Accor began with a roadside Novotel and grew into a 45-brand hospitality system. Its most valuable room may now be the one it never owns.
Choice Hotels built a 661,089-room network by owning very few of the rooms. Its real product is the connective tissue - brands, bookings, loyalty and software that help thousands of independent hotel owners compete.
IHG looks like a hotel company from the lobby. Behind the desk, it is a fee-driven platform connecting 21 brands, thousands of property owners and more than 160 million loyalty members - with very little real estate on its own balance sheet.