CitizenM has built its reputation on doing things that traditional hotels do not: digitizing check-in, offering small rooms, and hiring employees based more on their personality than previous training.
Industry watchers wonder if Marriott will take away the special qualities of CitizenM, now that it has acquired CitizenM from CitizenM for 355 million dollars.
CEO Lennert De Jong – employee number one when CitizenM launched in 2008 – isn’t worried. At Skift’s Data and AI Summit, in his first interview since the announcement of the acquisition, he said that Marriott understands the brand’s mission. He believes Marriott is as obsessed as he with eliminating the front desk.
Watch the interview:
Tech Innovation
De Jong stated that the leadership of CitizenM considered Marriott’s offer when they received acquisition offers.
