What Travel Type are You?

To run a successful company, you have to get a lot of things right and you have to be innovative. When we launched Marriott Rewards in 1983, we had doubters. People thought we were crazy to put so much marketing effort into a loyalty program. Well, it’s paid off –...

Steve Jobs: Relentless Pursuit of Excellence

Recently, I had an opportunity to read the story of Apple’s Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. I found it fascinating and well done. We all know that Jobs changed the world with his many creations at Apple and Pixar Films. Isaacson wrote, “Steve Jobs became the greatest business executive of...

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...

Get a Taste for What it Takes at 'My Marriott Hotel'

When I visit our hotels, I always like to go to the kitchen. A clean, well-run kitchen usually means the rest of the hotel is also clean and well run. In the hotel business, we call it "the heart of the house." The kitchen is pretty close to my heart...

Connecting People Oceans Apart with GoThere Virtual Meetings by Marriott

Having my own blog for more than three years has been a great learning experience. Blogging has helped me understand the importance of technology and communications for our business. Recently, I was interviewed using telepresence. It’s a fairly new communications technology we are testing in some of our hotels around...

Continuing to Embrace Social Media with the Marriott News Center

I never thought that starting my own blog would have such far-reaching impact within our company. Since we first launched the blog, we have continued to grow in the social media sphere by adding more blogs, several different Twitter feeds and even our own online community for our Marriott Rewards...

Renovating Our Digital Front Door, Marriott.com

When I started in the hotel business 52 years ago, the first impression customers had of our hotels was the lobby when they walked through the front doors. But in this digital age, often the first impression comes when they visit Marriott.com. It's our digital front door. Today, when you...

Group Business Is Our Business

When most people think about those who stay in hotels, they picture executives traveling to meet with their clients to close a deal or leisure travelers taking vacations at resorts. In our Marriott Hotels and Resorts brand, business travel makes up about 40 percent of our business, leisure travel 20...

Welcoming Ritz-Carlton President Simon Cooper to the World of Twitter

When I started blogging more than two years ago, I got a lot of "high-fives" from other bloggers for embracing this era of technology and trying out a new form of communication. Since then, there have been many advancements and I've learned about Facebook, YouTube and Flickr. There are probably...