Ritz-Carlton

'Ritz-Carlton' is a brand of luxury hotel and resort with 70 properties that are located in major cities and exclusive resort destinations of 23 countries worldwide. The Ritz-Carlton brand is managed by the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC, a subsidiary of Marriott International. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company has currently 32,000 employees. The Ritz-Carlton headquarters are found in Chevy Chase, Maryland, a community along the border of Washington, D.C..

History

The first Ritz-Carlton Hotel was built in Boston in 1927. (The original building was recently sold to Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces.) The New York Ritz-Carlton was located at Forty-sixth and Madison Avenue. From 1910 Louis Diat ran the kitchens and "famously invented vichyssoise".

The Montreal Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Sherbrooke Street was built in 1912, but officially, it is not part of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Chain.

Naples, Florida is the only city with two Ritz-Carlton hotels on the same road.

In 2005, Ritz-Carlton was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.

Ritz-Carlton offers fractional residences around the United States under the name Ritz-Carlton Club. Properties include Aspen Highlands and Bachelor Gulch in Colorado, St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, San Francisco, CA and Jupiter, FL.

Highest hotel in the world

Ritz-Carlton will occupy the top 15 floors of the International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong. The hotel's lobby is at 425 meters (1,394 feet) above the ground, becoming the highest hotel in the world when completed, surpassing the Park Hyatt Hotel in the Shanghai World Financial Center in Pudong, Shanghai.

Awards

The Ritz-Carlton has been featured on Zagat Survey Top Lists for dining, hotels and service. The Dallas, TX and Wolfsburg Germany locations both received top honors from Zagat in 2009, including Top Large Hotel for the Dallas location.

Hilton Hotels

Hilton Hotels^[update] is a international chain of full-service hotels and resorts founded by Conrad Hilton and now owned by the Hilton Hotels Corporation. Hilton Hotels are either owned, managed, or franchised to independent operators by the Hilton Hotels Corporation. As of 2008 there are 533 Hilton branded hotels across the world. Hilton Hotels became the first coast-to-coast hotel chain of the United States in 1943. The original price for an overnight stay in 1943 was around $20. The company places marketing emphasis on business travel, but owns and operates a number of resorts and leisure-oriented hotels as well. The company's Hilton Honors guest loyalty program has partnerships with airlines and car rental companies.

The Hilton brand was re-united internationally after more than 40 years in February 2006, when United States-based Hilton Hotels Corporation purchased the hotels division of United Kingdom-based Hilton Group plc, which had acquired Hilton's international operations in 1987 (the companies had been severed originally in 1966).

History

Founded in 1919 by Conrad Hilton. Hilton bought his first hotel, the Mobley Hotel, in 1919 in Cisco, Texas.

In 1930, Conrad Hilton opened his first high-rise Hilton hotel in El Paso, Texas, which is currently called the Plaza Hotel.

In 1954 Hilton hotels bought the Statler Hotel chain, making it the largest hospitality company in the world.

The Conrad Hilton Hotel in Chicago was scene of the 1968 Democratic Convention riots that occurred across the street in Grant Park. The hotels doors were locked for the first time in its history. The hotel still suffered minor damage as a result of the violence outside as the street level windows gave way under the weight of hundreds of protesters on the street during the ensuing riot.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono held their first Bed-In for Peace between March 25, 1969 and March 31, 1969 at the Amsterdam Hilton in Room 902. This room became a popular tourist destination.

This Amsterdam Hilton hotel has had two notable incidents. In 1991, Dutch drug kingpin Klaas Bruinsma, once a major drug dealer of Europe, was assassinated in front of the building. On July 11, 2001, Dutch artist Herman Brood committed suicide by jumping from the roof.