Thoughts on My Birthday

Celebrating my 86th birthday with my daughter, Debbie Harrison. I turned 87 years old this week and I have to say, I feel great. I spent the day, as I always do, with my family at Camelback Inn in Arizona. We’ve been going there for more than 50 years. I...

Celebrating National Chili Day

My father (left) in front of the first Hot Shoppes in 1927. Tomorrow is National Chili Day, a great day to celebrate one of my favorite dishes. Chili Con Carne was always a big seller at the restaurant chain my parents, J.W. and Alice Marriott, started in Washington, D.C., in...

To My Valentine

Donna married me "for better and for worse ... but not for lunch." I proposed marriage to the love of my life, Donna Garff, by long-distance phone call – if you can believe it – in 1954. I was in Navy Supply School in Athens, Georgia, at the time, just...

Our Winter Wonderland

The ice-skating rink at the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel in Arlington, VA. It’s below freezing today in Washington, D.C., which makes it a perfect day for some outdoor ice skating, don’t you think? In the winter of 1958, we covered the swimming pool at the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel and...

Celebrating Twin Bridges' Anniversary

Today marks the 62nd anniversary of Marriott’s shift from the restaurant business to the hotel industry. On this date, January 16, 1957, my parents cut the ribbon on the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel in Arlington, Virginia. See photo above. We were in a hurry to accommodate all the crowds coming...

When the Storms Come

Aidan (pictured above), a banquet server at one of our properties in Naples, Florida, was home with his family when Hurricane Irma struck the city in October 2017. He watched in disbelief as 145-mile-an-hour winds struck his house, ripping off shingles and causing a tree and multiple tree limbs to...

A Five-Star Review

Forbes placed Marriott International on its The World’s Most Innovative Companies list in June of this year. What an honor to be recognized. Since my parents started the company in 1927, we’ve never been afraid to take chances and try new things. Just in the last year, we’ve partnered with...

Promoting Women Chefs

Bill Marriott, Arne Sorenson, and chefs Thais Rodriguez, Lara Brown, Paula DaSilva, Jennifer OBrien, Laura Bartholomew, and Ilkay Suuctugu Every quarter, the Marriott International Food and Beverage team pulls together a “taste” panel with some of our top chefs and senior management. It’s sort of a “Chopped” without the judges,...

Lifelong Friendships Forged at Marriott’s Great America

This may come as news to some, but for many years, Marriott International owned and operated two amusement parks, one in California and one in Illinois. We named the parks Marriott's Great America and they were proud tributes to all that is great about this country. They were also, I...

Celebrating Independence Day

J. W. "Bill" Marriott Jr. (ca. 1954) Today, as we come together with family and friends to celebrate our Nation’s independence, I find myself reflecting on the visionary leadership that was displayed during the Revolutionary War more than two centuries ago. Against almost impossible odds, George Washington led the Continental...