Marriott's Latest Brand Expands Its Regional Appeal

Over the last year, Marriott has been expanding its reach through a strategy of both acquisitions and partnerships. (And sometimes both in the same breath.) It comes from a fairly understandable premise: if travelers are looking to see the world in a growing number of ways, it helps to have a lot of footholds in different approaches to hospitality. With that in mind, Marriott’s latest maneuver feels less like a splashy move in its own right and more a case of laying the groundwork for subsequent dealmaking.

What that means in practice is the debut of Series by Marriott, described on its website as a way “to bring strong, regionally relevant brands and hotels into the Marriott portfolio.” The same site also stresses that existing property owners will be able to “maintain their portfolio’s independent identity.”

The first travelers to see the results of this new venture will be those staying in cities around India. Marriott’s announcement of Series by Marriott also came with news of its first partnership — and it’s with the hotel management company Concept Hospitality Private Limited, which represents 115 locations across India.

According to Marriott’s announcement, the partnership will involve three of CHPL’s brands — The Fern, The Fern Residency and The Fern Habitat — becoming exclusively affiliated with Series by Marriott. Marriott is also set to make what the announcement describes as “a small equity investment in CHPL.”

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That looks to be good news for travelers who enjoy green tourism: Fern Hotels’ website touts those three brands as “environmentally sensitive.” The Fern and The Fern Residency are described as hotels, while The Fern Habitat has the designation of being an “apart’hotel” — and, if the images from their Candolim location on Goa are any indication, this could open up some very scenic locations to frequent travelers with a penchant for staying at Marriott-affiliated spaces.

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Tobias Carroll

Tobias Carroll lives and writes in New York City, and has been covering a wide variety of subjects — including (but not limited to) books, soccer and drinks — for many years. His writing has been published by the likes of the Los Angeles Times, Pitchfork, Literary Hub, Vulture, Punch, the New York Times and Men’s Journal. At InsideHook, he has…