Data for HOTELS 325 is gathered through an online survey completed by hotel company contacts. Individuals are asked to report the number of guestrooms and hotels in operation systemwide as of December 31, 2017. Companies that do not respond are subject to an estimate through public records, previous years’ data, industry sources and independent research.

Eleven out of the top 50 are Chinese hotel groups. 

Noteworthy changes

The biggest change to this year’s ranking is the separation of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s (now Radisson Hotel Group) portfolio from its owner, HNA Group. A separate HNA listing includes its owned and operated hotel portfolio. Several new groups joined the listing, especially those from China such as Zhuyou Hotel Group and Anhui Gujing Hotels Development.

Some groups made significant jumps or falls in the rankings (Club Med jumping to 34 from 62, for example) due to inaccurate reporting in previous years.