Marriott on the Move

Today I'm blogging from our headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland, where we are holding a huge celebration to welcome our Spirit of Aloha Tour. Anyone who has been to one of the Hawaiian Islands falls in love with the beautiful scenery and the wonderful Aloha hospitality.

Unfortunately, during these difficult times, travel to Hawaii has dropped off. That's why our team in Hawaii put on their thinking caps and decided to embark on the Spirit of Aloha Tour in the continental United States. It is a fantastic, grassroots effort to generate awareness and encourage people to come visit these beautiful islands.

The bus tour began on January 12 in San Diego, California, and they originally planned to stop in eight cities along the west coast, but the tour proved so successful and popular, it was extended across the Midwest and east coast. It ended here today with . . .

I just got back from visiting some of our beautiful hotels and resorts in the Caribbean. One of the stops I made was in Aruba to visit our Aruba Marriott Resort, which has just completed a big renovation. The property looks great, the staff is wonderful and the entire island is a terrific place to vacation. You can actually see for yourselves by watching the video below.

This video was created by Marriott associates and stars Gregory Millard, a bartender at the resort, and was submitted as an entry into Marriott's LAKE Film Festival. LAKE stands . . .

Awhile back, I attended a National Speakers Association meeting in New York City. At that conference, I met Gregg Gregory, a certified professional speaker. Gregg speaks to an array of business professionals on how leaders can motivate, recognize and empower employees to achieve top notch service.

One of the stories Gregg frequently tells at his speaking engagements is called "How One Person Can Impact an Entire Team." This story was inspired by an experience Gregg had one night at the Atlanta Marriott Northwest and how the superb service he received from one of our associates set a great example for the rest of the staff.

It's a very moving tale about . . .

In today's era of technology, there's so much that can be done online. You can buy clothes, pay your bills, even book your hotel room through Marriott.com. With the popularity of the Internet, the old, conventional ways of doing things often seem to be forgotten, especially among the younger generation.

However, many people - including me - still value some of the personal connection and advice of a travel agent. We've worked closely with them for many years and really value our longstanding relationships. That's why we are excited to celebrate the 10th anniversary of our Hotel Excellence! program with them this month.

Hotel Excellence! is a program we developed as . . .

On January 10, I traveled to Norfolk, Virginia, for the commissioning of the newest Nimitz class aircraft carrier, the George H. W. Bush. It was a beautiful day and the signal flags that draped the ship were blowing smartly against a very blue sky.

Both President Bushes were in attendance and gave very fitting and touching remarks. But my biggest thrill was seeing over 2,000 Blue Jackets run up the ship's ladder and take their position at attention on the flight deck as the ship was officially commissioned and the first watch was set.

We were reminded that as long as the ship was in service of our great country, the able men and women of the USS Bush would be standing continuous watches, perhaps as long as . . .

It's no secret that I'm known as a stickler for detail. I try very hard to visit almost 300 hotels a year and give them my own version of the "white glove test" to look and see how things are going, to make sure they're as good for our guests as we can make them and that our guests have the best possible experience when they stay with us.

I guess one of the reasons I began paying such attention to detail was due to an experience I had when I was in college, working at one of my father's Hot Shoppes that he had opened out in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was working back in the kitchen on an afternoon after school and was assigned the task of cleaning out the deep fat fryers. I accidentally poured . . .