Marriott on the Move

My wife Donna and I went to the Saturday afternoon movies again and we saw The Blind Side.  It’s based on a true story of an NFL player, Michael Oher, who plays for the Baltimore Ravens here in Maryland where our headquarters is located.  It was a wonderful film and conveyed a very important message.

Just a few weeks ago, over the Thanksgiving holiday, our Cleveland Marriott Downtown hosted the city’s annual Polka Festival for the 18th year in a row.  It’s a huge, lively event held in Cleveland, Ohio, the home of the Polka Hall of Fame.

It takes place every year, beginning on the Thursday of Thanksgiving and lasting through that Sunday.  People from all over the U.S., Canada and Europe come to celebrate what is touted as North America’s Premiere Polka Weekend with 15 leading Polka bands and delicious menu items like Slovenian sausage, German potato salad and strudel.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP-15, opened in Copenhagen on December 7th.  Fifteen thousand delegates are expected to attend, including 110 heads of state and government from 192 countries. Their objective is to establish a binding global climate agreement, to include as many countries as possible, to commit to a reduction in man-made greenhouse gases which have a negative effect on our climate.  Our Copenhagen Marriott is hosting hundreds of delegates and we're honored to play a small part in this historic dialogue.  

Today, we celebrated a momentous occasion at our headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland.  We were joined by the Mexican Ambassador to the United States, Arturo Sarukhan, and representatives from the Pulso Hotelero ownership group in Mexico for the signing of a monumental development deal for our Fairfield Inn & Suites brand.