Marriott's purchase of New York City's iconic Clock Tower building and the announcement of five new Edition hotels has reaffirmed the company's commitment to the brand, part of a long term partnership with hotelier Ian Schrager.

Marriott yesterday announced new locations in Bangkok and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates and a hotel in Los Angeles and Gurgaon, India, HOTELS Magazine reported. At present, the hotel has a hotel in Istanbul with planned openings listed on the main Edition website in London, Miami and Mexico City.

Marriott has committed $800 million to develop the brand, which has made news of late due to the ongoing legal battle between the owner of the former Edition Honolulu, now called The Modern Honolulu.

"I'm working with what I consider to be the best operators in the business. As far as I'm concerned, all the other hotel companies are run by financial guys and marketing guys and Marriott is the only true operator and they execute superbly," Schrager, the hotelier who is also behind PUBLIC hotels, told CNBC on Thursday.

"2011 ended well. I think as we head into 2012, we see more optimism in the newspapers, which can't help but help the demand side of the equation so we feel really quite good about 2012."