Poland hotel chain distribution reveals two trends

A map of Poland chain hotels reveals two common trends of hotel development and major chain loyalty programs seen in Europe.

Two points I want to make with this article and two hotel maps:

1. Major chains are emphasizing growth in European markets where there are few hotel chain competitors.

There are few major chain hotels in Poland outside of Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk. Many of the other major chain hotel pins seen on my Poland hotel map were hotels opened in the past 12 months as new major hotel chain branded properties.

[Click on upper right corner icon to open map and see hotel pin key for major hotel chain properties in Poland.]

2. Best Western’s global competitive edge is its brand presence internationally at more than 2,000 hotels outside North America.

Bottom line is many places only have Best Western hotels as a major international brand hotel available for free nights with points with maybe one or two other chain hotels. This fact is illustrated with a Google Maps of 26 Best Western hotels in Poland and a Google Map showing 46 other hotels combined with eight other hotel chains.

On my first trip to Gdansk in February 2017 I was surprised to see there were so few U.S. chain brand hotels in a city that looked to be a major European tourism magnet. So I am not surprised to see Hilton and Marriott opened new hotels in and around Gdansk this year. IHG and Marriott have more hotels scheduled to open in Gdansk over the next year or two.

I made a comment a couple days ago on my blog that Best Western has as many hotels in Poland as all the other major U.S. hotel chains combined. After building hotel rewards maps for Poland, I see 26 Best Western hotels and an additional 46 hotels currently open in Club Carlson, Hilton, IHG, Marriott and Starwood chains. Choice Privileges has one Preferred Hotels partner in Warsaw. Hyatt Hotels and Wyndham do not have any hotels in Poland at present.

Best Western lost some hotels in Poland in 2017, while the other hotel chains added at least 5 hotels in the past year and have another 5 scheduled to open in the next six to eight months.