Hotel Brand History | Marriott International Group: A Century of Legend From Street Corner Soda Stores to Global Hotel Empires

Marriott International Group is the world's leading hospitality company, with more than 30 brands and a broad range of businesses covering diverse segmented markets from luxury resorts to economy extended-stay hotels.

Its legendary journey began in 1927 with a 9-seater root juice soda shop. After nearly a century of baptism by fire and vigorous development, it has now grown into an industry giant with a presence in 144 countries and regions, managing over 9300 hotels.

Let's take a look back at the legendary chapter in Marriott International Group's growth from a street corner soda shop to a global hotel empire.

From Hot Shoppe to hotel plans

On 20 May 1927, J. Willard Marriott and his partner Hugh Colton pooled $6000 to open a nine-seat root-juice soda shop in Washington D.C. A year later, Hugh Colton moved back to Utah, leaving newlyweds J.W. and Alice Marriott to run their own Hot Shoppe, which became the forerunner of Marriott International.

Under the careful management of the Marriotts, the Hot Shoppe quickly became a chain of restaurants with exquisite and delicious cuisine, impeccable service and reasonable and affordable prices, growing to 77 in 30 years.

With the end of the Second World War, the development of the American automobile industry entered a golden age and motoring began to flourish. The Marriott family saw this trend coming and in 1957 opened their first hotel in Virginia, USA, the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel, based on their thirty years of experience in the Hot Shoppes food and beverage service industry. The hotel was operated by J W Marriott's son, Bill Marriott, Jr, who heads the new business division and oversees the expansion of the hotel business.

The opening of the Shuangqiao Marriott Hotel not only marks Marriott's official entry into the hotel industry, but also lays the foundation for its future as a global hotel giant. At the same time, the hotel business became so successful that the Marriott family quickly decided to invest in their next hotel.

In 1959, Marriott opened the Key Bridge Marriott in Rosslyn, Virginia. The hotel continued the excellent performance of the Twin Bridges Motor Hotel branch and laid a solid foundation for Marriott's future hotel investments and operations.

The road to global expansion

As more Marriott hotels opened, "Marriott" became more familiar to more people. In 1964, the company's name was changed to Marriott Hot Shoppes, Inc， marking the beginning of a strategic shift from the restaurant business to the hotel business. In the same year, Bill Marriott, Jr. was officially appointed president of the company and led Marriott on its global expansion.

In 1965, Marriott's first downtown hotel, the Atlanta Hotel, opened, marking Marriott's transformation from a suburban motel to a true hotel.

In 1968, as Marriott's strength continued to grow, Marriott began opening more upscale hotels in major cities and officially went public on the New York Stock Exchange on 26 August 1968.

In 1969: Marriott took its first step towards internationalisation with the opening of the Marriott Hotel in Acapulco, Mexico.

1975: Marriott entered the European market with the opening of a hotel in Amsterdam.

In 1981, the 100th Marriott hotel, the Maui Marriott Resort, opened in Hawaii.

In 1982, Marriott opened the Cairo Marriott Hotel and Omar Al Khayyam Casino in Africa.

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By the end of 2024, Marriott will have more than 9300 hotels in 144 countries and territories worldwide.

Building a diversified brand matrix

Under Bill Marriott's leadership, Marriott made great strides in the 1980s, not only establishing its leadership position in the U.S. hotel industry, but also opening up a deep layout of franchise models and multi-brand strategies.

In 1983, the Marriott Group launched its first Courtyard by Marriott hotel in Atlanta, pioneering the new "premium select-service" hotel category. This brand accurately bridged the gap between full-service hotel brands and the mid- to upper-upscale limited-service market and achieved unprecedented success from its first opening.

In 1984, as a tribute to his father, Mr Marriott, Bill Marriott established a flagship hotel in Washington D.C., named the JW Marriott after his father, giving birth to the Marriott Group's upscale hotel brand.

In 1986, Marriott launched another new brand: Fairfield By Marriott, named after the Marriott family's Maple Farm in the northern suburbs of Virginia, and began to enter the economy lodging market.

In 1995, the Marriott Group acquired 49% of the shares of The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company, and the following year, the majority of the remaining shares, bringing the legendary luxury brand into its own hands. This move not only consolidated Marriott's leadership position in the upper upscale hotel market, but also enabled its brand matrix to achieve full market coverage from luxury through midscale to upper upscale.

In 1997, Marriott made another major acquisition, spending $1 billion to purchase the Marriott Hotel Group from New World. This transaction gave Marriott three major brands (Renaissance, New World and Rama International), not only doubling its overseas market share, but also significantly increasing its strategic location advantage in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2007, Marriott International partnered with hotel operator Ian Schrager to create a new lifestyle luxury boutique hotel brand - the Addison Hotel.

In 2016, Marriott International acquired Starwood Group for $12.2 billion, bringing with it 11 hotel brands and more than 5,000 hotels under management. This acquisition has made Marriott one of the largest hotel groups in the world and has ushered in a new chapter of development.

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Today's Marriott International Group, with more than 30 brands under its umbrella, is like a dazzling cluster of stars covering every segmented market with precision.

From street corner soda shops to global hotel empires, Marriott has spent a century interpreting the eternal essence of the service industry: balancing standardisation and personalisation, and forging links between commercial interests and human care. As travel evolves from luxury consumption to modern lifestyle, this giant ship of over 9300 hotels continues to lead the wave of change with its eternal compass of "people-focused".

As a long-term furniture supplier of Marriott International Group, ZENCO CASA is also honoured to work with Marriott International Group to create many landmark cases such as W Hotel Xi'an, JW Marriott Hotel Xi'an Hairong, JW Marriott Hotel Xi'an High-Tech, Wuhan Marriott Hotel Wuchang and Chongqing Marriott Hotel, creating a travel experience that combines artistic aesthetics and practical functions for high-end hotel spaces.