From bit player to the market leader in 20 years. Marriott International is expected to announce in the coming days it plans to open 40 luxury hotels in 2018, a figure that will give it 422 luxury properties by the end of the year with some 200 more in the pipeline. The openings will include all of its luxury flags: The Ritz-Carlton, Ritz-Carlton Reserve, St. Regis, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection, EDITION, Bulgari and JW Marriott. The company does not include Autograph Collection, a mix of four-and-five-star independent hotels in its count. By early in the next decade, the Bethesda, MD based lodging company should have more than 600 luxury properties.
