There is no one term to describe these organisations - they are at once hotel companies, hotel consortiums, hotel alliances, sales and marketing companies….to give you an idea, here is a look at what three highly visible organisations call themselves.

In their ‘Who are we’ section, Great Hotels of the world website describes itself ”an alliance of the world’s finest luxury hotels and resorts” http://www.ghow.com/

And Leading Hotels of the World is ”a prestigious luxury hospitality organization representing 430 of the world’s finest hotels, resorts and spas” http://www.lhw.com/

WORLDHOTELS ”is a dynamic international hotel organization committed to providing the smartest sales, marketing and distribution solution to independently operated hotels and hotel groups” http://www.worldhotels.com/

For the independent hotelier, these organisations and many more similar ones provide an option to run their own hotels without being managed by another company but at the same time with the benefit of belonging to an umbrella brand/organisation. For a certain yearly fee and commissions for reservations delivered through their website, independent hotels get the benefit of being part of a global brand, their sales and marketing services and even more importantly the power of distributing their inventory to the widest possible audience.

The yearly fees with some of these organisations may not be easily affordable by many independent hotels who may be better off looking out for niche organisations which fit their pocket and offer more flexible options of working together.

Would you pay £15000 to £20,000 or thereabouts a year to become a member of a hotel alliance like the ones above? What do you get for that price? What are the pros and cons? How does an independent hotel owner decide if it is worth it and what works for them?

In the next days, I will take a closer look at some of their services to understand some of the main advantages (and possible disadvantages) of joining these organisations as a member hotel.

Some of the other important companies (this list is not exhaustive)

Utell Hotels & Resorts http://www.utell.com/
Small Luxury hotels of the world http://www.slh.com/
Design Hotels http://www.designhotels.com/
Supranational hotels http://www.snrhotels.com/
Relais & Chateaux http://www.relaischateaux.com/
Preferred Hotels http://www.preferredhotels.com/