Starwood buy puts Marriott on Asia-Pacific growth path

Marriott’s Craig Smith will go from overseeing 200 regional hotels a year ago, to 600 hotels by the end of this year.

Craig Smith plans to have 30 to 40 more Marriott hotels in the Sydney CBD. Picture: Hollie Adams

Marriott International managing director and president, Asia-­Pacific, Craig Smith, will go from overseeing 200 regional hotels a year ago to 600 hotels by the end of this year, amid the company’s $US14 billion ($18.3bn) acquisition of the Starwood chain and a strong growth path.

Hong Kong-based Mr Smith has plans over the long term to run 30-40 Marriott-branded ­hotels in Sydney from a base of five at present.

A new-build, five-star 400-room hotel in the Sydney CBD will soon be announced and there is a second property for Sydney also in the pipeline.

Despite Mr Smith’s plan to add up to 40 more Marriott hotels to the Sydney CBD, he denied recent speculation that the world’s largest hotel company was eyeing the listed Mantra Group.

“It is not true today,” said Mr Smith, who was visiting Sydney to relaunch the Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel, which has undergone renovation at the hands of its Malaysian owner, YTL.

“Our options are always open, we are a large company looking to grow. I was on the phone with our head of mergers and acquisitions (in Washington DC) earlier and it is not true to my knowledge, and it would be hard to happen without my knowledge. If it happened without my knowledge I should probably think about putting my resume out very quickly.”

Mr Smith said that of the 30 brands Marriott controls following its merger with Starwood, 20 were operating in the Asia-­Pacific.

“We may not bring all 30 brands to this part of the world,” Mr Smith said. But he indicated that the St Regis hotel and Bulgari hotel chains could be introduced here.

Mr Smith said the Ritz Carlton Hotels were doing particularly well in Asia. Melbourne and Perth would soon sport Ritz Carlton Hotels, which were under development. “The hotel locations in Perth and Melbourne are phenomenal,” he said.

He said there would be no problem with placing differently branded Marriott hotels next to each other. “You can place a Courtyard next to a Four Points and they still sell to different ­clientele,’’ he said.

Mr Smith said the Sydney Harbour Marriott International had been totally renovated.

“We wanted to bring the hotel to above standard,” he said.

Marriott has 15 hotels operating in Australia and a further 18 in the pipeline.