A new service that makes printing documents easier for hotel guests is being offered as part of a pilot program at 20 Marriott hotels, including the New York Marriott Marquis. The service, called PrintMe Networks?, allows guests to print from a guest room to a hotel printer via their personal PCs. The service also enables guests with confidential print jobs to create a document ID number that allows only the guest to retrieve the printout. STSN, Marriott’s primary high-speed internet access provider, partnered with Electronics for Imaging to bring EFI’s PrintMe technology to Marriott hotels with high-speed internet access.

“In the hospitality business, it’s important to adopt new and innovative services that will offer convenience to our business travelers. Our guests need to conduct business while traveling, and by offering excellent printing capabilities, we will help our guests maintain their productivity,” said Lou Paladeau, vice president of technology business development, Marriott International.

With more than 370 Marriott hotels and 105,000 guest rooms equipped with high-speed internet access, hotel guests have an increased need for fast easy ways to print documents. Marriott leads the lodging industry in offering its hotel guests high-speed internet access. During 2001, more than 800,000 Marriott guests used high-speed access, and the most popular days to log on were Monday through Wednesday. During 2002 Marriott intends to install 75 more hotels and 20,000 guest rooms with high-speed access; long-term plans call for installation in all Marriott hotels.

Vaughan Merlyn, a vice president at The Concours Group, a management consulting firm, said, “Our employees virtually live in hotels most of every week. Having reliable high-speed access is critical to our consultants’ productivity and has become the key deciding factor when our consultants select hotels.”

The latest research indicates a rise in travelers accessing the Internet. As a result, high-speed internet access usage at Marriott hotels is also increasing, especially at hotels in New York, San Francisco, Dallas and Atlanta. In New York, Marriott has seven hotels and more than 4,000 guest rooms installed with high-speed access. In San Francisco, 14 hotels and 5,400 guest rooms; in Dallas, 16 hotels and 2,900 guest rooms; and in Atlanta, 27 hotels and 8,000 guest rooms.

One Marriott hotel with high usage of high-speed internet access is the San Francisco Marriott. During a recent MacWorld conference, the hotel recorded its highest usage rates ever. “Since we are close to Silicon Valley and located in the heart of San Francisco, we have a large tech-savvy clientele that has quickly adopted high-speed access,” said Clifton Clarke, hotel manager at the San Francisco Marriott.

Marriott offers internet access up to 50 times faster than conventional dial up methods via its high-speed provider STSN. With high-speed access, guests can access the Internet and use the phone at the same time. The system works with any internet-compatible laptop or PC and does not require any special accessories. For 24-hour internet access, there is a $9.95 charge. Marriott guests are also offered a 24-hour, toll-free help line to answer questions and provide assistance.

As an additional benefit, guests using STSN high-speed access have complimentary access to a web portal, which provides travelers with information about the hotel, local attractions, restaurants and transportation. To determine if a particular hotel has STSN, customers can visit www.marriott.com for an easy high-speed internet access location finder.

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE:MAR) is a leading worldwide hospitality company with nearly 2,600 operating units in the United States and 64 other countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Ramada International brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club, Horizons, The Ritz-Carlton Club and Marriott Grand Residence Club brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its ExecuStay by Marriott division; and operates conference centers. Other Marriott businesses include senior living communities and services, and wholesale food distribution. The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has approximately 140,500 employees. In fiscal year 2001, Marriott International reported systemwide sales of $20 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com.
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