2010 with locations around the world. So far, there's no word on which hotels where will be included in the Autograph Collection. We sincerely hope that Marriott lives up to its international promise, largely for selfish reasons--we want to do more international travel in 2010.

But we also hope that Marriott picks cool U.S. cities as well that don't often get the respect they deserve. So, no New York or Miami but maybe "special" hotels in San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas or Denver.

And we're going to guess that the Marriott branding team is already working on marketing and promotional materials featuring an autograph book, right? Right, Marriott???

Got any suggestions or nominations for Autograph Hotels? Better yet, got any scoop on hotels that will be include in the Autograph Collection? Send us your tips or comment below.

[Photo: Feltbug]

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