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ask-redweek-timeshare-resort-out-of-business

This is for the York family, who commented about the potential loss of hotel benefits as a result of Interval Leisure Group's purchase of the Westin and Sheraton timeshare properties (now known as Vistana), while Marriott bought all of the formerly Starwood hotels, which also include Westin and Sheraton hotels, plus other brands (see SPG.com for a complete list). It's a bit confusing to figure out the corporate changes, but the bottom line to your question is this: We are not aware of any "loss of travel benefits" as a result of the transactions. Starwood owners who also accumulated SPG points can still use those points for stays at Starwood hotels. In a year or two, Marriott may roll the SPG hotel rewards program into Marriott's own hotel rewards program. This week, in fact, Marriott emailed owners that they would earn triple points by using their Marriott branded credit card at Marriott and SPG hotels. Starwood sent out a similar message to its owners, which suggests that all of the benefits you signed up for are still in existence. If this changes, we will post an update here. Don't think you were duped or disadvantaged by these corporate moves, but we will keep an eye on them to evaluate downstream impacts on owners and hotel travelers.