Marriott is acquiring CitizenM hotels, which I think of as a better Moxy, for a cost of $355 million.
CitizenM currently has 36 hotels in 20 cities in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Their New York City rooftops are popular.
At closing of the transaction, Marriott will pay to acquire the brand and related intellectual property. Following closing, the citizenM portfolio will become part of Marriott’s system, with the hotels owned and leased by the seller subject to new long-term franchise agreements with Marriott. Stabilized fees for the open and under construction pipeline portfolio are anticipated to be approximately $30 million annually. The seller may also receive earn-out payments up to $110 million that are based on the future growth of the brand over a specified, multi-year timeframe. These payments would not begin until the fourth year following closing.
The transaction is expected to close this year. It’s not clear when integration with Marriott Bonvoy will occur. However a potentially interesting play s that CitizenM has a free status match offer and it’s open to anyone with any status with any airline or hotel program. So this may turn out to be a free backdoor into Marriott status.
The CitizenM status match offer gets you free access to their paid premium program, $12/mo ($144/year) gets you 15% off room rates, late checkout and premium view (subject to availability) and 10% off food and beverage outside of breakfast.
Perhaps CitizenM Plus members will be granted status in Bonvoy as the brand integrates into Marriott’s portfolio?
By
By
