Chairman Bill Marriott’s Marriott on the Move blog (link - rss) was started first. Then a few months ago Brad Nelson launched Marriott in the Kitchen (link - rss) to highlight the culinary experience. More recently Marriott created a site to highlight the drastic design changes coming to Courtyard Hotels. Go Courtyard (link - rss) features lots of videos showing the design upgrades in action at a hotel in Virginia and a blog written by Brian King. Brian is the Global Brand Manager for Courtyard Hotels.

I used to get most of my news on Marriott from press releases and news items captured from around the web. That’s all changed now that Marriott is publishing via these new media channels.

This club is a very nice facility. There are well appointed locker rooms that have just about everything you need, including towels and wooden lockers that have keys with an elastic lanyard. The service at the pool was excellent with attendants setting up chairs with towels and serving food and drinks from a nice menu. The pool was very friendly for kids because there’s no deep end and one side of the pool has a ramp that you can walk down to wade into the water.

The beach has similar service with attendants who will set up chairs and shuttle food from the pool area. The beach is a bit narrow but I hear this is typical for these parts of Florida. There is also a sit down restaurant on-site for those who want something a little more formal. The family and I enjoyed the poolside service.

Have a look for yourself with some pictures and a video below.

You can pick up more Marriott related news videos on their YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/marriottnews.

This new blog is penned by Brad Nelson. Brad is the vice president culinary and corporate chef of Marriott International. There are four posts on the blog right now and I’m looking forward to future updates. Each of the posts currently on the site has a picture that relates to the story in the post.

Food has been an integral part of my experience while staying at Marriott hotels on business. Since the hotel is usually the place where we start and end the day, breakfast and dinner options are especially important. Every Marriott brand offers something a little different so its good to have a place to get information on trends in cuisine at the various hotels.

For the record, my favorite breakfasts were always at Residence Inn. I like the buffet style service that allows me to pick up a quick and healthy hot meal before starting the day. Breakfast in the concierge lounge at the Marriott brand hotels comes in a close second. Again, nice to have a place where I can grab a quick bit with a variety of fruits and cereals.

For dinner I always preferred the really good room service at the JW Marriott brand hotels. Most of the time I traveled solo so it was nice to be able to have a good dinner in the room where I could work or relax in privacy. The Residence Inn comes in second for dinner options. They don’t serve dinner at the Residence Inn but having a small kitchen is sometimes a good thing. Sometimes I’d prefer an economical and healthy meal rather than a big dinner. A kitchen allows me to exercise that preference.

My brother lives in the Sarasota area and I decided to head down for a visit with my wife and daughter to get a little taste of the sun and sand. I searched for Marriott hotels in the area but couldn’t find anything close to the beach. Then I did a check at the Ritz-Carlton website.

The hotel is on the bay but guests have full access to an awesome beach club a couple of miles away. Check out the aerial view below.

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I plan on taking pictures and a short video or two of the hotel and beach club to share here when I get back.

In short, the view from the Ritz Carlton Battery Park in New York City is blockbuster. And its something you should know about. Even better, you can enjoy it without having to spend big $$$ on a room. The Rise Bar on the 14th floor gives you a taste of the view for the price of a drink or two. Don’t just take my word for it though. Check out the podcast below.

One thing that wasn’t such a good experience was the parking. This particular Marriott is in the middle of a very busy circular traffic pattern. And the hotel is situated on a corner such that you have to pull up into a very short driveway to gain access to the front entrance. I pulled up to the front of the hotel and was greeted by a nice valet who offered to park the car. The valet service was great and welcome since I had been driving for hours. What wasn’t welcome was the $40 per day fee charge for parking the car.

I tend to do a bit of research before embarking on a trip to a new city. I’ll admit that I did very little research prior to this trip to Philadelphia. When heading to a big city it is definitely advisable to call the hotel and inquire about parking options in advance. Questions to ask include: Do you have parking at the hotel? How much does it? Are there other options nearby? What do the other options cost?

It would be nice though if each hotel that had valet parking also has a very visible sign that showed the daily rate as well as a lower cost (or free) option that is close by. This way when I pull up to the hotel I can think for a minute about whether or not I want to pay whatever daily fee they are charging for valet parking.

This tactic goes against the whole upsell nature of the hotel industry. So local hotels might see a drop in valet parking fees collected due to people thinking twice and selecting more reasonably priced options. But I bet it also means that more travelers will be satisfied. There will be fewer surprises at checkout. And more customers will feel good about the fact that the hotel was so upfront about the parking situation. After all, customer satisfaction is something that can’t always be measured in dollars.

It wouldn’t surprise me if such an open parking policy resulted in increased expenditures by travelers in other areas. Marriott has been known to be a leader on lodging issues (like the smoke free lodging policy) that matter to travelers. A more open policy towards parking, especially in city centers, would be another strong differentiator to set Marriott apart from other hotel brands.