Tag: Bill Marriott View All Tags
Tags: Hotel Openings / Marriott Hotels / Bill Marriott / Bogota Hotels / → All Tags
Bill Marriott Opens The Bogota Marriott Hotel
It's been a while since we checked in on Bill Marriott but thanks to the Marriott Twitter feed, we know exactly where he is.
Marriott on Twitter has been buzzing with updates on the opening day festivities at the new Bogota Marriott in Colombia. President Alvaro Uribe, Bill Marriott and developers Ricardo Poma and Fernando Poma were all on hand to inaugurate the hotel today.
The hotel is located 10 minutes from the El Dorado International Airport and sound proofed rooms feature a modern art concept along with techy amenities like high-speed internet, work desks with plug panels and 37" LCD TVs. On site there's a lap pool, an Italian restaurant and a sushi and tapas bar. Just outside are two shopping malls and the Chamber of Commerce.
And it looks like the Marriott will soon be joined by a sister property soon. A JW Marriott is planned to open in Bogota this May.
The Bogota Marriott is a Marriott Rewards category 3 hotel and room rates start at $215 a night.
Tags: Party Dispatch / Bill Marriott / Industry News / → All Tags
What Cornell's 'Icon of the Industry' Told the Hotel World
As we mentioned yesterday, we hit up the Cornell Icon of the Industry Awards Dinner on Tuesday night to witness perennial HotelChatter crush object Bill Marriott accept the first-ever "Icon of the Industry" award from the Cornell University School of Hotel Administration (and, full disclosure, this editor's alma mater). Held at Billy's massive Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square, the gala was a star-studded event: we rubbed elbows with hospitality industry bigwigs ranging from David Marriott to Nobu restaurateur Drew Nieporent.
Honored for his personal and professional achievements over his tremendous 50-plus-year career, the school gave this award to Mr. Marriott for his commitment to service he demonstrated from his humble beginnings working at the family root beer stand all the way up to running the massive hotel giant that Marriott International is today.
Tags: Bill Marriott / Hotel News / Cornell Hotel School / Icon of the Industry / Party Dispatch / → All Tags
Bill Marriott Awarded 'Icon of the Industry' Honor
Last night the Cornell School of Hotel Administration awarded Bill Marriott with its first ever Icon of the Industry award at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square. And guess what? HotelChatter was there to watch! And we were like, legally allowed guests. No party crashing here!
If you were watching our Twitter feed, then you already know a bit of how the event went down. But while Bill managed to sneak away before we could meet him (or even just brush up against his arm real quick), he made a sweet impression on us and the rest of the hotel industry folk who attended.
His speech was pitch-perfect with the right amount of self-deprecation, a pinch of family history, a dose of "work hard" rah-rah-rah and a wise note about recessions--"they always end," he said.
We'll have more on the event for you tomorrow but for now, let's just say we've fallen in love with Bill all over again.
Tags: Overservice / Hotel Blog Watch / Bill Marriott / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
Bill Marriott Hearts the Employee Who Gave a Guest His Pants
Well, we're going to go ahead and put this in our "Adventures in Overservice" category, even though this is just sort of a story about someone doing something ridiculously, exceptionally nice for a stranger — regardless of whether this was a hotel employee/hotel guest arrangement.
Yesterday (so April 2nd, which leads us to believe this is a legitimate tale and not a joke at all), Bill Marriott blogged about a particularly interesting Marriott customer service anecdote that had him quite tickled: a Canadian Residence Inn employee actually gave a guest his pants. For real.
Tags: Edition Hotels / Hotel Hype / Istanbul Hotels / Bill Marriott / Ian Schrager / → All Tags
Top That! Edition Hotel Will Open in Istanbul in December
UPDATE: A rendering of the building is now pictured after the jump.
South Beach, DC, Honolulu, Istanbul. What do all these destinations have in common? They have all, at one point or another, been designated the location for the very first Edition Hotel, the new luxury hotel collection spawned by Bill Marriott and Ian Schrager.
Last we checked, Edition Honolulu would open in sometime in 2010. The Edition DC project was starting to look rather unlikely and we've got no idea what happening with Edition South Beach.
But now there's been an announcement that Edition Istanbul will open before all these other jokers on Dec 15, 2009.
Tags: Edition Hotels / Hotel Hype / Honolulu Hotels / Bill Marriott / Ian Schrager / Hotel News / → All Tags
First Edition Hotel Now Opening in Honolulu, So They Say
Marriott may have cancelled their plans for The Edition Chicago hotel but they must want us to know they are still very serious about their Edition Hotels brand, the love-child of Ian Schrager and Bill Marriott. They just aren't quite sure when the due date is.
For a while now, we thought the DC Edition would open first. This we liked because DC is like a four-hour car ride from us. But it looks like we may have to travel a heck of a lot further than that.
Tags: Hotel Bars / Marriott Hotels / General Motors / Bill Marriott / Detroit Hotels / → All Tags
Bill Marriott Will Save Detroit
Despite its massive layoffs and its money hemorrhage, it seems there is at least one thing General Motors managed to not screw up this year. According to America JR, the Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center is home to the city's hippest new lounge, Volt.
The bar has floor-to-ceiling windows that showcase the Detroit River and the city skyline. It also features a pretty cool 5/10/20 menu, which is based on how much time you have to eat. The items available in five, 10 and 20 minutes include Thai sweet chili wings, macaroni and cheese bites (five-minute meal), sliders and fries (10 minutes) and build your own pasta and New York strip steak (20 minutes). Volt also offers liquor, wine and a host of regionally brewed beers.
So what's all this got to do with General Motors? Well, the hotel is owned by GM and managed by Marriott—so suddenly this cool concept all makes sense! Because we know Bill Marriott is behind every good idea out there.
Tags: Hotel Deals / Marriott Hotels / Bill Marriott / Fort Lauderdale Hotels / → All Tags
Sleep Where Bill Marriott Slept and Get the Third Night Free
We know that Bill Marriott and his wife like to spend half of January at the Harbor Beach Marriott Resort & Spa in Fort Lauderdale, but could that rate-free stay be affecting the hotel's business?
Why else would they try to lure guests with one of those "stay two nights, get the third night free" promotions, as well as one of those increasingly popular recession drink specials at the hotel's restaurants? Oh yeah. Maybe it has nothing to do with Bill and everything to do with the downturn in the economy.
Whatever the reason, it works in guests' favor. Through April 1, you can save up to 33 percent with the buy two, get one free promotion (rates start at $369 per night) and through March 31, get 50 percent off drinks at the resort's three restaurants.
Mr. Marriott, might we suggest similar deal-inducing extended stays chain-wide? You may be aware of how this country is in a bit of a recession? Of course you are. We know marketing didn't come up with that drink special all by themselves.
To secure the deal, call 800-222-6543 or book online using promo code B4F. For the recession drink special, just saunter up to the bar and ask.
Tags: HotelChatter 2008 Awards / Bill Marriott / → All Tags
Hotelier of the Year :: Bill Marriott
When Bill Marriott first started blogging we were kind of miffed he was honing in on our turf. But this past year we've really come to appreciate all of Marriott's social networking efforts from his Marriott on the Move Blog to Twitter (done by his communications staff) to Flickr (see pics of Bill's birthday bash!) to YouTube.
For us, all this internet activity helped us keep dibs on what Marriott Hotels were up to. For guests, they can see more of what goes on at Marriott hotels aside from what's listed on the website. And it's working. Bill's blog has given Marriott an estimated $4 million+ in bookings. And now Marriott is reporting that the introduction of their new Marriott Mobile service has yielded $12,500 a day in its first 100 days. See, it does pay to be on the internet!
Tags: Hotel Blog Watch / Marriott Hotels / Bill Marriott / Hotel News / → All Tags
Bill Marriott Speaks About Proposition 8
Most people know that Bill Marriott is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (as is the rest of the Marriott fam).
In light of California's passing of Proposition 8, which eliminates the right of same-sex couples to marry in California, Bill Marriott felt compelled to make sure nobody concluded that Marriott's affiliation with the Mormon church — a huge proponent of the Prop 8 — was a reflection of his (or his company's) stance on the issue.
Tags: Snapshot / Bill Marriott / Hot Hotelier News / → All Tags
Bill Marriott Back in the Day
It's no secret we have a crush on Bill Marriott over here at HotelChatter HQ so when we spied this portrait of Bill and his father, the original JW, in the New Orleans Marriott on Canal Street the other week, we got all giggly and shy like a middle-schooler at the first dance of the school year.
For no reason whatsoever and we are not implying anything at all here but we have met many hoteliers in our time. They are Nicholas Clayton, Chip Conley, Jason Pomeranc, Sean MacPherson and Ian Schrager, to name a few. Funny, Bill Marriott is not on this list. We're just saying.
Tags: Hotel News / Bill Marriott / Pakistan Hotels / Marriott Hotels / → All Tags
Breaking News :: Deadly Bomb Goes Off at Marriott Hotel in Pakistan
Some very, very sad news to report. A truck bomb exploded at the Marriott Islamabad Hotel in Pakistan today, killing at least 40 people and wounding hundreds more. The NY Times reports:
The bomb left a vast crater, 40 feet wide and 25 feet deep, at the security barrier to the hotel. Witnesses said security guards were buried under a mound of rubble. Cars across the street from the hotel were mangled, and trees on the street were charred and stripped of their branches. The blast shattered windows in buildings hundreds of yards away.
It turns out that Marriott's hotel security was checking the truck for explosives when it detonated. The number of casualties and the number of injured is expected to increase because many people were still trapped in the six-story hotel. This was also thought to be one of the worst acts of terrorism in Pakistan history.
Keep reading for Bill Marriott's blog post about the tragedy.
Hotels In: Africa | Asia | Australia | Caribbean | Europe | North America | South America
Our Publications:
Jaunted | HotelChatter | VegasChatter
