European hotel management company Core Hospitality announced that it has reached an agreement with Marriott International to rebrand 14 Zleep Hotels under it management in Denmark. Starting at the end of the year, these hotels will gradually transition to Marriott’s Four Points Flex by Sheraton brand.
Zleep Hotels, originally launched by Peter Haaber in Denmark in 2003, became part of Deutsche Hospitality in 2019 through an investment. In 2020, H World Group (formerly Huazhu Group) acquired Deutsche Hospitality, placing Zleep within its portfolio of budget hotel offerings.
The 14 Zleep hotels’ rebranding marks another step for Marriott’s expansion in the Nordic hotel market. But it holds a different significance for H World. The shift reflects a challenge for H World’s ambition to grow its international business.
As a top Chinese hotel chain, H World has been actively pursuing international expansion in recent years:
* In 2019, the group’s first overseas hotel of its Ji brand opened in Singapore.
* In 2020, H World completed the acquisition of Deutsche Hotels.
* As of June 2024, H World's global operating hotel network consisted of 10,286 hotels with more than 1 million rooms, including 136 hotels and over 27,000 rooms under the Deutsche Hotels portfolio.
At the 2024 TravelDaily Conference in Shanghai, Hui Jin, CEO of H World, emphasized the group’s goal to reach world-class brand and management standards, a vital step in becoming a global hotel powerhouse.
Despite this recent setback, H World’s robust operational and technical capabilities suggest that its pursuit of internationalization remains a story to watch closely.
