I'm very happy to tell you about a good friend and business partner, Bruce White and his company, White Lodging. White Lodging just reached a huge milestone and opened its 99th and 100th hotels with Marriott. These new hotels are a Residence Inn and a SpringHill Suites that are housed in the same building in downtown Chicago.
Bruce is the Chairman and CEO of White Lodging. Marriott's been partnering with White Lodging for a long time and our companies have very similar family histories. I remember working with Bruce's dad, Dean, who founded the company, just like my father did with Marriott. They opened the first ever Fairfield Inn franchise in 1990 in Merrillville, Indiana, which is where their headquarters is.
Since then, White Lodging has received the Partnership Circle Award - the highest honor we give to our franchisees. He's received it 11 times. That's more than any other company. And, Bruce and his company have won almost every other award we give out from Developer of the Year to awards in construction, operations, quality assurance and community service.
I greatly respect and admire Bruce White. He and his company have been great, longtime partners with Marriott and both companies have very similar values. Like our company, White Lodging is committed to providing excellent service and quality to its guests. They also embrace Marriott's philosophy of appreciating and taking care of their employees.
So congratulations, Bruce, and everyone else at White Lodging, on celebrating this momentous occasion. I'm thrilled that you have reached such a huge milestone and so proud that you did so with Marriott. Right now, Bruce and his company have 24 Marriott hotels in the pipeline, so we'll be celebrating a lot more hotel openings with them in the future.
I'm Bill Marriott and thanks for helping me keep Marriott on the move.
I wanted to take the opportunity to express by appreciation to the staff of your new Fairfield Inn, in Wytheville, VA. I stayed there from May 8th to May 11th. I had had stomach surgery just 6 days prior to my trip and I was feeling very pporly and basically sorry for myself. Your staff, especially Jessie on the household staff, were so very nice to me and very concerned about my welfare and would check on me to insure that I was ok. This was extraordinary customer service and reflected a quality that I had thought was long gone from business. I overheard many positive remarks from other customers as well and know that this inn will become a very popular place due to the people who are there. I am a manager myself and I commend the hiring officials who were astute enough to offer them a position with your company. Well done.
Posted by: Debra L. Harris | 05/17/2008 at 02:54 PM