Financial Information

PART I

Item 1. Business.

Corporate Structure and Business

We are a worldwide operator, franchisor, and licensor of hotels and timeshare properties under numerous brand names at different price and service points. Consistent with our focus on management, franchising, and licensing, we own very few of our lodging properties. We also operate, market, and develop residential properties and provide services to home/condominium owner associations.

We were organized as a corporation in Delaware in 1997 and became a public company in 1998 when we were “spun off” as a separate entity by the company formerly named “Marriott International, Inc.” We operate, franchise, or license 6,080 properties worldwide, with 1,190,604 rooms as of year-end 2016. We believe that our portfolio of brands is the largest and most compelling range of brands and properties of any lodging company in the world. The following table shows our principal brands:

As of year-end 2016, we group operations into three business segments: North American Full-Service, North American Limited-Service, and International. We provide financial information by segment and geography in Footnote 14 “Property and Equipment” and Footnote 18 “Business Segments.”

Acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

On September 23, 2016 (the “Merger Date”), we completed the acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, LLC, formerly known as Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc. (“Starwood”) through a series of transactions (the “Starwood Combination”), after which Starwood became an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. Our Financial Statements and related discussions in this report include Starwood’s results of operations from the Merger Date through year-end 2016 and reflect the financial position of our combined company at December 31, 2016, except where we specifically state otherwise, such as certain statistics described under the caption “Performance Measures” in Part II, Item 7. We refer to our business associated with brands that were in our portfolio before the Starwood Combination as “Legacy-Marriott” and to the Starwood business and brands that we acquired as “Legacy-Starwood.” See Footnote 3 “Acquisitions and Dispositions” for more information.

Company-Operated Properties

At year-end 2016, we operated 1,821 properties (521,552 rooms) under long-term management agreements with property owners, 48 properties (10,933 rooms) under long-term lease agreements with property owners (management and lease agreements together, the “Operating Agreements”), and 22 properties (9,906 rooms) that we own. In addition, we operated under long-term management agreements 44 home and condominium communities (5,179 units) for which we manage the related owners’ associations.

Terms of our management agreements vary, but we earn a management fee that is typically composed of a base management fee, which is a percentage of the revenues of the hotel, and an incentive management fee, which is based on the profits of the hotel. Our management agreements also typically include reimbursement of costs of operations (both direct and indirect). Such agreements are generally for initial periods of 20 to 30 years, with options for us to renew for up to 50 or more additional years. Our lease agreements also vary, but may include fixed annual rentals plus additional rentals based on a percentage of annual revenues in excess of a fixed amount. Many of our Operating Agreements are subordinated to mortgages or other liens securing indebtedness of the owners. A large number of our Operating Agreements also permit the owners to terminate the agreement if we do not meet certain performance metrics and financial returns fail to meet defined levels for a period of time and we have not cured such deficiencies. In certain circumstances, some of our management agreements allow owners to convert company-operated properties to franchised properties under our brands.

For lodging facilities that we operate, we generally are responsible for hiring, training, and supervising the managers and employees who are needed to operate the facilities and for purchasing supplies, and owners are required to reimburse us for those costs. We provide centralized reservation services and national advertising, marketing, and promotional services, as well as various accounting and data processing services, and owners are also required to reimburse us for those costs.

Franchised, Licensed, and Unconsolidated Joint Venture Properties

We have franchising, licensing, and joint venture programs that permit other hotel owners and operators and two timeshare companies to use many of our lodging brand names and systems. Under our hotel franchising programs, we generally receive an initial application fee and continuing royalty fees, which typically range from four to six percent of room revenues for all brands, plus two to three percent of food and beverage revenues for certain full-service hotels. We are a partner in unconsolidated joint ventures that manage and, in some cases, own hotels. Some of these joint ventures also provide services to franchised hotels. We recognize our share of these joint ventures’ net income or loss in the “Equity in earnings” caption of our Income Statements. Franchisees and certain joint ventures contribute to our national marketing and advertising programs and pay fees for use of our centralized reservation systems.

We also receive royalty fees under license agreements with Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation (“MVW”), our former timeshare subsidiary that we spun off in 2011, and Vistana Signature Experiences, Inc. (“Vistana”), a subsidiary of Interval Leisure Group, Inc. (“ILG”), which acquired Starwood’s vacation timeshare operations before the Merger Date. MVW is the worldwide developer, marketer, and seller of vacation ownership and related products under the Marriott Vacation Club, Grand Residences by Marriott, and The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club brands. Vistana is the worldwide developer, marketer, seller, and manager of vacation ownership and related products under the Westin and Sheraton brands, and under the St. Regis and The Luxury Collection brands for certain existing properties. We receive license fees from both MVW and Vistana consisting of a fixed annual fee, adjusted for inflation, plus certain variable fees based on sales volumes.

MVW offers Marriott Rewards^® Points and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards^® Points, and Vistana offers SPG points, to their owners or potential owners as sales, tour, and financing incentives, in exchange for vacation ownership usage rights, for customer referrals, and to resolve customer service issues. MVW buys these points from our Marriott Rewards and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards programs and Vistana buys these points from our Starwood Preferred Guest program.

At year-end 2016, we had 4,006 franchised properties (614,405 rooms), 100 unconsolidated joint venture properties (13,106 rooms), and 83 licensed timeshare, fractional, and related properties (20,702 units).

Residential

We use or license our trademarks for the sale of residential real estate, typically in conjunction with hotel development, and receive branding fees for sales of such branded residential real estate by others. Third-party owners typically construct and sell residences with limited amounts, if any, of our capital at risk. We have used or licensed our JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, The Ritz-Carlton Reserve, W Hotels, The Luxury Collection, St. Regis, EDITION, Bulgari Hotels & Resorts, Marriott Hotels, Sheraton, Westin, and Autograph Collection Hotels brand names and trademarks for residential real estate sales. While the worldwide residential market is very large, we believe the luxurious nature of our residential properties, the quality and exclusivity associated with our brands, and the hospitality services that we provide, all serve to make residential properties bearing our trademarks distinctive.

Seasonality

In general, business at company-operated and franchised properties fluctuates only moderately with the seasons and is relatively stable. Business at some resort properties may be seasonal depending on location.

Relationship with Major Customer

We operate a number of properties under long-term management agreements that are owned or leased by Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc. (“Host”). In addition, Host is a partner in several partnerships that own properties operated by us under long-term management agreements. See Footnote 20 “Relationship with Major Customer” for more information.

Intellectual Property

We operate in a highly competitive industry and our brand names, trademarks, service marks, trade names, and logos are very important to the sales and marketing of our properties and services. We believe that our brand names and other intellectual property have come to represent the highest standards of quality, caring, service, and value to our customers and the traveling public. Accordingly, we register and protect our intellectual property where we deem appropriate and otherwise protect against its unauthorized use.