Ritz-Carlton's Cooper On Marriott Restructuring

Sad to see another trickle-down effect shake-up brought on by the Marriott infiltration. Since the takeover, us insiders have heard and had to comply with bits and pieces of the Marriott restructuring in some shape or form, and many times, the creative top-level leaders have either been forced to jump ship, or submit to sub-standard compromises of business practices not preciously considered, just to save a nickle or dime here or there while sacrificing the clientele base. The RC clientele is a sophisticated one, and Marriott's charades of cost-cutting/restructuring are becoming more and more noticeable on a quality basis to the public. Glad I got out while the getting out was good. I wish the best for the RC, but it is in a sad decline nonetheless.

The Ritz Carlton brand has and hopefully will continue to focus on offering the highest levels of customer service. With the integration of Ritz Carlton under the Marriott umbrella, this may no longer be possible. If the Ritz Carlton is held to the same financial standards as the Marriott, then the focus will shift from providing excellent customer service to providing financial results in the short term. The restructuring of the sales force is a good example. Although this new sales force is supposed to be customer focused, the reality of it is that the customer now has one sales manager that they speak with about their business, but another manager who contracts with them, and if they need a sight tour of a specific property, this will be handled by yet another individual. And yes, many Marriott managers with long tenure have lost their jobs due to this restructuring and have been replaced with new managers brought in at entry level salaries.

Marriott have take a once magnificent "Rolls Royce" brand Ritz Carlton and turned it into a "lexus" which below the leather seats is still a Toyota. It's a shame which is why many of their top people have left. Agree another nail in teh Ritz Carlton Coffin.

To Thelnside; the new model has yet to show any data, so who knows how effective it will truly be. In fact, it might prove to be a train wreck. I suspect, Marriott is now realizing it cannot continue with its current model due to the economy, so they cut corners. I'm pretty sure, cutting your sales force is the last thing you would do in an economy like this, operations yes. Moreover, if this new model is better in any way, how in the world did they just figure it out? Clearly, this is at the very least a cost cutting move. Maybe they should try something even more outside of the box and hire a 3rd party sales force and save even more money by not having to pay medical benefits! This economy is separating out the boys from the men. We'll see who comes out of this first in the best shape. My guess Choice and Starwood.

to "fromtheinside": while I appreciate your fervor with the company you work for, I am not spreading false information as you stated because you too have agreed this is what is occuring with Marriott i.e., taking them off property (job loss, reapplying for jobs at a much lower wage, etc) and putting them where the customers are... but my point is two-fold: 1) those salespeople as you say who are where customers are in fact, representing how many hotels in their area? and please tell me how much detailed knowledge they have of the plethora they represent? This is where the "stuck in a building" sales force comes in and actually can speak to correct knowledge when the planner asks "how far from my GS to breakouts" or "are my meeting rooms close to my sleeping rooms" or "how close to the nearest shopping district" etc. Mr Hotelier has it correct where both property and in the field is a much more "robust" model but this is not what Marriott is doing...they are taking most if not all away....add to this the company's continued hiring of positions that will say, be on board next week yet will go away in 3 months when this "change" begins to occur? 2) while the model might have merit in addressing customer needs, it really is about a drastic cost-cutting measure so why not be transparent about it? While I may not be privy to your insider information and don't have the reach you do, I do speak to customers who have been affected by this Marriott change and they are not happy about it but like all big hotel chains, every 4-6 years, they change their sales model and then in another 4-6 years, they change it all back. I wish you/them luck.

Mr. Himelstein's name has now been spelled wrong in a couple of articles. Should be Bruce Himelstein -- one M.

Marriott does not do anything unless there is a financial gain or a significant streamline of operations. Marriott only shows a few "cards" at a time. Trust me...there is more beneath this.

On Israel's 2nd. largest newspaper web site appeared an article speculating that ELAD group -owners of the Plaza hotel NY is looking to buy Ritz Carlton. Any relation to the new restructure move by Marriott?

Ritz have been increasingly falling short of market leader Four Seasons and I see this as another nail in the coffin of a once great luxury hotel company

Interesting move on Marriott's part. I view this as something that probably could have happened much sooner, why now? The econonmy has been bad for a few years. I like the idea of decentralization, especially for a global company like Marriott. I think having sales deployment on property and in the field is "robust."

"tell it like it is" you obviously have no idea what you are talking about! The changes taking place to our sales organization greatly enhance our ability to reach far more customers that we currently do. And far more efficiently. This change is completely customer focused...having sales deployment where our customers are and not stuck in a building doesn't make sense to you? And Hilton, IHG, Starwood et al will have not be able to even comtemplate the extent of our reach moving forward. So stop spreading false information. Marriott is the number one lodging sales organizaiton in the world and we will reamain as such.

what you should be asking Marriott is why (or how)this restructure in its current form which takes 95% of sales people (and quite a few other departments) off property that in fact DOES result in job loss or re-applying for their same jobs at a 10-20% reduction in salary, is going to result in more revenue for them.....all in the name of "streamlining" operations? I think not...how about a bit of transparency on Marriott's part?....sad to see this happening to many good people around the country and harder yet is its impact on the customer. Hilton, IHG, Starwood et al I'm sure are paying attention and garnering Marriott's lost customers.