Here is a quote that is true for some of the properties of the largest hotel chains in the world that are discussed in this post.
These global hotel chains have been transforming the hospitality industry and our experience as hospitality enthusiasts.
“He who returns from a journey is not the same as he who left.”
chinese proverb
For most of us, heaven is the place where all our wishes might come true. And, since our childhood, we keep painting a picture of heaven in our minds.
We continuously come up with delicacies, destinations, and luxuries that give us a heavenly feeling. While we are busy painting this picture, some hotel chains across the globe have successfully understood all the comfort and luxuries humans want.
We have compiled in this post, a list of the 10 largest hotel chains in the world.
They are the biggest movers and shakers of the hospitality industry and also the most dynamic ones.
Through this post, we have also covered the Largest Hotel Management Companies in the world. These hotel management companies control billions of US Dollars in revenue and employ millions of people across the world.
In one of our other posts, we have also listed the top 100 hotel chains globally. Most of the Top Hotels around the globe are owned by one of these hotel management companies mentioned in this article.
Let’s begin with the list of the largest hotel chains in the world.
Marriott International
Spread over 72 countries, the Marriott International Group is widely known for its classical poise and elegance.
This group is a proud owner of almost 8000 Hotels and lodging properties across the globe which makes it one of the top hotel chains in the world.
The number has increased with the Starwood acquisition.
In fact, under the humongous shade of this phenomenal group, there are some of the world’s famous and luxurious hotels like Residence Inn, The Ritz-Carlton, Bulgari, Autograph Collection, and much more.
As one of the largest hotel chains in the world, Marriott has an opulence of its own.
It is also regarded as one of the most innovative hotel chains in the world making it to the Forbes list of most innovative firms.
Headquartered in Washington, DC, it is popular for its enchanting resorts and hotels.
Primarily focused on luxurious stays, this group also focuses on budgeted stays so that people from all sections of society can have a good time.
Here’s a fact:
Marriott has over 195000 hotel rooms in the pipeline and along with several planned acquisitions.
Starwood (Now a Part of Marriott)
Founded in the year 1980, this hotel chain has grown exponentially over the years.
With its subsidiaries spread across 100 countries, it doesn’t come as a surprise that it has revenue earnings of about 5.62 billion US dollars.
From the revenue earnings and expansion plan of Starwood, it sure is one of the largest hotel chains in the world.
Through a wide range of carefully curated moments, the hotels of this brand give you a heavenly experience.
From stylishly designed resorts to enigmatic hotels, this brand does everything possible to ensure that the customers cherish their stay forever.
Think of which hotel chains make up Starwood Hotels and Resorts and you will come up with the most exquisite collection.
Think of luxury or excitement and you will find it all in one of its hotels. As they say, Spa, Scuba, Ski- you have it all here.
The chain consists of business hotels luxury resorts and everything in between.
The main hotel chains which are a part of this global hotel chain (now in Marriott Hotel & Resorts Umbrella are:
- St. Regis
- Westin
- The Luxury Collection
- Le Meridien
- Aloft
- W Hotels
- Sheraton
and many more.
You might have seen these hotels listed in several lists of the world’s most beautiful hotels but did you know that they all used to belong to the Starwood Umbrella?
Here’s a fact-
Marriott has acquiring Starwood Hotels & Resorts in the biggest ever hotel chain acquisition in 2016 as was announced by Marriott in November 2015.
This chain was purchased by Marriott at a staggering $13.6 Billion making it the biggest acquisition of the Hotel chain ever.
Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts
Some hotel chains reach the top and expand globally because they give preference to quality over quantity.
This Global hotel brand is one of them. Though not as well expanded as other hotel management companies, The Four Seasons is king when it comes to lavish and extravagant hotels and resorts.
As of this date, The Four Seasons boasts 100+ establishments in over 40 countries, with most of these properties situated in some of the most sizzling and exotic places in the world.
Founded by Isadore Sharp back in the 1960s, the firm swung open its first hotel – the Four Seasons London – in 1970, followed by Four Seasons Bora Bora in French Polynesia.
This Canadian Luxury hotel brand has choicest of properties in close to 100 locations worldwide.
Each of these is a treat to the hospitality enthusiasts and travellers who love the quality of service and seek luxury.
The Four Seasons has accomplished a lot in all these years primarily because it has always been customer-centric and focussed on offering the best to its customers.
Four Seasons Hotel and Resort have been a proud member of Fortune’s list of ‘top 100 employers to work for almost ’ every year since the survey started 20 years ago.
Here’s another interesting fact about this amazing chain of hotels that has over 100 top-class hotels across the globe.
Since 2017 Bill Gates is a major shareholder of this Hotel chain.
What an achievement one must say. If you are a hospitality professional, you now know which hotel chain to aim for. Also, look for other top hospitality companies to check why this hotel chain stands out from the crowd.
Accor
Consisting of 3700+ hotels, this chain of hotels is extensively spread across various nations across the globe.
Operating in over 90 countries, it sure is one of the largest hotel chains in the world.
The best aspect of this hotel chain is that unlike the rest it focuses on comfort and simplicity.
The Accor Group lives by this principle and ensures that its customers experience simple beauties of life.
Originating in 1967, this bigwig is headquartered in Paris.
It is one of the most popular hotel chains across the globe for its class and service.
This widely popular brand has numerous subsidiaries too.
Heard of Sofitel, Novotel, Ibis, Pullman and Grand Mercure?
They all come under the AccorHotels umbrella and we are not done yet. There is more and the list is getting bigger with each passing year.
Here’s a fact:
Swissotel, Raffles Hotels and Fairmont are under the AccorHotels brand as the deal got finalised in 2016/2017.
Best Western International
This amazing chain of various subsidiary hotel groups has over 2000 hotels and motels in North America alone.
Revered as one of the fastest-growing chains of hotels in the Middle Eastern countries and Asia, it once held the tag of the World’s Largest Hotel Family and still continues to be one of the largest hotel chains.
It came into existence in 1946.
Headquartered in Phoenix, U.S, this group has revenue of over 206 million US dollars per year.
Consisting of over 4700 properties worldwide at over 4000 locations, this brand runs on a legacy of excellence.
Jin Jiang International
With more than a whopping 2200 hotels around the world, Jin Jiang International is perhaps the largest hotel management company in China, and one of the biggest in the globe.
With a phenomenal history of 80 years, this group has hotels spread in different parts of China. Its hotels are known for their architectural marvels.
In addition to their beautiful design and decorations, these hotels have a reputation for world-class amenities.
Jin Jiang International has surged in the number of hotel brands through a series of acquisitions, partnerships, and new properties.
Its latest purchase came in the form of France of Louvre Hotels Group. They collaborated with Plateno Group in a bid to take over Starwood Hotels & Resorts, the tenth-largest hotel management company by hotel properties (which they lost to Marriott).
Of more importance, however, is that the hotel management firm has a solid 80-years experience in the industry.
If you plan to visit China, you should definitely consider staying in one of its hotels to make your trip a memorable experience.
Hilton Worldwide
Does this name sound familiar? Yeah. You got it right.
Founded by Conrad N. Hilton, this is now more or less a Hotel consortium that was once owned by famous celebrity Paris Hilton.
Ever since Conrad Hilton welcomed guests to its first 40-room hotel in 1919, Hilton Worldwide has enjoyed almost a breezy expansion to become a mammoth of hotel empire that runs a total of 6000+ hotels worldwide.
From luxury brands like Curio Collection and Waldorf Astoria to diversified hotel chains like DoubleTree and Conrad by Hilton; Hilton Worldwide has all that it takes to be considered in the elite club of the largest hotel chains in the world.
With legacy brands like Embassy, Hampton, Canopy, Conrad, Hilton Hotels, Curio, Doubletree, and Waldorf Astoria under its massive shade, Hilton Worldwide is certainly one of the largest hotel management companies with a cue of opulence, style, and constant innovation.
Spread over 90 countries, this group has been otherwise popular due to the antics of Paris Hilton who is often in the news for wrong reasons and still continues to be a shareholder.
Here’s a fact:
Hilton has launched an innovative Tru by Hilton brand in 2016 and plans to expand globally through this innovative budget hotel chain.
Intercontinental Hotels Group
This hotel group has a presence in over 100 countries and has over 6000 properties under its global brand more popularly known by its acronym IHG.
These astounding numbers clearly indicate why it is listed amongst the bigwigs of the hotel industry.
Some of the largest hotel chains are subsidiaries of this British multinational Hotel brand.
Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Candlewood Suites, Holiday Inn Express, and Magnificent Mile are some of them.
These hotels are exquisitely designed and offer their customers all the world’s luxury and comfort.
This is one of the reasons why it should be on your must-visit list of global hotel chains.
Choice Hotels International Inc
This chain is revered as an innovator in the hotel industry.
Choice Hotels takes pride in introducing telephone service in every room and round-the-clock desk service.
It is these basic things which have helped it reach where it is now; a reckoned global hotel brand.
This gigantic group has over 6500 properties and approximately 5,00,000 rooms spread over 30 countries.
Under this huge hotel umbrella, there are numerous branches such as Choice Hotels, Quality, Econo Lodge, Quality Inn, etc.
The impeccable service of this brand has made it a leading hotel chain in the world.
Wyndham Hotel Group
This excellent Hotel group has 9000+ properties which makes it by far one of the largest hotel chains in the world.
Spread over almost 70 countries, this group that was founded in 1981 has grown multiple folds in 3 decades.
It is also known for offering the best guest loyalty rewards in the form of free nights at its hotels, gift cards, airline tickets and much more.
These freebies attract guests to this group year after year.
With a tagline of ‘The Right Way. The Wyndham Way’, this brand has continued to soar in the sky for years now.
Hyatt
On popular demand, we include one of the best-rated Hospitality companies which has found a place in our list of top hospitality companies and deserves to be on every list of top hotel chains.
Hyatt is not as large a hotel group as compared to the others mentioned in the list but it’s right there in terms of class and opulence.
With close to 1100 properties in over 65 countries, this hotel chain is smaller than the others mentioned on our list of largest hotel companies. However, this amazing hospitality chain is looking to expand big in the coming years.
Here’s a fact.
Hyatt acquired Apple Leisure Group in 2021 which has over 33,000 rooms in 10 countries.
Conclusion
Here we go. A quick list of the biggies of the Hotel Industry. We have listed here a lot of top hospitality companies. The hotel industry landscape is changing regularly and so is our post which gets updated regularly as well. A lot of smaller hotel groups have merged or have been acquired by bigger hospitality companies.
Hope you liked our collection of the largest hotel chains in the world. While we portrayed some of the global hotel giants, the post encompassed over 40 leading hotel chains that are subsidiaries of these groups.
These bigwigs of the hotel industry might cost a bit, but you can be rest assured to get an experience of a lifetime. Whether you are planning to visit a place or looking for a career change in the hospitality industry, these bigwigs ensure that you get nothing less than the best.
For all other information on the hospitality industry and hotel industry, please visit our homepage and use the search box to look for hospitality news, hospitality career and education and much more.
