Marriott on the Move

Our deepest sympathies go out to the victims of the tragic bombings that took place earlier today in Jakarta, Indonesia. Immediately following the incident, police and hotel security responded and sealed off the area. Our guests at both properties were evacuated and moved to other nearby hotels. Injured guests and hotel employees were taken to the hospital for treatment. Both hotels sustained damage, but it does not appear to be structural. At the time of the incident, extensive security procedures were in place at the Ritz-Carlton and the JW Marriott. We continue to work closely with the authorities and hope to reopen the hotels soon. As always, the safety and security of our guests and associates is our top priority.

For guest information, please contact the Marriott Family Assistance Hotline at 866/211-4610 or 402/390-3265.

Our Executive Vice President of Marriott's global full-service hotel brands, Don Semmler, recently asked why we used the family name on our first hotel almost 60 years ago. My father had acquired a large piece of land on U.S. Route 1 in Northern Virginia. He wanted to build a new commissary to service his growing chain of Hot Shoppes restaurants. But as he studied the location, he determined it had over 125,000 cars passing by every day as they approached the 14th Street Bridge entering Washington. He also knew he was only five minutes from National Airport and three minutes from the Pentagon. It seemed to him that this location was generating far too much traffic for a simple commissary. So he thought about what would be a better use for the property.

It was 1953 and Dwight D. Eisenhower was president and about to develop the Interstate Highway program. Motels were being built everywhere, but most were not very high quality. So Dad decided his location was a perfect motel site. He asked the Ver Standig ad agency, which did our Hot Shoppes promotion, what he should call his new venture. Well, somewhere in the Fort Worth, Texas, area a motor hotel had been built and Mr. Ver Standig said my father should call it a "Motor Hotel". He then said we needed a name to go with the motor hotel in a rhythmic way. Ver Standig suggested we use the brand "Marriott Motor Hotel" for our proposed 365-room facility.

I told Don Semmler the ad agency Said "Marriott Motor Hotel" had tintinnabulation. I said . . .

I was recently in Orlando, Florida, for a conference with owners and franchisees of our select service and extended stay brands. Those brands are Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites, Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites. It's a great event where we build and strengthen relationships, align ourselves on company initiatives and share good business practices.

We also take the opportunity to recognize our top owner and franchise performers. We handed out over 60 awards and presented 11 owners and franchisees with the Partnership Circle Award, our highest honor given for hospitality excellence.

One of the things I noticed when presenting the awards was many of these companies are run by families. Out of the 11 Partnership Circle winners, more than half are run by families, many that span multiple generations.

One of these companies, JHM Hotels, has a great story. Their chairman and CEO, H.P. Rama founded . . .

This Father's Day, Donna and I want to express our joy in the many accomplishments of our children. We have four kids - a girl and three boys. Our daughter Debbie is the oldest. At age five, she underwent open heart surgery and has survived to raise five beautiful children. She is a very nurturing mother, and is also senior vice president of government affairs at Marriott and doing a wonderful job in her new calling. Her only daughter Kim will be married in November, so Debbie is very busy planning the wedding.

Our second oldest child is Stephen. He is one of the most courageous people I know as he is legally blind and has lost most of his hearing. Yet he comes to work every day and, equipped with his white cane, travels the country teaching Marriott convention sales people how to sell. He also gives multiple PowerPoint presentations about our culture as a family business. He never complains and is always positive and upbeat.

Our son John is our third oldest and manages a family trust that owns 14 Marriott managed hotels. John has had a life long friend, David Fell. They grew up together and when Dave was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis almost 25 years ago, their . . .

It's graduation season, and a few weeks ago, I went to North Carolina to speak at Wake Forest University's commencement. The world is in deep economic turmoil and jobs are hard to find, but I focused my speech on the importance of never giving up and always maintaining an optimistic outlook. While things might look bleak right now, I think it's important to keep your eyes open to the opportunities that will eventually open up to you.

One of the examples I gave them was my father's struggle to earn a college education. When he returned to Utah from completing his Mormon mission in 1921, he only had a 6th grade education and his parents didn't have any money to pay for his schooling. But, a local . . .

It's April 14, 2009, and a very happy day for the Marriott family. My son David and his wife Carrie just had another baby boy. The baby was born this morning around 11 o'clock. We don't have a name for him yet, but he's a big boy at 8 pounds, 1 ounce, 20.5 inches long - the biggest child they've had.

They have four children now and we have . . .