Details emerging about Marriott merger

Washington Post elite levels across brands. So in other words, if you’re a silver Starwood Preferred Guest member, you’ll also have silver status at Marriott.

“While they are technically still two separate programs, members will get functionality that allows them to get benefits of both,” Marriott Chief Executive Arne M. Sorenson said.

Your Starwood rewards points can now be used for Marriott and RitzCarlton bookings, and vice versa.

Starwood and Marriott loyalty members will also be able to combine their points by logging in to members.marriott.com. They can transfer points from one account to the other and book reward travel at 5,500 Marriott, Starwood or Ritz-Carlton properties around the world.

Your favorite brand isn’t going anywhere, at least not yet.

Marriott now oversees 30 hotel brands, including St. Regis, Sheraton, Westin, and Courtyard by Marriott. Sorenson says he’s planning on keeping all 30 options intact, at least for now.

“The expectation is that we will keep these brands and try to emphasize the distinctions between them,” he said. “We think having more choice in terms of brands and locations is a powerful advantage.”

Competitor Hilton Worldwide, in comparison, has 13 brands, while InterContinental Hotels Group oversees 12 brands, including Holiday Inn and Kimpton Hotels & Resorts.

It will be a while before you notice any big changes.

Marriott may have been courting Starwood for the better part of a year, but CEO Sorenson says there are still a number of unknowns.

“There’s a ton of work to get done, obviously,” he said. “Until now, we’ve been two companies that are still competing against each other, so there’s only so much transparency we’ve been able to have.”

The first course of business, he said, will be figure out personnel matters: How to combine different teams and integrate employees from the two companies. (Post-merger, Marriott’s employee count, including workers in franchised and managed properties, exceeds 500,000.)

Longer-term projects, like merging the companies’ technology platforms and combining its computer systems, may take another year or two, he said.