Marriott International

Marriott was founded by John Willard Marriott in 1927 when he and his wife, Alice Sheets Marriott, opened a root beer stand in Washington, D.C.[8] As a Latter-day Saint missionary in the humid summers in Washington, D.C., Marriott was convinced that what residents of the city needed was a place to get a cool drink.[9] The Marriotts later expanded their enterprise into a chain of Hot Shoppes restaurants[10] and the company went public in 1953 as Hot Shoppes, Inc.[11]

The company opened its first hotel, the Twin Bridges Marriott Motor Hotel, in Arlington, Virginia, in 1957. Their second hotel, the Key Bridge Marriott in the Rosslyn neighborhood of the same city, is Marriott International's longest continuously operating hotel and celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009.[12] Their son, J. W. (Bill) Marriott, Jr., led the company to spectacular worldwide growth during his more than 50-year career. In March 2012, at age 80, he turned the CEO responsibilities over to Arne Sorenson, while he assumed the title of executive chairman.

Hot Shoppes, Inc. was renamed the Marriott Corporation in 1967.[13]

The company opened two theme parks in 1976.[13]

Marriott International was formed in 1993 when the Marriott Corporation split into two companies, Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation. In 1995, Marriott was the first hotel company worldwide to offer guests the option to book reservations online, via the company's implementation of MARSHA (Marriott's Automatic Reservation System for Hotel Accommodations).[14]

In April 1995, Marriott International acquired a 49% interest in Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC.[15] Marriott International believed that it could increase sales and profit margins for The Ritz-Carlton, a troubled chain with a significant number of properties either losing money or barely breaking even. The cost to Marriott was estimated to have been about $200 million in cash and assumed debt. The next year, Marriott spent $331 million to take over The Ritz-Carlton, Atlanta and buy a majority interest in two properties owned by William Johnson, a real estate developer who had purchased The Ritz-Carlton, Boston in 1983 and expanded his Ritz-Carlton holdings over the next twenty years.

The Ritz-Carlton began expansion into the lucrative timeshare market and undertook other new initiatives made financially possible by the deep pockets of Marriott, which also lent its own in-house expertise in certain areas. There were other benefits for Ritz-Carlton flowing from its relationship with Marriott, such as being able to take advantage of the parent company's reservation system and buying power. The partnership was solidified in 1998 when Marriott acquired majority ownership of The Ritz-Carlton. Today, there are 91 Ritz-Carlton properties around the world.[16]

Marriott International acquired the listed company Renaissance Hotel Group N.V. in 1997[17] from Chow Tai Fook Group and its associate company New World Development. Marriott International also privatized Renaissance Hotel Group. At that time Renaissance Hotel Group owned the brands Renaissance Hotels and Ramada International, etc.[18] Marriott International and New World Development also signed an agreement to manage New World Development's owned hotel, such as New World Courtyard Hotel, Beijing (later known as The Courtyard by Marriott Beijing), Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, etc.[19] Some of the management contracts had expired in the 2010s.

Marriott's hotel in New York after the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11

The Marriott World Trade Center was destroyed during the September 11, 2001, attacks.

In 2002 Marriott International began a major restructuring by spinning off many Senior Living Services Communities (which is now part of Sunrise Senior Living) and Marriott Distribution Services, so that it could focus on hotel ownership and management. The changes were completed in 2003.[20]

Marriott International owned Ramada International Hotels & Resorts until its sale on September 15, 2004, to Cendant.

In 2005, Marriott International and Marriott Vacation Club International comprised two of the 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.[21][22][23]

On July 19, 2006, Marriott announced that all lodging buildings it operated in the United States and Canada would become non-smoking beginning in September 2006. "The new policy includes all guest rooms, restaurants, lounges, meeting rooms, public space and employee work areas."[24]

San Diego Marriott Marquis & Marina, one of the highest revenue-generating Marriotts in the United States

There were bombings at the Islamabad Marriott in 2008 and at the Jakarta Marriott in 2009.

On November 11, 2010, Marriott announced plans to add over 600 hotel properties by 2015. The bulk of the additions would be in emerging markets: India, where it planned to have 100 hotel properties, China, and Southeast Asia.[25]

On January 21, 2011, Marriott said that pornography would not be included in the entertainment offered at new hotels, which would use an Internet-based video on demand system.[26]

On December 13, 2011, J.W. Marriott, Jr. announced he would be stepping down as CEO of the company while assuming the role of executive chairman. It was announced that Arne Sorenson would be taking over as CEO as of March 2012.[27]

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney released his 2011 federal income taxes on September 21, 2012, showing that he declared $260,390 in director's fees from Marriott International,[28] despite the fact that news was released on January 13, 2011, that he had already stepped down from the Marriott International board to run for president.[29] His released 2010 tax returns showed earnings in 2010 of $113,881 in director's fees from Marriott.[30] In February 2012, Bloomberg reported on Romney's years overseeing tax matters for Marriott, which had included several "scams" (quoting Sen. John McCain) and legal actions brought against Marriott, which Marriott lost in court, over its manipulations of the U.S. Tax Code.[31][32]

In December 2012, Guinness World Records recognized the five-star JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai as the world's tallest hotel.[33]

On October 3, 2014, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined Marriott $600,000 for unlawful use of a "containment" feature of a Wi-Fi monitoring system to deliberately interfere with client-owned networks in the convention space of its Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville. The scheme disrupted operation of clients' mobile telephone hotspots by sending fraudulent Wi-fi de-authentication packets.[35] Marriott International, Inc., the American Hotel and Lodging Association and Ryman Hospitality Properties responded by unsuccessfully petitioning the FCC to change the rules to allow them to continue the willful jamming of client-owned networks,[36] a position which they were forced to abandon in early 2015 in response to backlash from clients, mainstream media, major technology companies, and national mobile carriers.[37]

The incident drew unfavorable publicity to Marriott's practice of charging transient lodgers $13–15/day for wi-fi connections, routinely included in the base price at most discount chains,[38] and to exorbitant wi-fi fees (typically $250–1000 per device[37]) charged to convention-goers at a time when the $2.25 billion "incidental fees" annually charged by US-based hotels to their lodgers was already drawing criticism and negative media coverage.[39]

On January 27, 2015, Marriott acquired Canadian hotel chain Delta Hotels.[40] Delta operated 38 hotels in Canada at the time of acquisition; it has since expanded to the United States, Europe, and Asia.

On November 16, 2015, Marriott announced the acquisition of Starwood for $13 billion.[41] A competing offer for Starwood at $14 billion from a consortium led by China's Anbang Insurance Group was announced March 3, 2016, moving Starwood to cease the deal with Marriott and pursue the offer from Anbang Insurance Group.[42][43] After Marriott raised its bid to $13.6 billion on March 21, Starwood terminated the Anbang agreement and proceeded again with the merger with Marriott.[44] Following all necessary regulatory approvals in the United States and around the world over the course of 2016, Marriott closed the merger with Starwood on September 23, 2016, creating the world's largest hotel company with over 5700 properties, 1.1 million rooms, and a new portfolio of 30 brands.[45]

The Starwood acquisition gave Marriott a larger non-US presence; approximately 75% of Starwood's revenues were from non-US markets. The acquisition was the largest of its sort since 2007, when Blackstone acquired Hilton for $26 billion. Executives noted that total transaction and integration expenditures may exceed $100 million.[46][47]

On November 30, 2018, Marriott disclosed that its Starwood Hotel brand had been subject to a security breach. After the disclosure, New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood announced an investigation into the data breach.[48]

The 2018 cyberattack on the Marriott hotel chain[49][50] that collected personal details of roughly 500 million guests is now known to be a part of a Chinese intelligence-gathering effort that also hacked health insurers and the security clearance files of millions more Americans. The hackers are suspected of working on behalf of the Ministry of State Security, the country's Communist-controlled civilian spy agency.[51][52][53] Initially, Marriott admitted that 500 million customer's personal information had been exposed.[54] It later amended their admission to "less than 383 million" customers, and claimed many of the customer's payment cards had expired.

• Marriott International was named as one of the "Top 75 Companies for Executive Women" by Working Mother Media in November 2020.[55]

The Luxury Collection brand began on January 13, 1992, when ITT Sheraton designated 28 of its premier hotels and 33 of the Sheraton Towers, the luxury "hotel-within-a-hotel" facilities located within Sheraton's largest and most exclusive hotels, as the ITT Sheraton Luxury Collection.[67]

In February 1994, ITT Sheraton acquired a controlling interest in CIGA (Compagnia Italiana Grandi Alberghi, or Italian Grand Hotels Company), an Italian international hotel chain which owned several luxury properties in Europe.[68] The majority of the CIGA hotels were folded into The Luxury Collection. CIGA's original logo, the four horses of St. Mark, was kept for The Luxury Collection brand logo until 2010; each Luxury Collection hotel now uses its own logo.

After Starwood acquired Sheraton, it established a separate brand identity for The Luxury Collection.

In 2011, it changed the tagline of the brand to "Life is a collection of experiences. Let us be your guide."[69]

In 2012, the brand announced a major expansion in Asia, particularly in China.[70]

In 2014, the brand signed Helena Christensen as spokesperson.[71]

In 2015, the company launched a $700 million program to renovate properties and promote the brand to emphasize "experiential luxury".[72][73]

• JW Marriott Hotels
• The Ritz-Carlton
• St. Regis Hotels & Resorts

• Edition Hotels
• Bulgari Hotels & Resorts
• The Luxury Collection
• W Hotels

• Delta Hotels
• Marriott Hotels & Resorts
• Marriott Vacation Club
• Sheraton Hotels and Resorts

• Le Méridien
• Renaissance Hotels
• Westin Hotels
• Gaylord Hotels

• Courtyard by Marriott
• Fairfield by Marriott
• Four Points by Sheraton
• Protea Hotels by Marriott
• SpringHill Suites

• AC Hotels by Marriott
• Aloft Hotels
• Moxy Hotels

• Marriott Executive Apartments
• Residence Inn by Marriott
• TownePlace Suites

• Element Hotels
• Homes & Villas by Marriott International

• Autograph Collection
• Design Hotels
• Tribute Portfolio

Marriott developed three theme parks, of which two theme parks were opened. They operated as Marriott's Great America from 1976 until 1984. The parks were located in Gurnee, Illinois; Santa Clara, California; and a proposed but never-built location in the Washington, D.C., area, and were themed celebrating American history. The American-themed areas under Marriott's tenure of ownership included "Carousel Plaza" (the first section beyond the main gates); small-town-themed "Hometown Square"; "The Great Midwest Livestock Exposition At County Fair" with a Turn of the Century rural-fair theme; "Yankee Harbor", inspired by a 19th-century New England port; "Yukon Territory," resembling a Canadian/Alaskan logging camp; and the French Quarter-modeled "Orleans Place". At the opening, the parks had nearly identical layouts.

In 1984, Marriott disposed of its theme park division; both parks were sold and today are associated with national theme park chains. The Gurnee location was sold to Six Flags Theme Parks where it operates today as Six Flags Great America. The Santa Clara location was sold to the City of Santa Clara, who retained the underlying property and sold the park to Kings Entertainment Company, renamed Paramount Parks in 1993. From 1993 to 2006, the Santa Clara location was known as Paramount's Great America. In 2006, Paramount Parks was acquired by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company; the Santa Clara park operates today as California's Great America. In the years after their sale, the layouts of both of the parks have diverged substantially.

Starwood Preferred Guest (mononymously known as SPG) was founded in 1999 as the first in the industry to enforce a policy of no blackout dates, no capacity controls, and online redemption. In 2012, Starwood Preferred Guest began offering lifetime status and a dedicated Starwood ambassador for loyal members.[76]

Ritz-Carlton Rewards was founded in 2010. Members were able to receive air miles instead of reward points and able to earn ten points (or two miles) for every dollar spent on any Ritz-Carlton room rates. Despite the restriction of membership to only one of the two programs, members of Ritz-Carlton Rewards were able earn points in other Marriott hotels, while Marriott Rewards members were able to earn points at a Ritz-Carlton.[77]