Holiday Inn name is now Marriott
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This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from January 2004.
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The change became effective last Friday, 16 January, after the resort's owners, Colombia Sussex, decided to change the brand of the 232-room hotel.
"The owners decided it was best to go with the Marriott brand," confirmed Hotel Manager Simon Austin in an interview with the Caymanian Compass yesterday.
Mr. Austin, markedly excited about the change, explained that the owners wanted to "enhance their product offerings" with things like high speed internet access in all its rooms.
When asked if there was a problem with the Holiday Inn brand, the manager said no. "The owners just wanted to add things to the hotel with the Marriott name," he said.
Although he confirmed that these new additions will be positive changes, Mr. Austin said he is unable to give further details on them at this time. He was also unable to say whether the change came at the end of the company's franchise agreement with Holiday Inn, or if that agreement had been broken to accommodate this move.
According to marriotthotels.com, Marriott International, Inc., has over 2,600 operating units in the US and 68 other countries and territories. The website notes that Marriott Lodging operates and franchises hotels under several brands, including Renaissance Hotels, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn, Ritz Carlton Club, and Courtyard.
Bearing this in mind, Mr. Austin said he doesn't expect the introduction of the Courtyard into the Cayman Islands tourism industry to be a conflict with the current Marriott franchise, Marriott Resort, Grand Cayman.
