Tl;dr—We’ve just seen the first major hotel acquisition of 2025, as Marriott opens the purse to buy citizenM, a Dutch chain of affordable, simple, upscale hotels.
At the turn of the year, I threw out a list of predictions I thought we’d see in the world of travel, points, and miles in 2025. On that list, I predicted we’d see at least three major hotel acquisitions, though I named three other hotel major hotel chains as the buyers – Hyatt, Accor, and Hilton. Let’s say I was half-right. Marriott International has agreed to acquire the lifestyle brand citizenM for $355 million. citizenM, if you’re unfamiliar, is a chain of simplistic, affordable upscale hotels located mostly in major cities. Many folks list them in the ‘lifestyle’ category, a term that I’m hoping we can all collectively sunset soon. Currently, there are 36 citizenM hotels and three more are under development. Though the deal is subject to regulatory approval, those reviews are not expected to derail the agreement.
I’m interested in seeing how Marriott incorporates the citizenM brand into its portfolio. Will we see them all rolled into an existing soft brand? Will Marriott opt to comb through the citizen portfolio and earmark certain properties for in-house hip brands like the W and Moxy while finding homes for the remainder?
My money is on Marriott keeping the citizenM brand as it is and reintroducing the properties with a bit of Marriott flair. It’d be foolish to do otherwise as the citizenM brand is well-defined, recognized (for that matter), and well-received. It’d be a bad use of funds to drop this cash only to chip away at everything citizenM fans like about the chain. Known for its tech savviness and cost-savings-through uniformity – all rooms at its properties are identical (save for accessible rooms) – citizenM has a strong hold on a certain type of traveler who values convenience and simplicity over high-end luxury. citizenM’s core base also tends to be frequent travelers, meaning there could be a lot of recurring revenue at stake. Marriott would be wise not to mess with that.
I think Marriott will undoubtedly roll out something wacky, like a new hybrid logo where the classic Marriott “M” replaces the citizen “M.” I tried to ask ChatGPT for something, and it gave me this travesty.
Damn, and just like that, AI took my job.
Lastly, I should add that there’s a free status match you can take advantage with citizenM hotels. If you hold elite status with another hotel or airline, you can match your status to mycitizenM+, potentially allowing a backdoor into elite Marriott status once the deal closes and the integration of citizenM into Bonvoy is complete.
I’ve already completed the status match (I used my Hyatt Globalist status) and received my upgraded mycitizenM+ status. (Took less than 24 hours.)
This is not guaranteed by any means but rather this a gold expedition similar to the Rotana-GHA elite status match hack I wrote about the other day.
