Page 26 - The New Gold Standard

The Ritz-Carlton Experience
leadership, their legacy has continued to inspire the delivery of
the highest levels of luxury to customers.

From Atlanta to Marriott

The history of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, as it is now
known, follows its leadership from Atlanta, Georgia, to Chevy
Chase, Maryland. In 1983, the Atlanta-based real estate devel-
oper William B. Johnson, known for his construction of Waffle
Houses and Holiday Inns, was working with a group of veteran
hoteliers in the development of a network of luxury properties
to be called the Monarch Hotels. One of these founders, Ed
Staros, notes that the Monarch Hotel Group bought the rights
to use the Ritz-Carlton name in the United States and also pur-
chased The Ritz-Carlton, Boston, for an estimated $70 million.
According to Ed, “Given the small amount of marketing dollars
we had available, our leadership team realized that it would take
a long time for us to develop a reputation for luxury excellence,
but if we could work within the context of an established and
respected brand, we could expedite the timeline.”
Johnson soon placed the corporate leadership responsibility
in the hands of the inspirational and dynamic president Horst
Schulze, whose charismatic leadership style helped The Ritz-
Carlton Hotel Company grow from four U.S.-based hotels in
1983 to 40 properties around the world in 2000. However,
in spite of Horst’s steadfast leadership, an economic downturn
from the 1980s cut deeply into the hotel industry with magni-
fied effects on the Ritz-Carlton, given its aggressive expansion
(eight new hotels in 1990 alone). At one point, Horst acknowl-
edged that the company was in default on a loan for $70 million
and that it would need to restructure other debts.
After a series of similar financial challenges and crises, Mar-
riott International purchased a 49 percent stake in Ritz-Carlton
in 1996. Today The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is a wholly
owned subsidiary of Marriott International, and the parent com-

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