Having trouble working out the difference between the eight luxury hotel brands of Marriott and Starwood? How about trying to place the funky boutique properties alongside their more conventional five-star siblings?
You're not alone. The combined Marriott-Starwood portfolio spans some 31 brands, including offshoots and flankers.
That's why Marriott had its work cut out mapping all of them into some categorisation which made sense.... kinda, sorta.
And here's the result: your cheat sheet to the Marriott and Starwood brands.
The brands are grouped into four broad categories: Luxury, Premium, Select and Longer Stays, where travellers (especially business travellers) are likely to exceed a few nights before checking out and hitting the road again.
However, Marriott has also split the line-up into two groups: the more traditional Classic hotel experience and the contemporary vibe of a Distinctive property.
Luxury is top of the ladder, of course, thanks to brands such as Ritz-Carlton, St Regis, JW Marriott and W Hotels.
The bulk of brands fall into the Premium zone: think of Marriott and Sheraton as your 'classic' hotels and Westin, Le Meridien and the Design Hotels group as being 'distinctive'.
The Select group is somewhat harder to pigeonhole, however: these are largely middle-market properties which encompass relatively new boutiques such as Aloft and Element but also your staid Marriott Courtyards, Suites and Residence Inns.
Now doesn't that run-through bring a little more order into your life? You're welcome!
David Flynn is the Editor-in-Chief of Executive Traveller and a bit of a travel tragic with a weakness for good coffee, shopping and lychee martinis.