Marriott refuses to leave the stage

Program of the Year — Hotels, Americas · Marriott Bonvoy

Another year.

Another Marriott Freddie.

Marriott Bonvoy wins Hotel Program of the Year in the Americas for 2023.

Marriott’s relationship with this category stretches back through Bonvoy, Marriott Rewards and an era when hotel loyalty programs were considerably simpler creatures.

By now Marriott’s scale is almost difficult to comprehend. Thousands of hotels. Dozens of brands. Luxury resorts, airport hotels, roadside properties, extended stay and practically everything between.

That scale creates challenges.

It also creates choice.

Freddie voters have repeatedly decided the latter matters.

Bonvoy isn’t universally loved—few enormous loyalty programs are—and frequent travelers have even contributed a new verb to the loyalty vocabulary: “Bonvoyed.”

You won’t find many brands whose name has become both a loyalty program and a complaint.

Yet here’s the interesting part.

When members actually vote?

Marriott keeps winning.

The internet can be noisy.

The Freddie ballot box is rather quieter.

Congratulations, Bonvoy.

Again.