The Ritz-Carlton is a brand of luxury hotels and resorts with 74 properties located in major cities and resorts in 23 countries worldwide. It also has major service training operations in its Ritz-Carlton Learning Institute and Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center, created by Ritz-Carlton executive (emeritus) Leonardo Inghilleri,where nearly 50,000 executives from other companies worldwide have been trained in the Ritz-Carlton principles of service.
The name Ritz-Carlton dates back to the Hôtel Ritz Paris and the Carlton Hotel in London, both operated by the legendary hotelier César Ritz. Loosely related hotels bearing the Ritz name began to appear in North America, including the Ritz-Carlton Montreal in 1912 and the Ritz-Carlton Boston in 1927. The Ritz-Carlton Boston was an immediate success, and became an enduring paragon of high society. In 1983, after two ownership transitions, the expansion of the Boston operation into a worldwide chain of Ritz-Carlton hotels began, headed by hotelier Horst Schulze and developer William B. Johnson.
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marriott International. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company currently has 32,000 employees. The Ritz-Carlton headquarters are found in Chevy Chase, Maryland, a community along the border of Washington, D.C.. COO is Simon Cooper who is also President of Marriott International and President of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is Herve Humler.
The name Ritz-Carlton dates back to the Hôtel Ritz Paris and the Carlton Hotel in London, both operated by the legendary hotelier César Ritz. Loosely related hotels bearing the Ritz name began to appear in North America, including the Ritz-Carlton Montreal in 1912 and the Ritz-Carlton Boston in 1927. The Ritz-Carlton Boston was an immediate success, and became an enduring paragon of high society. In 1983, after two ownership transitions, the expansion of the Boston operation into a worldwide chain of Ritz-Carlton hotels began, headed by hotelier Horst Schulze and developer William B. Johnson.
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marriott International. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company currently has 32,000 employees. The Ritz-Carlton headquarters are found in Chevy Chase, Maryland, a community along the border of Washington, D.C.. COO is Simon Cooper who is also President of Marriott International and President of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is Herve Humler.
History
Several Ritz-Carlton Hotels were built in the United States in the second and third decades of the 20th century, including one in New York City in 1917 (located at Forty-sixth and Madison Avenue in Manhattan, which is known as The Ritz-Carlton Central Park which by the way is one of the oldest hotels in the Companies portfolio and in New york city, where Louis Diat ran the kitchens and "famously invented vichyssoise".
And in Boston in 1927. By 1940, only the Ritz-Carlton Boston, run by its founder Edward N. Wyner, remained. Wyner's Ritz-Carlton Boston was a legendary feature of elite Boston, allowing only high-society guests and enforcing a strict dress code. During the Great Depression, Wyner kept the lights on in empty rooms to preserve the hotel's reputation.
After Wyner's death in 1961, his family then sold the hotel in 1964 to Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, run by Gerald F. Blakeley Jr. Blakeley ran the Ritz-Carlton Boston for another two decades before it was sold in 1983 to developer William B. Johnson, who assembled a four person development team in Atlanta, headed by hotelier Horst Schulze, to create the Ritz-Carlton concept.
Schulze instituted a company-wide concentration on both the personal and the data-driven sides of service: He coined the company's well-known customer/employee-centered credo, "We are Ladies and Gentleman Serving Ladies and Gentlemen" and the set of specific service standards on which Ritz-Carlton employees base service through the present day.
And in Boston in 1927. By 1940, only the Ritz-Carlton Boston, run by its founder Edward N. Wyner, remained. Wyner's Ritz-Carlton Boston was a legendary feature of elite Boston, allowing only high-society guests and enforcing a strict dress code. During the Great Depression, Wyner kept the lights on in empty rooms to preserve the hotel's reputation.
After Wyner's death in 1961, his family then sold the hotel in 1964 to Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, run by Gerald F. Blakeley Jr. Blakeley ran the Ritz-Carlton Boston for another two decades before it was sold in 1983 to developer William B. Johnson, who assembled a four person development team in Atlanta, headed by hotelier Horst Schulze, to create the Ritz-Carlton concept.
Schulze instituted a company-wide concentration on both the personal and the data-driven sides of service: He coined the company's well-known customer/employee-centered credo, "We are Ladies and Gentleman Serving Ladies and Gentlemen" and the set of specific service standards on which Ritz-Carlton employees base service through the present day.
Under his leadership the hotels earned an unprecedented two Malcolm Baldrige Quality Awards, and grew from four to forty U.S. locations.In 1996 Schulze's group sold a 49-percent stake in The Ritz-Carlton to Marriottand in 2000 the hotel company became wholly owned by Marriott Internationalwhen Schulze left with other executives including Robert A. Warman, Leonardo Inghilleri, Peter Schoch and others to create the West Paces Hotel Grouppurveyors of the Capellaand Solís hotel imprints.
Ritz-Carlton offers fractional residences around the United States under the name Ritz-Carlton Destination Club. Properties include Aspen Highlands and Bachelor Gulch in Colorado, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, San Francisco, CA and Jupiter, FL.
The Ritz-Carlton hotel at Water Tower Place in Chicago is actually a Four Seasons-managed property, due to the prior sale of the Ritz-Carlton name for this particular location prior to the creation of the Atlanta group, and the engagement of Four Seasons by the property owner.
