As Marriott and Airbnb both move into the luxury home rentals market, does the world’s largest hotel group and its suite of premium pads really have the edge over the startup poised for a billion-dollar IPO?

Marriott has added yet another product to its already teeming portfolio of 30 hotel brands, spanning 7,000 properties across 130 countries.

From next week, Homes & Villas will give travellers access to 2,000 premium and luxury homes in more than 100 destinations across the US, Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America. Expected to cost between $200 to $1,000 a night, these “highly-curated” homes include a cottage set in six acres of Californian wine country and an oceanfront villa in Anguilla, complete with a private beach and personal butler.

The hotel mega group believes its Homes & Villas product will “complement the core offerings of Marriott’s hotel portfolio”, adding close to 40 new “leisure destinations” to the mix.

Seemingly taking a swipe at Airbnb, vice-president of Homes & Villas, Jennifer Hsiech, says the new product will offer consumers a “seamless booking experience” that helps navigate the “increasingly complex and uncertain set of home rental choices.”

The business first trialled home rentals last year as part of a pilot in selected European cities. After discovering the average stay during the pilot was more than triple a typical hotel stay, Marriott is convinced its pitch to the premium home rental market is a winner.

While a move to sell home rentals through its Marriott Bonvoy loyalty app is already in the works, from next week any travellers searching on the Marriott website for a stay of three-plus nights, in a location where there is a luxury home, will be served links to Homes & Villas properties.

The hotel group is sure it can steal a march on rival Airbnb by offering premium homes from a “trusted travel company” tied into loyalty benefits. This is based on the insight that 90% of people who rented a home during the pilot phase were Marriott Bonvoy members.

As with its fleet of hotels, Homes & Villas travellers will be able to earn loyalty points for every rental stay, which can be redeemed for exclusive experiences at their chosen property, from game nights and gourmet cooking to BBQs.

And with that Marriott may have thought it had the premium rental market all sewn up. The problem is that no sooner does the hotel mega chain make a move than news emerges Airbnb is poised to launch what it describes as a “new category of urban lodging”.

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.marketingweek.com