Bits: Chinese to break up Marriott’s Starwood bid?, Expedia 72 hour sale, BA drops Baku

News in brief:

Chinese threaten to disrupt the Starwood / Marriott merger

There was potentially good news for anyone concerned about consolidation in the hotel loyalty space yesterday.

A Chinese-led consortium has submitted an all-cash offer for Starwood, the St Regis / Le Meridien / Sheraton / Westin / W / Aloft etc hotel group.  At $76 cash per share, it is a substantial increase on the Marriott bid which currently stands at $63.  Because Marriott is mainly paying for Starwood with shares, there is also downside risk attached to that $63 price.

When the Marriott deal was first announced, I wrote about why I felt it wouldn’t work.  From a purely selfish point of view, removing Starwood Preferred Guest from the scene would have removed an aggressive player in the loyalty market – one which did a good job of keeping the bigger players on their toes.  HfP readers, in general, will be better off if Starwood remains independent.

Expedia launches 72-hour sale

Expedia is launching another 72-hour sale today.  These are not exactly rare events but, if you are in the market for a hotel booking today, it won’t do you any harm to take a look.

The sale home page is here.

British Airways drops Baku

British Airways announced yesterday that it is dropping flights to Baku from 29th April.  They are ‘no longer commercially viable’ according to the airline.