The massive stock-and-cash deal would secure Marriott’s position as the world’s largest hotelier, adding 50% more rooms to its portfolio with a total of 5,500 properties. Arne Sorenson, who will be President and CEO of the combined company, said a significant factor behind the merger was the Starwood Preferred Guest loyalty program, which skews toward a younger audience.

Marriott International is buying rival hotel chain Starwood for $12.2 billion in a deal that would secure its position as the world’s largest hotelier, reported Skift, a travel industry data service.

The stock-and-cash deal, if completed, would add 50 percent more rooms to Marriott’s portfolio and give it more unique, design-focused hotels that appeal to younger travelers. The new company would have 5,500 properties with more than 1.1 million rooms around the world, uniting Starwood’s brands, which include Sheraton, Westin, W and St. Regis, with Marriott’s two dozen brands including Marriott’s Courtyard, Ritz-Carlton and Fairfield Inn, Skift reported.

Back in April, Starwood announced its board was exploring strategic options for the hotel company. The Stamford, Conn., company has struggled to grow as fast as its rivals, particularly in “limited service hotels,” smaller properties which don’t have restaurants or banquet halls. They are often located on the side of the highway, near airports or in suburban office parks. There was speculation in the markets about a potential deal with Holiday Inn owner Intercontinental Hotels Group and more recently Hyatt Hotels Corp. But in the end, it was Marriott who prevailed, Skift reported.

The deal comes at a time of record hotel occupancy and rates. During the first nine months of this year, guests filled 67.3 percent of the available rooms in the U.S., according to research firm STR. That’s the highest level since STR started collecting data in 1987, Skift reported

Marriott, based in Bethesda, Md., has been aggressively growing. In April, it acquired Canadian chain Delta Hotels and Resorts, helping it become the largest hotel company in Canada, Skift reported.

Arne Sorenson will be president and CEO of the combined company and the headquarters will be in Bethesda. Marriott’s board of directors following the closing will increase from 11 to 14 members, with the expected addition of three members of Starwood’s board. Marriott said it expects to deliver at least $200 million in annual savings in the second full year after closing, Skift reported.

In another Skift report, Sorenson said there are no plans to divest any of the Starwood brands. Instead, all of the Starwood flags have specific demand in the marketplace, and they all have opportunity to grow more quickly due to the combined company’s heightened positioning and leverage power, Skift reported.

Skift previously reported that Sorenson said Marriott wasn’t interested in any large mergers in the near term, but today he said that Marriott’s change of heart was based on two reasons: One is the revaluation over the last seven months of Starwood financials, which lost 15% of shareholder value since April; Two, Sorenson said that the big mergers in the online travel booking space, and the growth of companies like Google moving into travel distribution, suggested that it might be in the long term interest for Marriott to expand its room inventory by 50% in the short term.

Sorenson said both Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis are strong verticals with enough space in the market for them to flourish independent of each other. He emphasized that there is significant growth opportunity in the luxury hospitality sector. Starwood’s new soft brand, Tribute, could be folded into Autograph Collection because there are so few properties involved, but Starwood Luxury Collection will remain as it is for now, Skift reported.

Sorenson said a significant factor behind the decision to merge with Starwood was based on the attractiveness of the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) loyalty program, which he said skews somewhat toward a younger audience. The merger could spur Marriott to invest more significantly on the tech side to improve the SPG platform even further, and it will improve the overall cost per reservation for all of the 30 brands in the new portfolio. Mostly, the new Marriott loyalty ecosystem becomes much more attractive to consumers due to the exponentially larger choice of properties where they can redeem awards, Skift reported.

In light of the “mega-merger,” GolfAdvisor.com put together a rundown of “some of the top hotel brands when it comes to golf properties…plus several other brands have golf-related news”:

• Starwood: Showcases 80 properties with a golf component, with most of their golf a part of the St. Regis, Westin and Sheraton brands. Often times, courses at Starwood properties are managed by Troon Golf. Phoenix-Scottsdale is deep with Starwood golf: Westin Kierland, Sheraton Wild Horse Pass and Phoenician Resort, plus Tucson’s Westin La Paloma.
• Marriott: Operates many of the courses at their resorts (there are exceptions, like the Sawgrass Marriott and TPC Sawgrass, for example). The JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton brands carry  Valero Texas Open host TPC San Antonio and former WGC Match Play host Ritz-Carlton Dove Mountain. They have four properties in the Orlando, Fla. area (including Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes) and also recently assumed management of 36-hole Turnberry Isle Resort near Miami, which was formerly a Fairmont.
• Hyatt: Has 10 different brands (but fortunately, nine have the Hyatt name in it; Andaz is the exception). Hyatt Regency, Grand Hyatt and Park Hyatt are their go-tos for golf. Properties include: Park Hyatt Aviara in San Diego, Hyatt Regency Lake Tahoe at Incline Village, Hyatt Regency Lost Pines and Wolfdancer Golf Club, both in Cedar Creek, Texas.
• Hilton: Boasts more than 50 golf properties worldwide and 34 domestically, which includes their luxury Waldorf Astoria brand. Properties include: Waldorf Astoria Golf Club, near Walt Disney World in Orlando, Boulders Resort in Scottsdale, and La Quinta Resort & Club in Palm Springs, Calif.
• Fairmont: Manages their own golf product at many of 17 properties with golf offerings. Fairmont is particularly strong in Canada. Properties include: Fairmont St Andrews, San Diego’s Grand Del Mar Resort.
• Wyndham Worldwide: Hosts the Wyndham Championship on the PGA Tour and has scores of properties with a golf component, particularly in Arizona, Florida and South Carolina. Properties include: Dye Villas at Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach, S.C.
• Omni Hotels & Resorts: Made a particularly big push into golf in 2013, when they purchased five golf resort properties: 72-hole Barton Creek (Austin, Texas), 36-hole La Costa (Carlsbad, Calif.), Grove Park Inn, (Asheville, N.C.), The Homestead (Hot Springs, Va.) and Rancho Las Palmas (Rancho Mirage, Calif.).
• Four Seasons: Its biggest splash on the pro golf scene is the Four Seasons at TPC Las Colinas in Dallas, and its most recent addition includes Tranquilo Golf Club at Four Seasons Resort Orlando (formerly Disney’s Osprey Ridge Course), designed by Tom Fazio.