Bill Marriott Blog Post: 25 Jun 2009 12:26 PM PDT

Bill Marriott and the Rama Family from JHM Hotels

I was recently in Orlando, Florida, for a conference with owners and franchisees of our select service and extended stay brands. Those brands are Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites, Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites. It's a great event where we build and strengthen relationships, align ourselves on company initiatives and share good business practices.We also take the opportunity to recognize our top owner and franchise performers. We handed out over 60 awards and presented 11 owners and franchisees with the Partnership Circle Award, our highest honor given for hospitality excellence.One of the things I noticed when presenting the awards was many of these companies are run by families. Out of the 11 Partnership Circle winners, more than half are run by families, many that span multiple generations.One of these companies, JHM Hotels, has a great story. Their chairman and CEO, H.P. Rama founded . . .MORE