Marriott International has celebrated an important hospitality milestone with the opening of its 7,000th property – The St. Regis Hong Kong.

The stunning, 27-story luxury hotel, which features butler service, and multiple restaurants, is emblematic of Marriott’s global expansion strategy which disproportionately focuses on the highest lodging tiers as well as fast-growing international markets such as Hong Kong.

The milestone follows Marriott’s announcement in March that it expects to add more than 1,700 additional hotels by the end of 2021, including about 320 hotels in Asia Pacific.

According to STR data, Marriott’s overall open hotels and signed pipeline at the end of 2018 totalled a combined 1.69 million rooms, which exceeds that of its next competitor by 36 percent.

Marriott estimates that these 1,700 properties expected to be added by the end of 2021 could provide up to 150,000 jobs around the world.

In Asia Pacific alone, the company’s additions in the region over the same time period could provide up to 56,000 jobs.

The company’s first property, the Twin Bridges Marriott, opened in 1957 and was a four-story motor hotel in Arlington, Virginia.