This week, Marriott International, Inc. launched the Autograph Collection, a new brand within the company’s global portfolio comprised of upper upscale and luxury, independent hotels with distinctive personalities in major cities and desired destinations worldwide. “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,“ said Don Semmler, executive vice president of brand management for Marriott International. “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.”

There are currently plans to add approximately 25 hotels through 2010 with locations throughout the world. According to Semmler, the hotels will generally be boutique hotels with arts or music theme, or historic hotels or have urban locations. Member hotels will have to agree to operational standards, including renovation cycles; specific service standards such as room service hours, valet parking, flat-screen TV and bedding; and food safety audits. Each hotel will go through the same hotel and operator approval processes as other Marriott full-service hotels.

The Autograph Collection provides Marriott with another attractive platform for future global growth. The benefit to member properties includes tapping into Marriott’s global reservations system, consumer outreach through its leading technology, and sales and marketing platforms which have helped build Marriott into one of the world’s leading hotel operators.

While there may be some cross-selling opportunities, the Autograph Collection gives Marriott the ability to capture a broad audience that would not have typically considered a branded concept -- appealing to guests who want to stay in independent hotels. Each hotel will be required not only to meet Autograph’s product standards, but will also need to demonstrate continued high guest satisfaction and quality-assurance scores to remain part of the Autograph Collection. The Autograph Collection will be featured on Marriott.com and affiliated with Marriott Rewards, Marriott International’s guest loyalty program, where guests can earn points at more than 3,000 hotels in 68 countries. For more information, visit www.marriott.com.

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