Question 1

True or false: Marriott Sr. opened the first hotel under the Marriott name in 1957 in Arlington, Virginia.

Accepted Answer

True. The Twin Bridges Motor Hotel opened in 1957, marking the company’s first lodging property.

Question 2

True or false: He was born in 1900 and grew up on a sheep ranch in Utah.

Accepted Answer

True. John Willard Marriott was born September 17, 1900, in Marriott, Utah, and worked on his family’s sheep farm.

Question 3

True or false: J.W. Marriott Sr. started his career as a hot dog stand operator in Washington, D.C.

Accepted Answer

True. He opened a nine-stool A&W root beer stand in 1927, which led to the Hot Shoppe restaurants and later Marriott hotels.

Question 4

True or false: Marriott Sr. was a Mormon missionary who served in the Eastern United States.

Accepted Answer

True. He served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New York and Pennsylvania before his business career.

Question 5

True or false: J.W. Marriott Sr. was a pilot and flew his own plane to inspect hotels.

Accepted Answer

False. He did not pilot planes; his son Bill Marriott Jr. was the aviator in the family.

Question 6

True or false: He was the first person to serve hot food on commercial airlines via his In-Flite Services.

Accepted Answer

False. Marriott’s In-Flite Services started in 1937, but hot meals on planes were pioneered earlier by United Airlines in the 1930s.

Question 7

True or false: J.W. Marriott Sr. invented the concept of the hotel loyalty program.

Accepted Answer

False. The first hotel loyalty program was actually created by Holiday Inn in 1983; Marriott introduced its program later.

Question 8

True or false: Marriott Sr. personally designed the first in-room coffee maker for hotel guests.

Accepted Answer

False. He was not an inventor; in-room coffee makers were developed by appliance companies like Mr. Coffee years after his time.

J.W. Marriott Sr. Trivia Questions