Page 25 - The New Gold Standard

The Ritz-Carlton Experience
During these difficult times, Keller went to great lengths to
keep the Boston hotel open. In one instance, he tried to mask
the low occupancy at his hotel by turning on lights in unoccu-
pied rooms prior to a visit from his wealthy father. Keller hoped
that the deception would enable him to convince his father to
loan him the money he needed to keep the hotel operational.
The economic challenges of the Ritz-Carlton brand and
other hotels in the luxury category continued throughout World
War II, as occupancy rates remained low in the face of global un-
certainty. In fact, during the war, a number of these hotels’ large
meeting spaces in Europe and the United States were taken over
for military planning and staging.

Post–World War II and the Rise of the
Ritz-Carlton Business Traveler
While much of the early success of the Ritz-Carlton brand was
linked to the leisure and social lives of the world’s most affluent
individuals, the post–World War II economy saw the emergence
of international business travel. In fact, during a portion of the
time that César Ritz’s son Charles served as chairman of the board
of the Ritz-Carlton Management Company, 70 percent of regis-
tered guests at the London hotel his father created were Ameri-
cans staying on corporate accounts.
With international business expansion, Charles Ritz en-
gaged another round of brand extensions through controlled
leasing agreements with properties in locations such as Lisbon,
Madrid, and Rome. As evidence of the Ritz family’s commit-
ment to excellence, the Ritz-Carlton Management Company
sued the Rome hotel owner for failing to live up to exacting com-
pany standards. It is even reported that during the week Charles
Ritz died in 1976, he was still actively identifying quality im-
provement needs to the staff at The Ritz, Paris. Passing from the
perfectionism of César Ritz, through the dogged efforts of his
son Charles, and into the passion for excellence of modern-day

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