Marriott Hotel Brands by Tier: Every Brand, and the Luxury Ones Worth Booking

Marriott International is the largest hotel company in the world: more than 10,000 properties in 148 countries and territories as of mid-2026, under what Marriott itself calls "more than 30" brands. Count every collection and sub-brand its directory lists (Ritz-Carlton Reserve, Apartments and Homes & Villas, the new midscale lines) and the tally approaches 40. Most of them are irrelevant to a luxury trip. About eight are central to one, and the differences between them are far larger than the shared Bonvoy logo suggests.

Below: every brand by tier, the luxury tier explained flag by flag, the hotels we actually book, and what Marriott Bonvoy points are worth when you spend them there (0.6–0.7 cents each, on our working valuation). For the head-to-head most travelers ask about, see St. Regis vs Ritz-Carlton; for how Bonvoy compares with the other four big programs, see hotel loyalty programs compared.

The Luxury Flags, One by One

Ritz-Carlton Reserve is Marriott's summit: nine small resorts where the setting is the product. Phulay Bay in Krabi opened the collection in 2009; Dorado Beach in Puerto Rico, Mandapa in Ubud, Zadún in Los Cabos and Higashiyama Niseko Village in Japan followed, then Rissai Valley in Jiuzhaigou (2023), Nujuma on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea (2024), Nekajui in Costa Rica (2025) and Siari on the Riviera Nayarit (late 2025). Eleuthera in the Bahamas is due in 2027, Ramhan Island in Abu Dhabi in 2029 and a first urban Reserve, in Shanghai, in 2030. Reserve nights book with Bonvoy points, but elite upgrades, lounges and late checkout don't apply.

Bulgari is the most exclusive name Marriott touches and the one Bonvoy members can't use. Nine hotels (Milan 2004, Bali 2006, London 2012, Beijing and Dubai 2017, Shanghai 2018, Paris 2021, Rome and Tokyo 2023) share Antonio Citterio Patricia Viel's interiors, a serious spa and, in the cities, Niko Romito's Il Ristorante. The former Moscow hotel dropped the brand after LVMH left Russia. Next come Ranfushi in the Maldives and Bodrum (2027), then Miami Beach, Cave Cay in the Bahamas and, by 2030, Abu Dhabi. Bulgari earns and redeems no points at all; its only perk layer is the advisor channel. Full portfolio: Bulgari hotels.

The Ritz-Carlton is the brand most travelers mean by "Marriott luxury": 127 hotels including the Reserves, from the Kamo River in Kyoto to the top floors of Hong Kong's ICC tower, plus the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection's three ships (Evrima, Ilma and Luminara). The floor is high and the variance is real: the flagships are world-class, a Ritz-Carlton in a secondary business city is a very good large hotel. Its Club Level is a paid room category, not an elite perk, and one flagship, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, sits outside Bonvoy altogether. Full portfolio: Ritz-Carlton hotels.

St. Regis grew from one hotel: John Jacob Astor IV's 1904 St. Regis New York, where the King Cole Bar's barman Fernand Petiot perfected the Bloody Mary in 1934 (the hotel still calls it the Red Snapper). Its 68 hotels keep the rituals: a butler for every room, an evening champagne sabrage, afternoon tea and a midnight supper named for Caroline Astor. The resort bench (Maldives Vommuli, Bora Bora, Kanai in the Riviera Maya, Punta Mita, the Red Sea, Le Morne in Mauritius) is Marriott's best, and the Budapest house opened in April 2026 in the Klotild Palace. Full portfolio: St. Regis hotels.

EDITION is Ian Schrager's brand inside Marriott: 23 hotels whose lobbies turn into the city's bar after dark, from the London EDITION on Berners Street and the New York EDITION in the Clock Tower to Tokyo (Toranomon and Ginza), Lake Como and the Red Sea's Shura Island (2025). Cape Town, its first in Africa, is due late in 2026. The Luxury Collection is the opposite idea: 136 independent grand hotels that keep their own names, such as the Hotel Imperial in Vienna, the Gritti Palace in Venice, the Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens and The Phoenician in Scottsdale. It is Bonvoy's best route into genuinely historic hotels.

JW Marriott (131 hotels) is the Marriott name at full stretch: large, polished city flagships and resorts from the Maldives to a private island in the Venetian lagoon, and usually the best points value in a luxury city because its cash rates are lower. W Hotels (72) is lifestyle rather than luxury service, with lobbies, pools and DJs, and its resorts in the Maldives and Bali are the brand at its best.

Marriott Bonvoy at Luxury Hotels: The Points Math

Bonvoy points are worth roughly 0.6–0.7 cents each on our working valuation, and they are easy to amass: stays earn ten base points per dollar at most brands, and Amex Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards and Bilt all transfer in at 1:1 (Bilt adds a 5,000-point bonus for every 20,000 moved in one transfer). Marriott abandoned its award chart in March 2022; prices now move with demand, and the old cap of roughly 150,000 points a night has gone, with trophy resorts seen at 200,000–300,000 points on peak dates.

Typical 2025–2026 prices for the redemptions clients ask about most: The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli ~100,000–200,000 points a night, The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands ~90,000–165,000 (with peak dates far higher), The St. Regis Bora Bora ~95,000–130,000 and The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto ~90,000–140,000. At 0.65 cents a point, a 130,000-point night "costs" about $850 of points, which is excellent value against a $1,500–2,500 cash rate and poor value against a $500 one.

The lever is the fifth night: book five consecutive award nights on one reservation (Standard or PointSavers pricing) and the cheapest night is free. It does not apply to Free Night Award certificates. The rule we give clients: redeem at resorts and in peak seasons where cash rates are highest, stretch to five nights where you can, and pay cash at mid-priced city luxury, where the stay earns points and an advisor booking adds breakfast and a credit.

How We Book Marriott Luxury

Marriott runs two advisor programs, and they are the reason a cash booking through Biirdee usually beats booking direct. STARS covers The Ritz-Carlton, Ritz-Carlton Reserve, St. Regis, EDITION, The Luxury Collection and Bulgari: daily breakfast for two, a US$100 hotel credit per stay, an upgrade on arrival when available, and a welcome amenity. Luminous covers select JW Marriott, W and other premium hotels with breakfast and upgrade priority, and a credit at some. Both apply on the hotel's flexible public rate, so the price matches marriott.com.

Because those bookings sit on qualifying rates, they earn Bonvoy points and elite night credit and your status benefits still apply, so a Platinum member at a St. Regis gets the STARS breakfast and credit on top of their own. Bulgari is the exception on points, not on perks. When a redemption beats the cash rate (the fifth night free in the Maldives, Kyoto in cherry-blossom season), we tell you and help you book the points instead; the best luxury hotels to book with points lists the ones worth hunting.

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