A Tour of Marriott Hotels (Courtyard and Residence Inn in Syracuse)

The Hotel & Resort Operations class and I toured two Marriott Hotels in Syracuse yesterday. They are Courtyard and Residence Inn. In addition, we met with the Market Sales Leader of Marriott (New York State), two Regional Account Managers, and the GMs of Courtyard, Residence Inn, and SpringHill Suites.

The SpringHill Suites was open last fall. The Residence Inn just completed a renovation. The Courtyard will soon go through a 1.7 million renovation. I feel very excited of seeing these new or re-modeled lodging products in the Syracuse market.

One of the highlights is that Marriott restructured the functions and responsibilities of Sales. Marriott used to hire sales representatives or managers to take care of different brands, which I name it “brand-centered sales structure.” Now, Marriott relies on Account Managers to oversee different accounts or clients. Account Managers sell whatever products that their clients need --- from limited service to luxury hotels, from rooms to banquet service and functional space, basically everything. I call this approach “client-centered sales structure.” I do not think “client-centered” is a new practice in the industry, but it is definitely a good change for Marriott. I believe Account Managers can serve Marriott’s clients better than “(Brand) Sales Managers.”

If you went to the tour, what other observations do you want to share with us? If you did not join us, what new operational approach(es) do you want to share with us?

References:
Pictures was downloaded from the Marriott webpage of Residence Inn Syracuse.

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