Marriott on the Move

Now that the 29th Olympic Games have come to a close, I've been thinking back to all the memorable moments over the past few weeks. There were a lot of surprise victories, many upsets and many world records.

To me, and I'm sure to many of you, these Olympics will be remembered because of Michael Phelps and his eight gold medals in swimming, making his total career gold medal count 14 - more than any other Olympian.

I find Michael Phelps' journey very inspiring. Not only does he have . . .

I'm blogging today from the newly renovated BWI Courtyard near Baltimore Washington International Airport in Baltimore, Maryland. This is the latest Courtyard hotel to feature the brand's brand new lobby concept and design. The new lobby is already in place at a few Courtyard hotels, including the Fair Oaks Courtyard, which is right down the road in Fairfax, Virginia.

I had a great tour today. As I walked in, the first thing I saw was the GoBoard telling me all about the exciting things to see in the Baltimore area - the zoo, the various restaurants available, the aquarium. I noticed that there were a lot of people working on their computers and hooked up to the WiFi, which is free.

But the most impressive thing when you walk into our lobby is the terrific display of food and beverage offerings. There are . . .

I'll always remember when we opened our first hotel in Mexico, which was a resort in Acapulco on the beach, overlooking the beautiful Pacific Ocean. This was a long time ago - about 1968. Today we have 16 hotels in Mexico and we just announced a huge expansion - adding 23 hotels in our pipeline that now stands at 29. That means the number of hotels we have in Mexico should triple in five years.

Even during the economic slowdown, Marriott is continuing to grow for the future. Hotel development outside the United States is driving a lot of . . .

A couple of weeks ago, I had a chance to visit the Renaissance ClubSport hotel in Aliso Viejo in Southern California. It's part of a new brand we call ClubSport that's an extension of our Renaissance brand.

It's a fitness resort because the 174-room hotel has a 75,000 square foot health club, all under one roof. People who live and work near the hotel can buy memberships and hotel guests can use the club for free. It's a fabulous amenity. If you're like me and . . .

I recently blogged about our new program with Rosetta Stone that will allow us to train our people in more languages. And in the past I've blogged about our Sed de Saber - "Thirst for Knowledge" - program that has been so successful in teaching English to our Spanish-speaking associates.

Our customers and associates speak countless different languages, and we love the fact that we are able to help our associates communicate better with our guests, with each other, as well, and in their personal lives.

That's why we support the bipartisan bill now in the U.S. Congress called "Strengthening Communities through Education and Integration Act of 2008." This bill . . .