Defining Hospitality

Dan Ryan: Today's guest is a licensed architect with the American Institute of architects. He's an industry innovator. He has a keen eye for design. He is the VP of global design for the USA and Canada at Marriot international ladies and gentlemen, RA. Even off. Welcome Rado.
Rado Ivanov: Thank you, Dan. Longtime listener.
First time call . It is, it is. Oh my God. It, it is a real pleasure seeing you and talking to you as always. So thank you for inviting me. And, um, uh, you've been a staple of the, of the hospitality [00:01:00] industry for so long, and I've been a listener to, through your podcast probably from the very beginning. Um, oh, thank you.
Uh, and, and it was such an honor for you to invite me and, uh, um, I look forward to talking to you today. Well, I'm
Dan Ryan: so glad that we were ma we managed to secure some of your valuable time. I know you have so many exciting things that are happening, which will, which I know we're gonna dig into, uh, here in a, in a, in a, in a few minutes, especially with Marrit as like an industry, uh, leader and innovator, um, just all the big moves that you guys are undertaking, and we'll get there in a second, but first, uh, I just wanna let everyone know.
I first. Rado um, I think we were working on the new Marriot HQ hotel, um, in downtown Bethesda, which is right. It's a new tower that's built, uh, right next to where the new headquarters is moving. So from an office park, uh, in Bethesda, down there and working with you, I, I was furnishing, I was working, I [00:02:00] I'm working with Berman FA we furnished all the furniture there, but, um, it was just a pleasure to get to know you through that.
And just, you know, you're friends with a lot of my mutual friends down there, uh, at the headquarters. And it's just been cool to get to know you and also the promotion that you've just received. Um, I I'd love to learn more about that because it seems that as with all these big moves from the office Parker, like the mothership as I, I refer to it, absolutely in Bethesda to downtown, it's a radical shift.
Um, and it didn't just happen overnight. It was a very intentional. There was a lot of thought, a lot of leadership. Um, and I think a lot of it was so value driven to create that move, which to me is just like a mind blowing move, um, and a real surprising move, but it was a very methodical, uh, and I think value driven.
Transformation. So why don't you tell us a little bit about it? Because like, I think we all wanna know [00:03:00] what the new Marriot headquarters is gonna be like and what does it all
Rado Ivanov: mean? Absolutely. So you're, you're absolutely correct. This was a process that, uh, I believe started in 2016 or 2015, so it's been almost seven years.
Um, and I was involved with it at the end of, or, or, or mid 2018. I got involved. Um, and it was supposed to be just a little side project that turned out into a full-time job, but that's a different story. The point is the search. The idea started in about 2015 and we started searching for a new site for the new headquarters.
It was at the time AR Sorenson's vision of upgrading the mayor, the mayor's headquarters to a location, to an experience that we all expect. From an office building. So it wasn't just about, um, getting just like hospitality. I [00:04:00] mean, offices have evolved so much and we're talking three pandemic. We're not even touching the pandemic yet, which happened during our construction and it's, we can spend three POS, but three episodes on this one alone.
But, um, what, what our's vision was, um, we are very for, for those of you and for those of the listeners who are, um, who have been to the current headquarters, uh, it's a very suburban campus. Um, it's, uh, it's, it's very horizontal. We have about 110,000 square P uh, uh, 110,000 square feet per floor in that building very dark, uh, floor plate by the nature of the, of the design of that building, surrounded by a sea of parking and.
And, and bordered by a few highways. So from there, we are going to a completely different location. We are in the middle of downtown Bethesda, a block away from Metro, a block away from, uh, [00:05:00] a bus hub. Um, we also have somewhere between 40 and 50, uh, food and beverage venues within 10 minutes of walking, um, distance from the headquarters.
We have, uh, the capital Crescent bike path, uh, is a few blocks away as well. Um, and we went from this horizontal structure to a 22 story tower, um, which is old glass filled with daylight, not a single office, including our CEO's. Touches the exterior of the building. This is, this is one of the most fascinating, um, features in the building, actually every single office, including the CEOs and the president's office Tonys and Stephanie's offices, they both are interior offices.
So, um, it was, it was a radical change, but it was a purposeful change. It was, yeah, it was a, it was a sought after change as
Dan Ryan: well. So, so what I find that [00:06:00] very, um, I find it very interesting and, and, and shocking in a way, because mostly, you know, you hear about the executive offices being the corner suite at a top floor.
What was the thinking behind making them interior? And are, are they on the top floor? The, the C-suite
Rado Ivanov: offices? No, actually they're not. And that was part of the vision as well. Being a Highrise building. Uh, we have a transfer floor. We have a low price elevator bank and a Highrise elevator bank. The transfer floor is where the executive offices are.
The idea and the vision of the executives at the, at the time of the, of the conception of the design was that we didn't want to have the executive floor as a sterile space that nobody goes there and you go there only if you're in trouble or, um, if you really, really somebody important. So. The executives and, and, uh, the leadership team, they wanted to [00:07:00] animate that space.
They wanted people to go there and to have to go there even without having to do anything with the executive floor. So not only it's in the middle of the building, but it also has a miniature sky lobby. We call it the, the, the hub, um, which includes our it support, uh, desk. It includes, uh, lounge space. It includes, uh, selfer grab and go.
And it's all outside within literally 50 feet from, from the CEO's office. So, um, that was on purpose and that freed up the top floor, which was our next challenge who goes on the top floor. Um, because in addition to having the best view, nobody's arguing that, um, it also is very symbolic. So we went back and forth and, um, Lin our, uh, uh, chief HR offices, uh, officer, uh, actually came up with the idea to, um, [00:08:00] Create a learning center and it's called the JW ma associate growth center.
And instead of being a work floor and having a single department on that floor, we actually at the top of the building on the 21st floor, we have a space that's dedicated to learning to growth, to development that will be used by merit associates from around the world. Not just people that are based at HQ, but on property people, people that come for training people who come for, uh, team building.
And it's built as a conference center with everything from, uh, pantries and support, uh, uh, spaces to, uh, large rooms, breakout spaces, pre-function space. Uh, so it can be, it can accommodate, um, many different types of, uh, meetings and groups and even multiple groups at the same time.
Dan Ryan: That's shocking to me because.
I've Al I've, I've actually never heard of that. [00:09:00] And I think it's amazing. And a Testament to the amount of learning and growth and mentorship that happens in every large company. It's the most important thing to any company. Right? How do you bring up the next round of leaders? Absolutely. And to put that above everyone else, that's not just symbolically, but physically it's, uh, it's quite a Testament.
That's a huge step from anything I've heard of. Have you heard of anything like that anywhere else? I mean,
Rado Ivanov: I, we, when we started the design of the building, we actually, um, went and visited a lot of big, uh, company, single occupant office buildings, just to see what we like. Just as much as seeing things that we definitely didn't wanna do at me.
And it was, it was amazing to, and these are all very, very large companies, um, all over the world. They're, it's either [00:10:00] their world or their us or north American headquarters that we visited. Um, similar size to ours. We're about 750,000 square feet above ground. Uh, and with the underground parking were over a million square feet.
Uh, so not that many companies have buildings of that size, but the ones that we visited, it was amazing. The range of features and, and connections and layouts that you would see. So it was, it was, it was kind of learning on the go, but we also wanted to do something completely different. We wanted to not just build an office building.
We wanted to build a home. We wanted to make, we wanted to put the mayor so, and heart into the new building. So it went way. Let's have a beautiful office building because there are many of those, but what makes it the mayor home? What makes it the world's largest hospitality company headquarters? Um, and there was a lot of thought that went into this.
And actually, this was [00:11:00] one of the reason, uh, Jeff V our, our, um, uh, vice president of, uh, of global design strategies. And I were brought onto the project in 2018. And this was literally the test that we were given, which later on grew up, uh, into different things. But, uh, you have to make this, the home of the world's largest company.
And it's like, okay, well, all right, how do we do that? Um,
Dan Ryan: so Rado, as I, as I'm hearing you say that there's been so many conversations recently that I've had, um, where. Friends or guests that I'm talking to work at these larger companies, more on the architectural design side. Um, but they're the hospitality little silo within this big company.
Right. But all these other projects that are happening, whether it's office or aviation or wellness or whatever, they're bringing in the hospitality folks [00:12:00] to so that they could take these other projects and look at them through a hospitality lens. Right. And I'm what I'm hearing you say. Obviously Marriot is the biggest hospitality company in the world.
Um, what were the challenges and outcomes in taking this big class? A beautiful new office tower and looking at it through a hospitality, hospitality lens. Like, I guess before you answer that, how, how do you look at what hospitality means? Number one, and number two, how did that filter. Apply to this new, amazing move downtown that you're doing.
Rado Ivanov: It's hospitality to me is an experience then, um, we humans, we have, we have the ability of, putting our finger on, anything that we, don't like, we are very good at pointing with. I don't like, uh, I don't [00:13:00] like sour. I don't like sweet. I don't like light. I don't like green. I don't like something, but if you ask people what makes them happy and what they like and what creates a good experience for them.
They can't always define it. Mm-hmm I think if a space, a location, a, a, a building, if it, if it feels good, if it makes us feel good, it's probably because it's providing an experience for all the five senses. It's not just the visual, it's not just the proportions, but we have to take into account everything else that's happening.
The tactile, the sounds, the smell, um, the, the, the taste, I mean, we go to restaurants and it's not that impressive of a designer space, but the, the, the food is so amazing. And we kept coming back to the same place. It might be a hole in the wall somewhere. So it's about combining this, these five senses into an experience, [00:14:00] as in my opinion, what creates great hospitality and hospitality as an industry is what makes the world the, a smaller place.
Through the power of, travel. So getting that experience and expanding it around the world, this is what makes our industry, and this is what we are trying to bring into an office building. Okay. Does that answer your question?
Dan Ryan: It does. So now, so now if you look at, so I, when you guys, I think in 2018, you mentioned Jeff, Jeff, and you were brought on to help kind of lead this transition into the new building or help design the new building.
Were you two going to all these other class, a single occupant office buildings and seeing what you like and what you don't like? Were you like, was it an ongoing trip of, of seeing what was happening?
Rado Ivanov: No. Everything had has to come to an end in design as much as little as we all like it as designers and architects, [00:15:00] but eventually, no, we did the tour and then we, we sat, we sat down and we sat, um, None of this is actually what we're looking for.
We need something different because, okay,
Dan Ryan: so that, sorry to cut you off. Cuz that, to me, that to me is really interesting. Cuz I heard you say a couple times, like it's okay. We all like, what's good and we're drawn to what, what what's good. But then to also I also feel, and I think you do too, is sometimes the things that we don't like are also the most informative.
Right? Cause it's, you're so repelled by that, that it's like it puts you off in a new direction. Right. Um, so as you're looking at all these things, if you could generalize what we', if the top three things you did not want it to be, what did you not want? This new thing to be?
Rado Ivanov: We didn't want, uh, the space to feel impersonal.
We wanted people to feel comfortable. [00:16:00] Um, the scale of everything that we were putting in was extremely important and it varies so dramatically through the building, um, that it's, um, mind boggling. For example, our main lobby is almost 40 feet, uh, total space. So you can fit a, a four story building in the lobby.
We can fit one of our, uh, prototypical hotel designs in the lobby um, and then we have workforce and, and, um, huddle spaces and phone rooms that have eight foot ceiling, but that's a small space for two people to sit and have a conversation, so completely different experience. So the scale and the, um, uh, the space needed to feel appropriate for the functions that we were putting in.
The other big thing is we have 95 years of hospitality history. With Mr. Marriot starting the company in, in 1927 as a root beer stand in, in, in Washington, DC. [00:17:00] Um, for the last 95 years, we have a very rich histories that we, we, we wanted to bring into the building without turning the building into a museum.
So how do you bring that history in what are the touch points? And it's not, and it's not peppered all throughout the floors, but we have. Um, um, surprise points and I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna disclose all of them because I want everybody to come and, and see for themselves. But some of them are actually, even before the security in the, in the space of the, of the lobby, that's open to the public.
We also have a coffee shop. That's open to the public as part of our ground floor experience. And we invite people and the general public to come and see. And we have something that we call the cabinet of curiosities. And that's a wall that features many is all about people and it features not items that are related to the hotels [00:18:00] necessarily.
They're all related to the people working at those hotels. We have 800,000. Associates around the world that, that where the mayor batch every day, uh, to work. So when, what do you, how do you, how do you present, how do you represent those people and how do you represent their commitment and their history and their backgrounds?
Um, and, and, and how, how do you make a company out of this? So the cabinet of curiosities has everything from name badges, from people from around the world to key cards that were used in properties around the world to the follow me bike that's from that famous picture at the twin bridges Marriot, which was the first property that Mr.
Mart built back in 1937. Um, The follow me bike that was after the drive through registration. And then you have somebody on a bike and it takes you to your parking [00:19:00] space. And so we have that bike as well in that space, along with some more interactive portions of the exhibit, but the end, we have a portion.
Um, one of the panels in the cabinet is dedicated to postcards. And these are postcards that people that they feature merit properties, but they're not traditional postcards. These are postcards that were created through. Um, uh, there was a little competition that they announced and all merit employees from around the world were able to submit a design for a postcard.
And the only requirement was to feature a merit property and it didn't need to be a photograph. It didn't need to be a piece of art. It could be computer generated, it could be, um, hand drawn. It could be watercolored photograph anything you want. In a postcard format and they, they in, I think it was opened only for two, for a two week period.
They received over 900 [00:20:00] submissions. I think it was 960 submissions and we needed 16. So they selected the first 16 and they will be printed there. And those pulse cards will be available for people to just take and, and mail from the merit headquarters to their friends, to themselves, to whoever they want.
So that's another thing of, of bringing people and bringing the, the, the, the, the gift and the talent that everybody has into the headquarters in a, in a kind of creative way and an interactive way for everybody to experience.
Dan Ryan: So, as, as I'm hearing you speak about, um, Just the talent and the people and just this leadership growth.
Right. I've you've mentioned this a couple of times. Um, one of the things that I've heard from other conversations, um, at Marriot in particular, um, is that not everyone in these positions of leadership come from hospitality, [00:21:00] they they're leaders from all different, amazing segments and silos and industries.
And it seems like this big, um, I don't know, just collaboration and melting of ideas and collisions of ideas. Um, from your experience, I know you've been at myriad a while, but like, how do you, how do you see all the people sitting in all these seats and these, these great ideas and, you know, having 30 plus brands come together and just all this continual growth and leadership development, like, how do.
Describe that to me, because to me that is also just fascinating to keep track of everything and to grow and to be the biggest.
Rado Ivanov: So it it's, it's, it's very true. It's, uh, um, I am amazed daily. I, and I, and I don't exaggerate every day. Um, I learn about new, um, entire departments that I didn't know existed in there.
Not let alone [00:22:00] people, but. People's collective and individual talent at me is unbelievable. And, um, uh, it's applicable to the entire, uh, company, but, uh, taking, uh, uh, my department as a, as a representative, uh, uh, uh, sample of it. Um, our day job is to help our ownership groups and, um, consultants and, and, uh, help 'em build a successful own strategy.
Um, you know, uh, profit making project hotels somewhere, right? Mm-hmm um, and the complexity of each property, the challenges, um, the, the, uh, unforeseen circumstances that we all have to deal with, it takes it way above and beyond design above and beyond architecture. It's about, um, it takes an enormous skill, uh, to allow every [00:23:00] single one of.
To adapt to each of the 30 or 40 or 50 projects that we typically run each one of us. Um, and to handle it at any given time. So most of the people come from traditional architecture and design background, but not always the case, some of some, some folks in our group, for example. Um, and they don't always come from hospitality because as you said earlier, Uh, these swim lanes are no longer, uh, clear.
We, it used to be office and then you have a hotel and then you have a restaurant and then you have a multi-family building. All of this is now together. We don't have lobbies anymore. We have great rooms. We don't have restaurants. We have lounges. We don't have, um, uh, just a, a workspace. We have, um, an experience, uh, of, of hospitality even within the lobby of the building, their couches, their, uh, the [00:24:00] individual farm chairs, boots and so on.
So because of this, having people from different industries is actually natural to me. But, um, you would find even within our group, you would find folks that have. Offices, uh, exclusively in their past or they have done, um, uh, or they have worked multifamily, but they all bring something to the hospitality industry into, to the, to the world of, of Marriott that makes the hotels better.
Um, I have a, a friend and a colleague, um, uh, David Aman. He started as the front desk clerk at the me in Puerto Rico. Um, and he's now an architect and he runs a lot of our Caribbean and Latin American projects, uh, um, uh, from the headquarters here in Bethesda, 15, 20 years later. Um, so you have people that have built their career from a doorman or, [00:25:00] or a housekeeping, uh, um, attend.
All the way through managing a continent of, of projects or properties. So it's fascinating and it's happened and it happens in every single department of the building. So that's why people are always first me and it's, and it's very important to the, to the company culture, um, to have that, um, opportunity to have the growth and hence the growth center on the 21st floor makes a lot more sense.
Dan Ryan: Yes. And then, okay, so then that also comes back to the vision of a correct.
Rado Ivanov: That is correct. Yeah.
Dan Ryan: So I know, you know, as, as a, such an incredible force within our industry and, you know, obviously he's no longer with us, but it is still, his vision is still living on, in so many different ways. [00:26:00] Um, if you. I want to like that vision of you going to all of these different single occupant buildings.
Okay. If you think about the vision that Arnie had set in place back in 2015 or something, and now you guys are on the verge of moving in, like in the next week, or I think week or two, um, depending on when this airs, um, if you envision another group like yourself going AR that was going around to look at all the things that they all the different single occupant buildings, when someone else is gonna do their own building.
And then they come look at your building. What do you think that they would walk away feeling like how, how would that impact and inspire them?
Rado Ivanov: Well, I, I hope it will. I know we're getting a lot of requests for people to tour the building, even if, if, even if, when it was, uh, [00:27:00] uh, still under construction. Um, um, and, and our policy was to wait for the building to open before we bring our partners and, and friends in, um, because just like, uh, a home, we wanna show the best of the best and not.
Halfway through construction. So, uh, with that set, I hope that they would walk away after, after seeing the building and after being able to experience all the amenities and, and, uh, the features that we have, uh, built into the design. I think they, I hope that they would walk away with a feeling of, um, hospitality.
I hope that they would walk away with a feeling of, uh, scale of great design of warm design. Uh, we did use, uh, very, uh, um, uh, warm materials throughout the building. It's, it's not the typical office finishes that you would see. We have a lot of wood. We have a lot of exposed concrete. We have [00:28:00] open ceilings.
It is very, um, it's not industrial looking and, and I can't wait to tour you, uh, as our guest of course, but it's, it's more. Um, having the openness and the welcomeness and , I, I hope that these guys would walk away with something that, uh, they can, uh, learn from, and they can, uh, uh, aim at, um, uh, building into their future, uh, headquarters or, or office buildings.
Dan Ryan: Yeah. And, and part of me feels that what I'm hoping when you tour me around and I walk around, is I just, I I'm expecting, and I know, and I know I won't be let down. This much better fusion between hospitality and office and just experience. Um, I know I just heard so much about it and I'm, and I'm so excited.
And also if you think about it from a [00:29:00] recruiting perspective, um, I know that I've had a lot of friends over the years that have applied and got very far down the road, um, to where, like they had a job offer in front of them to go work at Marriot, which is like, oh my God, this is amazing. Like, I can't like, I'm so honored.
They saw value in me and all this. And they're like, I don't know if I could go work in suburban Bethesda. Like it's just hard to get to and blah, blah, blah, which in reality, it's like a five minute bus ride or five minute shuttle ride from the existing Metro station. But whatever everyone wants convenience.
But when I think about the, the handful of people that I know that got to that point at, at the previous HQ, I think that you're basically taking that away. A hundred percent by being a block from the Metro. Like how are you guys looking at that from a, from a people and recruiting perspective?
Rado Ivanov: Well, that was definitely a, a huge consideration and, [00:30:00] and a, a, a big, um, push behind finding a location, close to Metro, close to public transport.
Uh, we have had issues that, um, you were mentioning with people, literally refusing job offers, um, because of the location. Yeah. Um, I mean, uh, younger people, uh, they prefer not to own a car. They prefer to take published transportation. They prefer to walk. They prefer to ride their scooters. Um, that was not quite possible with the, with the current location of the old headquarters.
Uh, the new location is. All of the above and then some, and not only that, but people are paying more and more attention to sustainability and building efficiency and green features. And we can go on and on and on of every certification that we've gotten for the new, and we're still to get some of them, uh, for the new headquarters, everything from lead gold for [00:31:00] corn shell to, uh, we're still waiting on the lead gold for commercial interior.
We have, uh, uh, Fitwell certification, uh, on, uh, um, as a target as well, which is, um, a lot, has a lot more to do with the experiences within the building, whether it's, uh, healthy food choices, uh, clean air, clean water, um, uh, fitness, uh, uh, facilities and so on. So all of these things are something that people, um, expect from office buildings nowadays, and they would make their choice.
Uh, based on whether this employer or this company offers any or all of those, or they would go to the next guy over, uh, it just, how it works. Money is not everything. Uh, and salary is important. I know, but, uh,
Dan Ryan: but it's an extra benefit it's it's like, uh, it's a tangible benefit that not, that's not necessarily.[00:32:00]
Cash related, but it's also just like lifestyle related look.
Rado Ivanov: Absolutely. I mean, I mean, our main,
Dan Ryan: I was just gonna say for me, moving to Connecticut, you know, I still have an office in the city, but like I just miss walking around a lot more. It's not that I can't just go walk here, but I like walking around other people.
I like the density. I miss it. So I'm super excited for, um, this new chapter that, that you guys are doing, but I'm sorry I had to cut you off there. What were you about to say? No, no, no,
Rado Ivanov: I was, I was gonna say, I mean, even, even if you look at some of the amenities that we've had, we, we we've designed into the new building.
Our, our fitness center is one of the best fitness centers I've I've been to ever, uh, I mean we have 14 foot ceilings and we have, uh, floor to ceiling windows, and literally the latest and the, the greatest from fitness equipment perspective from our partners, uh, the three big, uh, fitness manufacturers, um, For our daycare.
We have probably [00:33:00] the, the best daycare in, in town. We have 8,000 square foot outdoor playground on the third floor. Completely covered. Protected. No way.
Dan Ryan: Yep. True story. Okay. So wait, that sounds amazing. So wait, let me, so let's say, you know, my kids are a little bit older now, but let's say I was working there and I had.
You know, my younger kids who weren't yet in grammar school, so to speak maybe before kindergarten, can I just bring them there to daycare? How does that work?
Rado Ivanov: Yep. Uh, just like any other daycare, but it's only, uh, it's only available to merit associates and it's a state of the art facility that we've designed, uh, with our partners at LER.
Um, we have everything from stem rooms and labs and classrooms and, uh, uh, but the, by far the kid and me, the outdoor playground is something because it is a, it is outdoor space, but it's covered, it's literally usable year round because it's [00:34:00] covered, it's got fans on the ceiling. Um, it's got outdoor equipment lights and two different groups for the younger kids.
And those that are a little bit older. So they're different slides, higher slides, lower slides, all of that, uh, swings and so on. So, uh, do you
Dan Ryan: have that right now? Uh, at the, at the existing HQ we
Rado Ivanov: have. A daycare. Um, no,
Dan Ryan: but it's nothing, it doesn't nearly compare to this. No, from a facilities perspective. Wow.
Rado Ivanov: So that's huge. One of, one of, one of many features that, that we have in the new building, um, what else we have, uh, the 21st century version of the hot shop, uh, that would be our cafeteria, which is, uh, um, uh, Very well designed, uh, very elevated. It has everything from, um, international station to pre-ordering to mobile ordering.
So you can just go and, uh, pick it up. It will be waiting in a, in a, uh, [00:35:00] designated cubby. Um, it's all self pay. You don't have to wait for anything there. Check out stations throughout the space and you go, and you, and of course there are line stations as well, where you can order a burger and have it cooked for you and wait there, or have a salad made for you.
Dan Ryan: And so I, I actually, I have a question because I don't remember exactly when it was because we have this two year, um, pandemic, mind,
Rado Ivanov: everything is last year in my book. I keep saying it's last year. It's now it was three years ago.
Dan Ryan: yeah, exa. So it was either three or four or five years ago. I don't remember when, but the ex uh, the, the existing HQ.
Did a complete lobby transformation, right? Mm-hmm where, and I thought like some pretty incredible and innovative experiments with kind of glass collaboration rooms, huddle rooms, um, [00:36:00] just other breakout and meeting rooms with really cool teleconferencing capabilities. But super, almost it reminded me of like walking into the star Trek enterprise at one point.
Right. It was just, it was really cool. And like all that stuff was really activated and people, they were always, at least when I was there, they seemed to always be full and used. Was that almost as a, as a concurrent laboratory for what you would apply to the, to the new HQ, or did that exist separately?
Like how did those, did any of that inform what's happening at the
Rado Ivanov: new HQ? It, it, it was not intentional, but yes, it did inform what was happening at the new HQ. And probably I'm gonna, um, uh, uh, air some, some laundry here, but, uh, I'm gonna mention it still what we did on the first floor of fun wood. Our, our old headquarters was we renovated and we created all these spaces, which were beautiful meeting rooms, beautiful, active meeting rooms, spaces, where you can be on a treadmill and have four people or two people against each [00:37:00] other and talk while walking and so on and, uh, treadmill desks, right?
Not mm-hmm fitness treadmill, but, um, so all of this was great, but it was one of six floors. So what was happening. Everybody wanted to have a meeting in the Beda room on the first floor. Uh, but we had 4,000 people and 14 seats in that room. So that was, that was challenging unless you book it three months in advance, probably weren't gonna get that room.
Um, and, and this was something that we, um, that became very purposeful in the new headquarters design, uh, with our partners at Goler. When we started laying out the floors, what we did. Was actually, uh, making sure that every floor now that the footprint of the floor went from 110,000 square feet to, uh, 28 ish 30.
Maybe it depends on what you count within the footprint. [00:38:00] Now, every floor has something we call the south hub and this is a space and, and we call it the south hub cuz it's facing south. Not, not all that creative, but, um, it. A series of five meeting rooms that are very elevated, elevated finishes, elevated AV experience, built in microphones, all of that.
And it happens on every floor. Every work floor would have those nice rooms that we were fighting. We were all fighting for at the old headquarters. So, and then the little huddle spaces that we had on the ground floor, these little Banque that you can have a one-on-one with somebody along the corridor as, as you're coming through.
If you remember, uh, that, um, same thing was hap is happening now on every single floor of, of the new headquarters. So you have these informal spaces. Um, and then when the pandemic happened and we had to reevaluate the design, we were halfway through [00:39:00] construction. So our solution was chances are not, everybody's gonna come back to the office.
Monday through Friday eight to five, right? When people come to the office, they'll probably come to collaborate. They'll come to talk to each other. They'll come to have, uh, time with their team. So we took out about 27, 20 8% of the workstations that we have designed in the open floor plan. We took them out and wow.
And we replace them with collaboration furniture. Some of it is more formal, more like a communal table with power, with, uh, uh, um, uh, data, uh, connectivity and everything. And some of it is very informal. It's literally this, this plywood, uh, modular pieces that you can move around and stack and create anty at there if you want.
And just have a, a meeting with 10 people. And of course we have the technology, um, all, uh, wireless. So we have [00:40:00] this, uh, uh, Microsoft surface. Um, um, um, touch screens that are literally a, a, a surface computer on steroids because they're, I don't know, they're 70 inches or so, and they are on a mobile cart and they have their own internal battery and everything else, and you plug in them overnight and then you unplug them in the morning and you can roll them out all day and you have a big screen that you can put anywhere on the floor.
Dan Ryan: So that was, that was another question of mine. Okay. Cause that's super amazing because to, to have the foresight, to think about that, that, okay, it's gonna be a hybrid situation or more of a hybrid situation. There will be a lot more collaboration when people are in and then hearing you talk about the, all these technological advances.
It, what, how challenging was the technology to get all that, to integrate with the new space and the layout? Because I'm assuming none [00:41:00] of that stuff is really. Off the shelf, as far as from booking the rooms that you want, how do you just make sure everything is working in those? I can't even imagine the, like that's the golden, the programming behind it.
And, and is that, and did everything you learn in doing that? Is that gonna, is, are you taking any of that into your hotel operations as well? Cause I, you must, that must have been an incredible
Rado Ivanov: laboratory. We definitely learned a few lessons along the way, and you are absolutely correct as cutting edge as everything is.
Um, just like with your phone, nothing works from the first time. Um, so it, there was a learning curve. There was some back and forth in terms of finding the right balance of being high tech enough without being on the, on the bleeding edge of, of, of, uh, new technology. Because we're multiplying everything by 750,000 square feet.
It's not, [00:42:00] if it's one room that we're talking about, we can experiment all we want, uh, we'll replace that TV or touchscreen or whatever technology we put in that room, uh, with the next one that comes in tomorrow. And it's all good, but hopefully we have to last a few years with the technology that we have now that we've built in now.
And it was, it was critical for us to find that bright, middle of not being so crazy high tech that anything hardly works, but to have the capabilities without, without, um, having the, the, the being, being the absolute, uh, first company, uh, incorporating a, a given piece of the technology and the, the biggest challenge.
It was integrating all the different vendors. It all sounds good. It's like, no, it just, we're just mirroring my phone on the TV. Yeah. But you have an iPhone. I have an Android. Somebody else has a Google phone, third one and [00:43:00] it, and it's not. And it just, and it goes on and on and on and it goes. Mac versus PC laptops and so on, everything has to work the same way everything has to work, um, seamlessly.
So when you start and then you have, of course the technology in terms of hardware that is in the rooms or in the space, whether it's a monitor, whether it's a microphone, whether it's a, a wireless touchscreen somewhere to control the, the, the, the blinds, or to control the lights or to control the, the volume of the, of the speaker.
All of these things have to, they come from different manufacturers, they have to talk to each other. They have to talk to the elevators, which are also smart elevators. I mean, everything in the building is designed to talk to each other, but the challenge with this is we gotta make sure they talk to each other.
yeah.
Dan Ryan: And then how so in, in learning from that, and I'm sure as like all 3000 people, plus that move in there, you know, you're, there's [00:44:00] gonna be a learning curve and, and what, and, and all that good stuff of when you, you know, you're first starting it up. How I, I, as getting everything to talk and be seamless in a way as a business traveler too.
It's also frustrating for me when I check into a room like, ah, like what is going on? Did you take any learnings from, from developing HQ? To the guest room experience or, or a future guest room experience that might be coming.
Rado Ivanov: Absolutely. So, um, in addition to actually learning from the office space, we're building our innovation space within the HQ and the hotel across the street where we'll have our model rooms, which we currently have at the basement, um, in, uh, at Fernwood at the old, uh, headquarters.
And we are continuing to develop these technologies and test them in an actual hotel room, not an actual hotel room, but in a hotel room, mockup and hotel room environment. And [00:45:00] that's something that's, that's ongoing. That's not never gonna stop. And it has, I mean, the, the headquarters project is helping.
But it's not the sole contributor to developing that technology. We're constantly looking whether it's, uh, mobile key, whether it's mobile check in, whether it's self check in, whether it's, um, uh, technology for ordering food for, uh, uh, getting other information when you're on property and so on.
Everything is, uh, everything is, is getting developed in a way that would provide the experience that the guests are expecting when they stay at one of our properties.
Dan Ryan: I think another exciting thing is that you're gonna have your new headquarters, the, the class, a office tower, but then there's also the new HQ hotel across the street.
So it seems to me like all of the different hotel ownership, groups, management companies, everyone who's coming in to see and meet and collaborate. They're gonna actually get to stay in [00:46:00] your hotel. That's right there too. And then I forgot you mentioned the, uh, the, the model rooms that you'll be having.
Someone was telling me, I think it's like a secret, there's gonna be like a, a secret floor, which will be like a laboratory in the, in the hotel where you'll build out the model rooms so that everything is gonna be right there. And so convenient and dense to walk us through that.
Rado Ivanov: Yeah. I know no pressure right on the hotel.
um, it's true. So we were super careful with the hotel when we had, uh, a great partner in, uh, Bernstein, uh, companies, uh, who are the owners of the, of the hotel next door to the headquarters. And as you said, then it was. Everybody and their brother was involved in this hotel from a management perspective, from HQ perspective, from brand perspective, to make sure that this is a property that's, um, exemplary that, um, meets every single brand standard that we currently have for the Mart brand.[00:47:00]
And it is a hotel it's not, uh, it's not one of our other 29 brands. Uh, but, um, the challenge was, um, we wanted to be innovative at the same time. We wanted to stay within the guidelines of, of our design standards. So what if we do something that's really interesting, but. It doesn't meet the standards and now the next ownership group is gonna come and visit and, and we're trying to convince them to build something on strategy and they would say, well, you didn't do it in the hotel across the street.
Why, why should I do it? So, so we, we had to balance all of this. So having the innovation rooms within the hotel gives us that extra opportunity to actually experiment. And it's the, the global design strategies folks and, and my colleagues, uh, at the other end of the floor who would be running those rooms as they have at Fernwood.
And they [00:48:00] will, um, uh, keep developing, um, they will continue to develop the, uh, each of the brands that we are representing in, in those, uh, spaces. And maybe a new strategy comes up for the next version of the AC. That's gonna get built out. It's gonna get tested. It's gonna get, um, uh, um, You know, they'll kick the tires and make sure that everything works the way it's supposed to work.
The best part about this and something that's really exciting is unlike the motor rooms that we currently have, or that we had at the old headquarters, the new ones are actually fully plumed, fully powered they're functioning rooms. Somebody can stay, they can go and take a shower. They can brush their teeth.
They can see if the, the bathroom's good enough for makeup. Um, or if the bed is soft enough, or if the light through the window is too [00:49:00] much, or if the curtains are not, uh, blacking out, uh, enough light. So they would be actual functioning rooms. Oh,
Dan Ryan: no way. So if, if I were developing a hotel, a new AC or a courtyard or whatever from your 30 brands, I could actually stay in the latest generation of that room in the hotel.
And I could spend the night in there. Well,
Rado Ivanov: technically you can, I'm not sure it would be something that I'm booking the Bethesda downtown hotel. And I end up staying at a port, uh, room. Uh, it's not, it won't work that way, but we definitely will be able to put focus groups or ownership groups or people that we want to get, um, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, feedback
Dan Ryan: from.
So, oh yeah, I didn't, I didn't mean the general public. I meant I, if I were gonna be developing a, you name, the Marrit brand, right. And I was the owner and I was like, oh, I just have questions. I want to really experience it. I, I, in theory, what would [00:50:00] possible? Wow, that's really cool. Oh, wow. That that's amazing.
Cause right now in the basement on Fern in Fernwood, It, I guess they're not plumed, are they? No, they're just there, but they're not, it's still a good approximation of the room. Like you really get the feel for what it is, but then to, to actually make it livable is pretty awesome.
Rado Ivanov: Yep. It's a completely different story.
Because as I said, you can experience one of the five senses in the current rooms versus staying in the new rooms. You get to experience the other four as well, right?
Dan Ryan: Yeah. And that comes back to the beginning of hospitality. It's tying in all the senses. Yeah. So in a way, you know, you're, you, weren't getting the complete picture and now this whole move downtown, you're able to tie everything together and get the complete picture.
That's
Rado Ivanov: the idea.
Dan Ryan: Okay. So let's pretend you guys are open right now. And what is [00:51:00] exciting you most about everyone's there everyone's working. Things are happening as you're sitting there in your new HQ. You're bring you're, I don't know. Everything is humming the right way. What's exciting from that moment.
What's exciting. You most about the future of what, what your experience at Marriot will be
Rado Ivanov: for me personally? Um, I'm I, in terms of moving into the new building, I, if we were trying to time it, uh, we couldn't have picked, uh, a, a better timeframe because with where we've been for the last two and a half years with everybody staring at, at small pictures on the screen and seeing each other once every six months, um, coming into the new building, builds that excitement within the team and within the company as a whole, because here's our new home here are completely different experiences than what we [00:52:00] had at the old headquarters.
It would bring the people together and I think it would energize not. Um, the, the individuals, but also would bring new energy within the teams. And I think that's something that's abso absolutely, uh, exciting and it's, and it will lead to new, um, achievement to, to innovation, to more, um, uh, collaborative environment.
And I'm, I'm excited about that as far as, um, me and, and, and our team. My, my most exciting project is always the next one. So I look forward to our new builds that are coming. I look forward to some great conversions that we have. I knew I look forward to, uh, getting some of our new, uh, uh, brand standards, uh, implemented into the next, uh, uh, property we, we developed [00:53:00] and, uh, Mostly seeing and working with people in 3d versus the screen is what I'm looking forward to.
Oh
Dan Ryan: yeah. I can. I mean, that's gonna be fantastic and I it's really true the opening and just kind of staying on target with all the construction and getting it to where, you know, it appears the world is back to somewhat normal. Um, and to be opening this, I don't know this, this new headquarters or it's really the heartbeat of Marriott really, but to be able to have this open for the world's largest hospitality company right now at this time, I mean that really, the timing couldn't be better.
So it's almost as if, uh, with Arnie's vision took all of this into account and then here we are, and it's all happening.
Rado Ivanov: I know. I know. And it, I think the last time you [00:54:00] were, you were down here in Bethesda, even the Plaza between the building and the, uh, and the hotel next door was not complete. Um, so I can't wait to have you over and experience that outdoor space as well, which is, uh, which is beautiful.
And it's, it's a pedestrian Plaza. It's kind of, it's kind. Intimate, but it's also connecting to very major, uh, streets within, uh, downtown Bethesda. And, uh, it has the outdoor space for the hotel, uh, lobby bar and restaurant. And it has the outdoor space for the HQ coffee shop. And they all have this folding partitions that open up on nice days like today.
And it becomes this absolutely activated space, um, by even even people that are not, you can see sometimes I would sit and watch people and you can see them walking down one side or the other, and they see the Plaza and they weren't [00:55:00] going that way by any means of the, uh, by any stage of the imagination.
They all 90 degree turn and straight into the Plaza. They start wandering around. So it, it works. It, it works. And, and we, uh, We've done a few things, right? I think at least based on these early experiences and I can't wait to get everybody in the building, um, and, uh, get the feedback and I'm pretty sure it will be a living project will be able to improve further, but transitioning merit from not simply being.
The world's largest, um, uh, hotel company, but also being the world's favorite travel company. Um, I hope that the, the, the new headquarters will have a big role into that.
Dan Ryan: Yeah. And just so everyone knows all 3000 people are gonna move in day one. Yeah.
Rado Ivanov: Monday morning. yeah. Imagine that damn right. Like what can possibly go wrong with that?
No, it is, uh, we have [00:56:00] a very strong, um, um, uh, change management team, uh, within, within, uh, the company. And, uh, they have worked with every single department, uh, in the building. To, um, we have these, uh, move champions. Um, those are folks that are leading the, the, uh, each of the departments from a, from a transition perspective.
And they get coordinated in terms of, uh, what department moves, uh, on what they, and it would be a process that would continue over six or seven weeks before all three, all 3000 people are into the building. And then throughout that time, we have people that are, um, they, they, they have different uniforms and they're identifiable, and they're there to help you, whether you need to understand how to plug your, your computer or how to call the elevator or how to get the return styles or anything in between, they'll be there to [00:57:00] help everybody and guide everybody.
And that's why we can't have everybody on the same date because we
Dan Ryan: I'm just always so fascinated how. Just these like a change management team or the people in the different color uniforms, like how large organizations manage change. Cause it really, everything is always changing, but this is a dramatic change.
And to have someone easily recognizable that I can be like, Hey, I can't make this thing work. Or, and just having them be there so that, you know, you're really like lowering everyone's stress, stress, and anxiety about a move. Cause every people, you know, I'm sure there's people who are just used to for 30 years being at, uh, Fernwood.
And I'm sure there's a lot of stress as exciting as it is. I'm sure there's a lot of people who are really stressed out about change as well.
Rado Ivanov: Oh, absolutely. And, uh, uh, as we, as we were talking earlier, there's no such thing as first, first impression twice. Right? So [00:58:00] if you, if you come in and that first impression is a negative experience, I mean, it will take a while before people change their minds.
So what we're trying to do is make that first impression, first experience as, as, uh, flawless and as fluid and as, uh, exciting as it can possibly be. So that not only, um, that individual feels, feels, uh, good coming into the new building, but they also build the excitement with all of their friends and all of their, their, their colleagues that they're talking about.
Because imagine if you were the first one coming in on Monday and go, whoa, took me half an hour to get through the turnstiles. Um, the guys that are coming on Tuesday, they'll never, they'll never show up. So that's the last thing we want. Right. So we, we, uh, we are trying, and, and these folks, uh, from the FA uh, from the, um, change management team and the people that will be guiding actually the associates, they have [00:59:00] been training for weeks of what and how and why.
And, um, so we hope that it will be a very smooth process.
Dan Ryan: Yeah. And it's also thinking about just all the lessons that you guys have learned just as providers of hospitality. Um, it's like the ultimate laboratory of change, right? You, it it's, it's like someone coming in off a red eye checking in being late for a meeting, but like times a hundred, right.
Exactly and for, and for your own employees and teammates, right? It's uh, so the stakes are very high and it's, uh, I'm, I'm so excited to come down and, and get a tour and, and see what it's all about. I cannot wait. I,
Rado Ivanov: I always compare it to building your own house. Right. And when you build your own house, every single cousin and uncle, um, have, has an opinion, right.
Because they have a kitchen, so they know how to design your kitchen as well. Well, imagine having [01:00:00] 3000 cousins, um, and it's, it's the nature of the process, right? Everybody, everybody feels ownership. of the new space and they want to be involved, uh, but there's different ways of involvement and there are different paths of involvement and we wanna be inclusive and we wanna make sure that everybody's needs are addressed, but I'm pretty sure we have some misses here and there and it's gonna be, it's gonna be work in progress and we'll get to a happy place.
But I hope that this first few weeks will be as smooth as possible so that we can start on the right foot and we'll only get better from there.
Dan Ryan: Yeah. And, um, Rondo, how, how, how long ago did you start at Marriot?
Rado Ivanov: Uh, it will be my five years in September, five years. Wow.
Dan Ryan: That's amazing. And just to think about those five years, that you've just all the change in that five years is so [01:01:00] freaking crazy.
Rado Ivanov: Oh, absolutely. Wow.
Dan Ryan: Wow. Um, Well, this has been so wonderful. Uh, how Rado, how can people connect with you, um, after,
Rado Ivanov: after listening to this, um, LinkedIn, probably the best way. Um, right. I don't do a lot of social media, but LinkedIn I'm I'm there, so you can always find me there. And, uh, I am doing my best to respond to, uh, all the, all the notes I get, but if it takes a few days, please be patient
Dan Ryan: awesome.
Uh, and we'll put that in the, in the liner notes as well. And then also we'll put up the Marriot website and everything else. Um, but Brado, I wanna say thank you so much. I'm so excited. Um, for. Transformational change at Marriot. Um, and I'm just also so honored and grateful for your time,
Rado Ivanov: then it, it was a pleasure, as I said in the beginning, I, I I've been listening to your, uh, uh, [01:02:00] episodes all, all the time.
So, uh, being a part of it, uh, was, was a dream come true. And, uh, I really appreciate the invite and as always great seeing you great talking to you, I, uh, you, I, I always get inspired by your positivity and your, your, and your, uh, broad thinking. So thank you for that as well. And, uh, I look forward to having you here in the test soon.
Dan Ryan: Well, thank you. And now you're making me blush. Um, and also most importantly, I want to thank our listeners because the, the show keeps growing and it's all because of you and word of mouth. So if thinking about, um, hospitality, if you're thinking about hospitality has changed even in the slightest bit, or you looked at it a different way, just from this conversation with Rado and the transformation that Marrit is undergoing, um, please pass it along.
It's all word of mouth, and I appreciate you all so much for listening to us. So thank you everyone. And we will catch you next time.
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