Making an Empire, Marriott Style

June 21, 2007 — -- If there's one thing every Marriott employee knows, it's that the soup had better pass the boss's test. Not too thick, not too thin -- it has to be just right.

For his employees, 75-year-old Bill Marriott is something of a cult figure. When he tours his hotels it's almost like he's a rock star. People want to take pictures with him. They're thrilled that he's in the room -- not the greeting many bosses receive from their staff.

According to Marriott, it's quite an experience. "It's very satisfying to know that they respect me and that they respect the family…I've always said in the service business, having your name over the door is important because people can identify with a person."

Never Satisfied

In the post-Enron era when CEOs tend to generate publicity for cutting corners and questionable business practices, Marriott sets a different standard. His attention to detail is legendary, as is his devotion to his employees. He thinks both have been the key to the company's success.

A $12 billion a year empire, Marriott is now one of the largest hotel chains in the world, including everything from the posh Ritz Carltons to the affordable Courtyard Marriotts. And Marriott, never satisfied, is always pushing for more and better -- even after surviving two heart attacks and recovering from third degree burns from a serious boating accident.

Still, almost nothing escapes his watchful eye. He drops in to personally inspect hundreds of hotels a year, something he has been proud of for decades. His managers are expected to maintain that same standard of quality, and he gives them a 159 page long checklist to ensure that they do.

Then again, the business is practically part of Marriott's DNA. His father, J.W. Marriott, raised the family flag in 1927 with a root beer stand in Washington, D.C., called the Hot Shoppe.

Like Father, Like Son

Marriott explained the values his dad passed down. "I learned hard work. He was a tremendously hard worker all his life. You know he started out with nothing and he built a great company."

He was, Marriott admitted, a very tough father. But that toughness reaped rewards, and his father parlayed the Hot Shoppes into a successful hotel business. Early on, however, the father understood that it would be Bill Marriott who would make it an empire. In his diary J.W. Marriott wrote in 1967: "He knows his business. Takes big chances with hotels."

Still, Marriott said it was watching his father that showed him the way. "I'd walk with him into a hotel, we'd be late for a meeting, and he'd take 20 minutes and sit down in the lobby and talk to the lobby maid. He wanted to know how her kids were, was she making enough money, does she have enough work hours, was her health care good."

By taking care of their employees, their employees would take care of their customers, and the customers would want to return to their hotels in the future. That, according to Marriott, has been the basic core philosophy of the company.

On Faith and Work

Marriott also believes his Mormon faith has given him an edge in business. "Our church came from very humble circumstances. In Utah, everyone was broke, everybody was poor -- they were all dirt farmers. They had a hard time making ends meet, they had to be really careful and watch their pennies. And still do today. Our people are very frugal."

But his Mormonism not only informs his financial outlook. Marriott said it's helped his people skills. He was a Mormon bishop, and had 800 people in his congregation. "About a third of them were Hispanic. And they joined the church here and were working mostly as housekeepers and working in homes, and I got to helping them. I was there as their parish priest, I was there to help them. I developed, I think, a great empathy for people I normally wouldn't see very much."

Marriott said his Mormonism has never stood in his way. He doesn't smoke, and doesn't drink alcohol or coffee -- which seems unbelievable, given his unrelenting energy. He's a supporter of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and thinks his faith shouldn't be an issue for his presidential run.

The Modern Marriott

Despite pressure from his wife, and his four children who all work in the family business, Marriott almost never takes a day off. He said, "What drives me nuts is a dirty hotel. More than anything else. And I rarely find one."

The white glove tests and the personality driven empire may seem like quaint throwbacks to an earlier time, but Marriott insists that they aren't at odds with the push to modernize and globalize. In fact, at the announcement of a new partnership for family hotels with Nickelodeon, Marriott was honored in true Nick fashion. "I got slimed. I got slimed big time in New York."

He's also made a deal with another unlikely bedfellow -- the uber-modern and chic hotelier Ian Schrager -- as part of Marriott's next frontier to make his father's hotels modern and hip. Complete with iPods in the alarm clocks, a racy new line of suites, and no more scratchy floral bedspreads, these changes indeed seem to herald a new era.

Keep in mind, among all the change, this is a man who still keeps typewriters in his executive offices. But he's meeting change at least halfway, and even has a blog.

The hotel veteran who could be called something of a control freak is, after all, a kid at heart. His hobby? Antique race cars. He has 42 rare antiques, and he tries to drive each one every few months.

How does he do it? Survive two heart attacks, a serious boating accident, and still jet around the world checking on hotels? "Some people say I'm driven, some say I'm a workaholic. But it's fun. If you're not having fun, you shouldn't do it."

His passion for the business is another reflection of his father. "My dad used to say success is never final. I believe that totally, I don't think we can ever sit back and say we've done enough."