Skift Take
Marriott might have made a great investment had it bought a chunk of Airbnb in 2015. Ultimately, Marriott opted to build its own with Homes & Villas.
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During an era six or seven years ago when the big hotel chain-backed American Hotel & Lodging Association was bashing Airbnb for listings that were “illegitimate” and “often illegal,” Marriott International and Airbnb drew up the paperwork for a major partnership, according to Airbnb’s former Head of Global Hospitality and Strategy Chip Conley.
That potential Marriott-Airbnb partnership, along with Airbnb considering acquiring Sonder, and information about HomeAway making a bid alongside Airbnb’s to acquire Luxury Retreats, were among the newsy items that can be found within Skift’s Definitive Oral History of Short-Term Rentals Part II.
Airbnb-Marriott Deal
Starting in 2014, Conley separately hosted at Airbnb headquarters or met elsewhere with the leaders of Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, Starwood, InterContinental, Best Western and Accor in get to know you sessions.
“But it was Marriott that we went into very deep conversations with and came that close,” Conley said in the oral history. “Let’s just call it distribution for right now. It was a big partnership. It was a very in-depth partnership. The lawyers were papering it. We’d gotten up to all the business points. Three weeks before it was going to be announced, Marriott decided they had cold feet. That was probably 2015, at that point.”
Did it include a Marriott investment in Airbnb, Marriott offering properties on Airbnb, or Airbnb listing properties on Marriott? Conley didn’t say, and both Airbnb and Marriott declined to comment.
“But I say that to say, ultimately, Marriott moved in the direction of creating their own Homes & Villas product, which is higher end,” Conley said. “It’s understandable.”
Airbnb Saw…
