Marriott boss reveals how to correctly pronounce the hotel chain’s name… and guests are stunned

Marriott may be one of the most successful hotel chains in the world – but, according to the chairman, everyone’s been pronouncing its name wrong this whole time.

David Marriott, whose grandfather JW Marriott founded the company in 1927, made the announcement while speaking to a group of Marriott loyalty members at an event in Maryland this week.

David revealed that people have been saying his family name incorrectly for decades, and did his best to clear up the confusion.

According to the businessman, who serves as the chairman of the board for the travel company, it’s pronounced mary-uht not mary-aat.

A video of him explaining the correct way to say the hotel name has gone viral on TikTok and has surprised many users.

‘I’m gonna give you a little tutorial on the correct way to say it,’ David addressed the audience in the video, before he shared an anecdote about his wife, Giovanna.

‘My wife used to be a school teacher, she taught English. She had a student named Elliot who kept calling her Mrs Marriott,’ he said, pronouncing it mary-aat. 

‘And she finally sat him down and said, “Eliot how do you pronounce your name?” And he said, “Elliot,” and she said, “That’s right, it’s not eh-lee-aat, it’s eh-lee-uht. It’s the same way with Marriott.”‘

He then told the crowd, ‘The correct way to say it is actually mary-uht.’

After someone in attendance captured the moment and shared it on online, it went viral, gaining close to a million views.

And hoards of shocked users rushed to the comment section to share their astonishment. 

‘Too late, I’m not changing [the way I say it],’ joked one person.

‘I’ve never heard it pronounced “may-uht” in my life,’ added another.

‘Nahhh. He doesn’t make the rules,’ someone else chimed in. 

‘This is the first I have ever heard anyone pronounce it that way,’ a fourth comment read, while a fifth said, ‘Today years old finding this out.’

‘For $300 a night I’m going to say it however the hell I want,’ penned a different user. 

It comes weeks after legendary actor Denzel Washington claimed people were mispronouncing his first name. 

While his name is widely known to be pronounced as den-zelle, he said the original pronunciation was actually den-zull.

He said the pronunciation was purposely altered by his mother, however, since both Denzel and his father share the same first name – leading to some confusion in the household. 

Steve Buscemi has also claimed that while the public calls him Steve boo-shem-ee, his family actually pronounce their last name as bew-sem-see.

In addition, Kirsten Dunst told Town & Country last month that ‘everyone messes up her name’ and that the correct pronunciation is keer-sten not kur-sten or kris-ten.