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Marriott first announced the StudioRes brand back in August 2023. The midscale, extended brand caters to a “budget-conscious consumer” in the US and Canada. StudioRes hotels will cost around $80 to $100 per night and Marriott expects the average stay to last 20 nights or longer. The properties will offer guests full kitchens and other amenities usually found in apartment buildings like on-site laundry machines, a fitness center, and other amenities for pets, but unlike every other brand in the Marriott Bonvoy® program, this one does not offer credits toward qualifying for elite status.
The first StudioRes property opened this week in Fort Myers, FL. Marriott expects to have more than 40 properties under this brand by 2027. The first property offers 124 rooms designed for extended stays. The studio-style rooms come with one or two beds, a lounging area, and a kitchen with a stovetop, microwave, and full-sized refrigerator. Guests can also enjoy communal spaces, outdoor patios, fitness centers, food and beverage vending, Wi-Fi, and casual workspaces.
In February, Marriott broke the news that members would not earn elite qualifying nights (this is even worse than earning at a reduced rate like what Marriott Executive Apartments offers with one elite night for every three nights stayed). While I can understand that Marriott might not want guests racking up nights (that often cost around $80 each) and then scoring Platinum or Titanium status, there has to be some balance. Aside from not earning credit for nights stayed, there are virtually no other Marriott Bonvoy® benefits offered by StudioRes. Members do not receive bonus points, welcome gifts, or upgrades. Points are earned at a rate of 4x per $1 spent. Marriott is hoping that guests will be shopping by price and with rates around $80 that they’ll be staying an average of 20 nights. These guests might find a property through the Marriott Bonvoy® booking engine when searching on Marriott’s site, but they will not be happy when they see how stripped down the benefits are here.
Marriott International Chief Financial Officer and EVP of Development, Leeny Oberg, said:
Since unveiling StudioRes only two years ago, we have been thrilled by the reception among owners and franchisees, and we are proud to celebrate this milestone with Concord Hospitality and Whitman Peterson. We designed StudioRes to provide terrific value for customers with an innovative room design and highly efficient operating model for long-term stays. The fast adoption of the brand also demonstrates the power of the Marriott Bonvoy ecosystem and the importance of our strong developer relationships, while underscoring our continued commitment to providing lodging options for every traveler, price point and trip purpose.”
Anthony’s Take: StudioRes is another example of Marriott putting hotel owners’ needs ahead of guests. I would not stay at these properties on principle as there is no reason why at least partial elite night credits should be given.
(Featured Image Credit: 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.
2 comments
Thank you for writing about this.
I do think that this is simply the natural progression in Marriott’s War On Guests. While I suppose that it’s nice that you would refuse to stay at this chain on principle, the fact that you have no issue with the corporation itself continuing to make things worse for loyal guests overall mitigates your boycott immensely. Boycotting one brand that’s not even your market segment comes across as weak sauce. If you want change, avoid Marriott everywhere rather than one sub brand out of forty.
I’m not there yet on a full boycott. Marriott has and still is good to me on many occasions (even though the program continues to devalue).