Happy 100th Birthday to the Marriott Plaza Hotel Buenos Aires (Argentina)
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Happy 100th Birthday to the Marriott Plaza Hotel Buenos Aires (Argentina)
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Category: Central and South America - Argentina
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on 2009-07-30
I've always been a big fan of Willard Scott. I love to watch him on The Today Show when he showcases Americans who have celebrated their 100th birthdays. In fact, I used to tell my mom I was sure she'd live to be 100, but she didn't quite make it. She was so excited about the possibility of being on Willard's show.
So it was with great pleasure that I cut the birthday cake as our Marriott Plaza Hotel in Buenos Aires celebrated its 100th birthday. This hotel has been in the Marriott portfolio since 1994, and we're honored to fly our flag at such a prestigious hotel so rich with history and to celebrate such a wonderful occasion.
As I looked at the guest list, I found out that Teddy Roosevelt stayed at the Plaza, along with Charles de Gaulle and King Juan Carlos of Spain. I first stayed at the hotel in 1967 when I went to South America for the first time. We were down in Buenos Aires negotiating airline catering contracts with all the international carriers flying in and out of Buenos Aires. When we got ready to go back into South America with hotels, I told our people, "Go see the Plaza hotel in Buenos Aires and see if we can get a management contract." We did and it's been very successful.
Our birthday party was held at the Argentinean embassy in Washington, D.C., and was attended by the ambassador from Argentina to the United States, Hector Timerman, the Secretary of Tourism for Argentina, Enrique Miller, and the owner of the hotel, Enrique Shaw. His great-grandfather built the hotel in 1909.
The Plaza is an iconic hotel in Argentina and all of South America, which, of course, is a very fast growing region for us. In 2008, we opened 4 hotels on the continent and we expect to open a total of 7 this year, including a new Marriott hotel in Bogota, Colombia, our first property in that country.
In spite of the difficult economic climate, people are still traveling to the region and we will continue to do everything we can to encourage travelers to continue to visit Argentina and the many other beautiful countries of South America.
Happy 100th Anniversary to the Marriott Plaza Hotel and here's to another 100 wonderful years!
I'm Bill Marriott and thanks for helping me keep Marriott on the move.
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