Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott International will cement its position as the largest operator of hotels in Latin America with its acquisition of the City Express hotel brand from Mexico City-based Hoteles City Express.
It will become Marriott’s 31st hotel brand.
Marriott will pay $100 million for the brand, which will become part of Marriott’s franchise system, gaining 152 hotels and more than 17,000 rooms in 75 cities across Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia and Chile.
The acquisition also includes franchise rights to five additional hotels currently under construction.
Hoteles City Express will continue to own the hotels.
The hotel chain will be rebranded as City Express by Marriott.
The acquisition will expand Marriott’s presence in Latin America and the Caribbean by 45% to 486 hotels in 37 countries.
The City Express brand will join 30 other hotel brands operated by Marriott, the largest hotel operator, with more than 8,100 properties in 139 countries and territories.
Marriott continues to grow its other brands, adding 17,000 rooms in the second quarter, with more than half of them in international markets. It has almost 3,000 new hotels in its development pipeline.
