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In August 2023, I wrote about Marriott completing the acquisition of City Express. The Latin-American hotel chain has 150 hotels in Mexico, Chile, Colombia, and Costa Rica. The portfolio consists of five brands, including: City Express, City Express Plus, City Express Suites, City Express Junior, and City Centro. In October 2024, Marriott announced that it was expanding to the United States and Canada. Now, Marriott is adding more hotels with the brand moving into Argentina, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Peru.
The eight new hotels include the following locations:
- City Express by Marriott Iguazu, Argentina: This hotel is in the border town of Puerto Iguazu. This is the gateway to the world-famous natural wonder of Iguazu Falls (which is incredible to see). The hotel is slated to open in Q2 2025 and will offer 87 rooms.
- City Express by Marriott Añelo Neuquén, Argentina: This hotel is located in the Neuquén Province within the Patagonia region and will feature 100 rooms. It’s expected to open in 2027.
- City Express by Marriott Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia: This 100-room new property will open in 2027 in Santa Cruz, which is Bolivia’s largest and most populated city. Santa Cruz is the country’s largest business center and is considered its economic heart.
- City Express by Marriott Managua, Nicaragua: This conversion is anticipated to be complete in Q3 2025 and will be part of a mixed-use development with Las Americas shopping mall and the HEX Convention Center as well as 100 rooms in this hotel.
- City Express by Marriott Estelí, Nicaragua: The 49-room hotel in Estelí will also convert around the same time to cater to business travelers and be part of a mixed-use development along with the Multicentro Estelí shopping mall.
- City Centro by Marriott La Recolección, Nicaragua: Located in downtown Leon, this 50-room hotel is near tourist attractions and business landmarks. It’s expected to convert in in Q3 2025.
- City Express Plus by Marriott and City Express Suites by Marriott, Casma, Peru: Both hotels are anticipated to open in 2027 in Casma, Ancash, Peru. They are part of a dual-brand property development within what is known as the “Peruvian Miami Beach.” City Express Plus by Marriott will feature 120 rooms, while City Express Suites by Marriott will offer 80 rooms. Casma is in the coastal desert of Peru and its rich history, coastal landscape, and archaeological significance make it popular with tourists.
The City Express by Marriott brand is designed to be conversion-friendly and this will also mean that hotel owners will not need to invest as much or be held to strict brand standards. City Express by Marriott will also give owners the opportunity to take advantage of Marriott’s powerful sales, distribution, and marketing engines.
My only issue with the City Express brand comes with the way nights are earned with Marriott Bonvoy®. Guests staying at these hotels earn 5x points per $1 spent and one night towards elite status for every two stayed. This is essentially half of what members earn at other Marriott brands and an unfortunate way to disincentivize guests.
Anthony’s Take: While it’s great to have more available rooms and the additions in Latin America fill some gaps for Marriott, the earning structure makes it hard for me to agree to stay at these properties.
(Image Credits: Marriott.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
