Marriott Named Best Hotel Rewards Program and Best Hotel Chain

For the fifth consecutive year, the readers of Business Traveler magazine awarded Marriott Rewards "Best Hotel Rewards Program in the World" and Marriott International "Best Domestic Hotel Chain" ahead of Hilton, Hyatt and Starwood in both categories.

"Our priority is to deliver the best frequent guest program possible through added recognition and meaningful benefits," said Lynne Roach- Hildebrand, senior vice president of Marriott customer relationship management. "We are especially pleased because the Business Traveler magazine awards reflect the opinions of those we value most -- frequent travelers."

Marriott Rewards is the world's most popular frequent guest program, with more than 15 million members and 2,100 participating hotels worldwide. The program stands alone as the largest provider of free nights.

In the United States, Marriott International operates and Franchises more than 1,900 hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn and SpringHill Suites brand names.

Other Major Customer Satisfaction Surveys Give Marriott High Marks

• J.D. Power and Associates 2001 Hotel Guest Satisfaction Study -- Fairfield Inn by Marriott and Courtyard by Marriott rank #1 in their respective categories.
  • For the third consecutive year, Fairfield Inn scored highest in guest satisfaction among moderately priced hotel brands. Fairfield Inn ranked especially well in all areas, including reservations/check-in, guest room, hotel services and departure experience.
  • Courtyard by Marriott received the highest score in guest satisfaction among mid-price hotel brands with full food service. Travelers also praised Courtyard in the areas of reservations/check-in, guest room, hotel services and departure experience.
• Best In Customer Satisfaction -- The Wall Street Journal reported on May 21 that Marriott International received the highest score in The American Customer Satisfaction Index, a customer survey conducted by the University of Michigan Business School.
• Corporate Travel Planners Prefer Marriott's Extended-Stay Brands -- The readers of Business Travel News ranked Residence Inn by Marriott and TownePlace Suites by Marriott the #1 hotel brands in the extended-stay category.
• Consumers Prefer Renaissance -- In July, readers of a major consumer magazine reported Renaissance Hotels, Resorts and Suites is one of the nation's best hotel brands. Renaissance outperformed Hyatt, Westin, Hilton and Sheraton for value, service, upkeep and lack of problems.

Marriott International, Inc. is a leading worldwide hospitality company with nearly 2,400 operating units in the United States and 63 other countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Ramada International brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club, Horizons, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Marriott Grand Residence Club brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its ExecuStay by Marriott division; and operates conference centers. Other Marriott businesses include senior living communities and services, and wholesale food distribution. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has approximately 152,000 employees. In fiscal year 2000, Marriott International reported systemwide sales of $19.8 billion.