Welcome to the new Marriott. You can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave it behind, because its hotels are everywhere.
Marriott International, the hotel giant that operates The Ritz Carlton, Renaissance Hotels and the Marriott chain, has agreed to acquire its rival Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide for $12.2 billion.
The merger, announced Monday, will create the world's largest hotel chain with more than one million rooms at 5,500 hotels across 100 countries.
The merger is a combination of two hotel chains that were, previously, rivals. It's not clear what will happen to their respective rewards programs. Starwood's rewards program, Starwood Preferred Guest, is particularly popular and offers points -- called "Starpoints" that can translate into everything from hotel stays to charitable donations to frequent flier miles.
Forgive me if I'm angsty on Twitter today. Still processing what might happen to my precious Starwood Preferred Guest program.— Ben Thompson (@benthompson) November 16, 2015
Goodbye Starwood Preferred Guest? I Will Miss You! - https://t.co/ppuU1FHMxm pic.twitter.com/12vCCAz8kG— PointsMiles&Martinis (@WeeklyFlyer) November 16, 2015
"We have competed with Starwood for decades and we have also admired them," said J.W. Marriott, Jr., executive chairman of Marriott, in a statement. "I'm excited we will add great new hotels to our system and for the incredible opportunities for Starwood and Marriott associates."
Starwood's fate has been up in the air since the beginning of this year when its CEO resigned abruptly amid concerns about flagging growth.
In April, the hospitality company said it was exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale.
"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," Bruce Duncan, chairman of the board at Starwood, said in a statement.