Is Hyatt Part of Marriott?

No, Hyatt is not part of Marriott. Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Marriott International are two separate and competing hotel chains.

Both Hyatt and Marriott are major players in the hospitality industry, operating hotels and resorts around the world. However, they are completely independent companies with separate ownership and management structures.

Hyatt was founded in 1957 by Jay Pritzker. Marriott was founded in 1927 by J. Willard Marriott. While Marriott has grown over the years to become the largest hotel chain in the world, Hyatt remains an independent company focused on the high-end market.

Key Differences Between Hyatt and Marriott

Here are some of the key differences between Hyatt and Marriott:

Ownership

• Hyatt is still controlled by the Pritzker family through their investment firm Pritzker Organization.
• Marriott is a publicly traded company with no single majority owner.

Number of Hotel Brands

• Hyatt operates around 20 different hotel brands including Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, and Hyatt Place.
• Marriott has over 30 hotel brands in its portfolio including JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, W Hotels, Courtyard, and Renaissance.

Number of Hotel Properties

• As of 2022, Hyatt had roughly 1,150 hotels worldwide.
• Marriott had over 8,000 hotel properties globally.

Luxury Focus

• Hyatt is focused on the high-end luxury and lifestyle market. Its top brands include Park Hyatt and Andaz.
• Although Marriott has luxury brands like Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis, it also has a strong presence in the mid-range and budget segments.

Resorts

• Hyatt is known for its resorts in exotic locations like the Maldives, Hawaii, and Mexico.
• Marriott also operates resorts but has a larger focus on business traveler hotels in big cities.

Customer Loyalty Programs

• Hyatt operates the World of Hyatt loyalty program with around 25 million members.
• Marriott has the larger Marriott Bonvoy program with over 160 million members.

History of Hyatt and Marriott

Hyatt History

The first Hyatt hotel was the Hyatt House Los Angeles, opened in 1957 by entrepreneurs Hyatt Robert von Dehn and Jack Dyer Crouch. Jay Pritzker acquired the Hyatt House chain in 1957 and grew it into a national hospitality brand over the next few decades.

Key events in Hyatt’s history:

• 1957: Hyatt House Los Angeles opens
• 1957: Jay Pritzker acquires Hyatt chain
• 1967: Hyatt Regency Atlanta opens, the first modern atrium hotel
• 1980: Hyatt enters the international market
• 2004: Pritzker family takes Hyatt public
• 2019: Hyatt reaches 1,000 hotel properties worldwide

Today, Hyatt remains a private, family-controlled company run by Jay Pritzker’s descendants.

Marriott History

Marriott was founded in 1927 when J. Willard Marriott opened an A&W root beer stand in Washington D.C. It grew over the decades into a global lodging empire.

Key events in Marriott’s history:

• 1927: J. Willard Marriott opens A&W root beer stand
• 1957: Marriott enters hotel business, opening first Twin Bridges Motor Hotel
• 1967: Marriott goes public and starts international expansion
• 1993: Marriott acquires Ritz-Carlton luxury hotel chain
• 2016: Marriott acquires Starwood Hotels, adding brands like Sheraton and W Hotels
• 2019: Marriott reaches over 7,000 properties worldwide

Today, Marriott is the world’s largest hotel company with 30 brands and over 1.4 million rooms globally.

Recent Relationship Between Hyatt and Marriott

While Hyatt and Marriott have competed for decades in the hotel industry, there were some rumors in the early 2010s that Marriott was considering acquiring Hyatt.

In 2015, Marriott did make a non-binding, conditional takeover offer for Hyatt at a valuation of around $12 billion. However, Hyatt’s board rejected the offer, opting to keep the Pritzker family-controlled chain independent.

Since then, Hyatt and Marriott have continued operating as separate, competing chains. In 2018, Hyatt actually partnered with Small Luxury Hotels of the World (SLH), a rival to Marriott’s luxury Ritz-Carlton brand. This signaled Hyatt’s commitment to growing its luxury portfolio on its own terms rather than being acquired by Marriott.

Conclusion

While both successful players in the competitive hospitality sector, Hyatt and Marriott remain completely distinct hotel companies.

Hyatt caters more to high-end leisure travelers, operates fewer properties, and is still controlled by the Pritzker family. Marriott has expanded rapidly to become the world’s largest hotel chain, focused on both business and leisure travel across budget and luxury segments.

Despite some past acquisition talks, Hyatt continues charting its own course in the hotel industry rather than being part of Marriott.