Marriott And MGM Resorts Get Hitched In Las Vegas, A Boon For Bonvoy Members

Not even a week after Hyatt and MGM Resorts confirmed their much-rumored conscious decoupling, MGM is announcing a new, deeper relationship with Hyatt’s much larger rival Marriott.

On Monday Marriott International and MGM Resorts International announced an exclusive long-term strategic licensing agreement and the creation of a new brand called MGM Collection with Marriott Bonvoy.

The move gives Marriott an instant major presence on the Las Vegas Strip and provides its loyalty members with a slew of new properties to access with points.

Last week, MGM Resorts and Hyatt announced they will end their decade-long agreement, which allows members of their respective loyalty programs to earn and spend award points at each other’s properties. After September 30, World of Hyatt members will not be able to use points to book MGM properties.

“Put on your MGM hat,” says Michael Bellisario, senior research analyst at Baird covering the hotel industry. “Bigger is better when you think about scale and distribution and global reach. That’s what Marriott has over Hyatt.”

As the world’s largest hotel company, Marriott reported sales of $22.2 billion last year, compared to MGM Resort’s 14.1 billion and Hyatt’s 6.3 billion.

But Bellisario is not talking about Marriott’s revenues or its 8,000 properties containing 1.4 million rooms in 139 countries and territories. When he says “bigger is better,” he’s talking about the company’s loyalty program.

“Marriott Bonvoy is the brand,” Bellisario says. “It’s not Marriott’s 31 — now maybe 32 — different hotel brands. It’s the Marriott Bonvoy platform and its 180 million members. That’s the value of the business. Marriott also just happens to be a hotel company, hotel franchisor and manager.”

Travelers might think of the Marriott-MGM agreement as a “codesharing” arrangement of sorts, similar to the agreements that allow airlines to sell seats on each other’s flights. This type of reciprocal arrangement is far less common in the hotel industry.

Starting in October, the hospitality giant’s 180 million Marriott Bonvoy members will be able to earn and redeem points for stays at a slew of MGM properties in the U.S., while the 40 million members of MGM Rewards can link accounts with Marriott Bonvoy and receive select member benefits.

The new agreement includes 17 properties in MGM’s stable, representing a dozen properties in Las Vegas and five properties in cities across the U.S.

In Las Vegas, eight resorts will comprise the core of the new MGM Resorts with Marriott Bonvoy collection: Vdara Hotel & Spa, MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, NoMad Las Vegas, The Signature at MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, New York-New York Hotel & Casino, Luxor Hotel and Casino, and Excalibur Hotel & Casino.

Meanwhile, four other MGM properties in Las Vegas will become part of existing Marriott collections. Bellagio Resort & Casino will join The Luxury Collection and Park MGM will become part of Tribute Portfolio. Marriott’s Autograph Collection will soon include ARIA Resort & Casino and The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

The newly created MGM Resorts with Marriott Bonvoy brand will also include five MGM properties in other U.S. locations: Borgata in Atlantic City, New Jersey; Beau Rivage in Biloxi, Mississippi; MGM Grand Detroit; MGM National Harbor in Baltimore, Maryland; and MGM Springfield in Western Massachusetts.

For now, Hyatt appears to be the jilted lover. “Now Hyatt will not have any branded hotels on the Strip,” says Bellisario, adding that situation can change quickly. “Las Vegas is still very unbranded from a hotel perspective, so there’s plenty of white space for Hyatt to try and partner with the casinos.”