World of Opportunity: Chance Encounters

Listen to Blog After 33 years with Marriott International, Nusrat Mirza learned first-hand how our company can open doors to a world of opportunity. Nusrat’s story goes back to 1978, when he became a restaurant supervisor in one of our properties. Today, he’s the General Manager of our beautiful Renaissance...

More Lessons From A Car Guy

After nearly 40 years as a CEO at Marriott, I love to read about how others lead. Recently, I blogged about Bob Lutz's new book "Car Guys vs. Bean Counters," which has many lessons from his tenure with General Motors. My 13-year service on the GM Board ended about a...

The Super Bowl and Super Brands

Courtyard by Marriott guests love football. So you can imagine all the lobby buzz for the Big Game. Courtyard was right in the thick of it as the official hotel sponsor for the National Football League. We even set up a Courtyard by Marriott Lobby Zone at the NFL Experience...

Checking In as a Guest, Leaving as Family

Joy Bricker went public at the age of 79. She’s famous for being the 10-year guest at TownePlace Suites in Falls Church, Virginia. Ten years … in the same room! Now that’s loyalty and a lot of Rewards points. It also makes for a great media story. When Joy announced...

Two Focused Companies

Today it’s exciting to know that we can devote all of our attention to managing and franchising our lodging brands. With the spinoff of our timeshare unit, we’re now closer to a pure lodging company than we’ve ever been before. Which, in my opinion, is where we ought to be....

The Art of Style at SpringHill Suites

In 1998, we launched a brand designed for the traveler looking for more space and a sense of style. That brand was SpringHill Suites. Now, we’ve taken it a step further. When you think of space and style, what comes to mind? To me, it’s art galleries. For the last...

Booking with Marriott While on the Move

In 1957, when we opened our very first hotel, the Marriott Twin Bridges, families were just starting to drive long distances on Eisenhower’s Interstate Highway. It was a great system and really changed America. Our Twin Bridges Motor Hotel was located outside Washington, D.C. and it featured a drive-through front...

A Virtual Lobby Tour

Listen to blog A lot has changed since we built our first hotel in 1957. I remember physically moving furniture to decide the right spot. We didn’t have a lot of choices on fabrics and designs. Now, we can design lobbies and rooms by using “virtual” showrooms. The hammer and...

Good Burgers and Good Business

Listen to blog I was raised on good hamburgers and I just love a good burger. It takes me back to my boyhood days and the fun of eating in one of my parents’ Hot Shoppes restaurants. When I travel out west, I try to pop into In-N-Out Burger, a...

Fond Farewell to a Marriott Friend

Listen to Blog On July 6, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal published extensive obituaries on my friend, George Lang, one of America’s most successful restaurateurs. George had a truly fascinating and exciting life. He was born in Hungary in 1924. He was Jewish and escaped a...