Marriott International opens its 7,000th hotel

Marriott International has welcomed a milestone 7,000th hotel with the launch of the 129-bedroom St Regis Hong Kong.

News of the opening of the 27-storey property follows on from the announcement last month that Marriott expects to add more than 1,700 additional hotels globally by the end of 2021, providing up to 150,000 jobs.

Arne Sorenson, president and chief executive of Marriott International, said: "It's thrilling to open our 7,000th property, an incredible milestone for a company that began as a nine-stool root beer stand in 1927 and didn't even open its first hotel until decades later.

"I can't think of a more fitting property to hold the honour than the St. Regis Hong Kong which underscores the benefits of our merger with Starwood, the importance of luxury and the tremendous opportunity in Asia."

Marriott acquired Starwood Hotels & Resorts for $13.6b (£11.9b) in September 2016, which at the time created a combined portfolio of 5,700 hotels and 30 brands, including. Ritz-Carlton, Edition, W Hotels, Sheraton and Moxy.

The company's first property, the Twin Bridges Marriott, a four-story motel in Arlington, Virginia, US, opened in 1957.

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