Taken from Bill Marriott's Blog

It was my father who coined the phrase, "Take care of the associates, and they'll take good care of the guests, and the guests will come back." Most people might think that only means customer service, but it really is the mindset of how we do business. Let's talk about safety and security.

We know that feeling safe and secure at hotels is a major priority for those of us who travel. We all take it very seriously. Marriott was recently recognized as having "world class status" when it comes to safety and security. That's because we have implemented best practices and processes as measured by the American National Standards Institute in its safety provisions. We are the only hotel company to be so honored.

The evaluation is actually done by a third party. We scored extremely well in every category, including the level of our employees' participation. Our associates know we value their safety and security. We do our best to provide them with a safe and secure workplace and give them training. In turn, they instinctively make it a priority when taking care of our guests.

For example, every property has an emergency response plan. While there is some overlap, each hotel's plan is unique and different. Hotels in hurricane zones will have an emergency response that differs from a hotel in an earthquake zone.

Planning really came in handy when hurricane Wilma struck Cancun. We had to evacuate three resorts, and care for our guests at another location. And ultimately, we chartered jets to fly them out.

While hurricane Wilma is an extreme example of ensuring the safety of our guests and associates, we do many other things, like performing audits of hotel safety procedures. Our safety experts also work closely with our architecture and construction department when managed hotels are being built or renovated.

We also do something that's pretty unusual for our industry. When we ask for your feedback after you stay with us, we have questions related to safety and security. They are included in the guest satisfaction scores we compile for every hotel and the results are updated every Friday electronically.

I know this is an important topic and concern for our guests. I'll be blogging about safety and security again in the future.