Marriott Guests Shape Future Hotel Experience

If you want to define the future of hospitality, you have to constantly find ways to stay ahead of trends and anticipate consumer needs. With more than 500 hotel properties in more than 50 countries and territories, Marriott Hotels remains a global lodging leader and flagship brand of Marriott International (www.marriott.com) that has maintained its relevance by always evolving. To answer the needs and wants of consumers in today’s environment, we’re forging more direct and real-time relationships with our guests. Most recently, we decided to turn the traditional route of feedback on its head by offering guests a unique look into the hotel in beta process — welcome M Beta.

The brand is in the midst of a massive transformation, evolving everything from the hotel design to associate training. We’ve been listening to and co-creating with guests and know they value personalized experiences and the change in mind-set that comes from traveling. So we’re providing them with more forward-thinking experiences and aesthetically inspiring spaces that speak to their inventive nature and help spark fresh thinking.

In an effort to push ourselves and the full-service category as a whole, as well as continuing to bring new innovations to travelers, we’ve decided to bring all our latest ideas to life in one location. Thus the idea of M Beta at Charlotte Marriott City Center was born. It’s a reinvented hotel in “Live Beta,” where guests are invited to test the newest and best product and service concepts first-hand and give feedback in real-time, ultimately shaping their future hotel experiences.

Some of the innovations tested through M Beta at Charlotte Marriott City Center include: a new digital on-demand fitness concept offering more than 1,500 fitness classes both in the Flex fitness studio and guest rooms; next-generation collaborative, flexible meeting spaces for all business needs, no matter how big or small; new guest room designs with amenities, including a spa-like bathroom/shower and multi-use/flexible seating; premium mobile options for guests including keyless entry allowing guests to check-in online or via mobile app, circumventing the front desk with the option to print a key if needed. Keyless entry also allows guest access to the fitness space and M Club Lounge.

One unique way we’re gathering guest feedback is through M Beta-branded buttons. Located throughout the hotel to highlight the new on-property innovations, they serve as a live-tally for consumer reaction to new products and services. By simply pushing a Beta Button, guests and visitors share their  “approval” for the corresponding innovation. All Beta Button feedback is tracked and showcased on the hotel’s Beta Boards, brought to life via digital screens throughout the hotel for all to see, as well as on TravelBrilliantly.com.
M Beta will allow us to keep our fingers on the pulse of what guests want as technology and norms change and on how they travel and what they look for in a hotel — all in real-time. M Beta at Charlotte Marriott City Center breaks the mold of typical hotel design. It represents a whole new way of thinking for Marriott Hotels and the industry.

What was your first job?  
Slinging burgers at McDonald’s

Who inspires you?
Bill Marriott: He’s an icon in our industry. Also Phil Knight because of how he’s grown the Nike brand.

What are your hobbies?
Travel and golf  

What technologies excite you?
Self-driving cars

Sage Advice:
Focus on growing the next generation of talent; embrace and support their ideas.

What is your favorite book?
The Fatal Shore. It’s a fascinating read about the early history of my home country: Australia.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
Sydney, Australia.