Marriott International would be the world's largest hotel following its $12.2 billion deal to acquire rival hotelier Starwood.
The deal would give Marriott additional 50 percent rooms across 100 countries to its portfolio that would cater to young lodgers with a distinctive and high-class design.
According to Washington Post, Marriott International, a Bethesda-based hotel giant, runs a number of hotel chains which include well-known brands like Renaissance, Ritz-Carlton, Fairfield Inn, and Marriott's Courtyard.
The merge between Marriott and Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide would allow them to have a total of 1.1 million rooms and 5,500 properties. In the middle of 2016, the agreement was projected to be complete. Following the merger, Marriott will acquire Starwood brands including Westin, W, St. Regis and Sheraton.
J.W. Marriott, Jr., executive chairman of Marriott, said in a statement (via Mashable): "We have competed with Starwood for decades and we have also admired them."
"I'm excited we will add great new hotels to our system and for the incredible opportunities for Starwood and Marriott associates," he added.
Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson said he was impressed by Starwood's loyalty program because it is "very valued by elite travelers" and the members are quite younger than Marriott's.
Starwood's loyalty reward program entails partnership with Uber, Delta Air Lines, and American Express which have very appealing packages for their regular guests. On the other hand, Marriott is in partnership with Chase and United Airlines and provides much bigger loyalty offers.
In another statement, Bruce Duncan, Starwood chairman of the board, said, "Our board concluded that a combination with Marriott provides the greatest long-term value for our shareholders and the strongest and most certain path forward for our company."
Marriott and Starwood made business deals mostly with real estate companies to manage or franchise their hotel brands and take charge with the cost of room accommodations. Each brand the two giant hoteliers owned were most likely to build city by city. Marriott and Hyatt for example could not be found in the same city.
Hilton Worldwide, which boasts of 4,500 assets and approximately 735,000 rooms, is placed as the second largest hotel chain.
