Marriott on the Move

Twenty years ago, we purchased Residence Inn. That's the same year that President Reagan spoke at the Berlin wall and called on Soviet Premier Gorbachev to tear it down. It's just amazing how much the world has changed in the last twenty years. Residence Inn has now grown to more than 500 hotels in North America.

We bought the Residence Inn brand from Jack DeBoer, who invented it. You know, it's interesting to hitch your wagon to a star . . .

I'm very excited today to tell you of some breaking news from Marriott. The JD Power and Associates 2007 North America Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study has just been released. The study measures overall guest hotel satisfaction across six hotel segments. The first segment is ...

Today I want to give you an update on an issue I've blogged about. It's the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. This past January, the United States government started implementing new passport regulations. U.S. citizens traveling by air to and from destinations in the western hemisphere, like Canada and Mexico, had to present a valid passport. For those who don't know, here's what happened when it went into effect . . .

Since we announced our hotel deal with Nickelodeon-where we're going to be developing Nick Hotels by Marriott, featuring all the Nickelodeon characters and many of the Nickelodeon festivities-people have asked me what it's like to be slimed. Well, I can tell you, it's a lot of fun.

I was standing there on the stage at the exact place where I was supposed to be and a steel arm came over the top of the curtain behind me. All of the sudden . . .

Here is a quick thought on the recent failure of our Congress to act on immigration reform. I know a little bit about leading, and I've always found that leaders make tough decisions. That's why it's so disappointing that politics trumped policy. The issue of secure borders and creating a path to citizenship are not going away. Rather than trying to solve the problem, Congress will probably . . .

I was recently interviewed on Nightline and had an opportunity to talk about my role as a Mormon bishop, which happened almost 40 years ago. I was in charge of a ward-which is really a parish-of around 800 members, and about 300-400 of them were Hispanic. I had an opportunity to work closely with these wonderful people who were struggling to make it in America and trying to keep their family together, feed their children, find a . . .