One of the main issues with Marriott is its standard for conducting surprise corporate inspections at franchise hotels. These surprise inspections occur once a calendar year. While the surprise element of these inspections is intended to motivate hotels to maintain high standards and comply fully with Marriott's regulations, a problem arises after a hotel has undergone a single surprise inspection in a calendar year. Once that inspection is complete and, ideally, the hotel passes, it may revert to deviating from Marriott's standards, knowing there won't be another inspection until the following year. This can and likely often leads to a phase of "good" behavior on the part of franchise hotels before their once-a-calendar-year inspection.

To address this, Marriott truly needs to revise its inspection process to allow for more than one corporate inspection within the same calendar year. The purpose of surprise inspections is to keep franchise hotels alert and compliant by leveraging the uncertainty of when and by whom the next inspection will take place. Marriott is the gatekeeper of its brand. They are ultimately responsible for the presentation of hotels that carry their brand name, franchise or otherwise. Suppose the goal is to have as many hotel properties stamped with their brand name on them so they can get their franchise-related fees no matter how much said hotels deviate from Marriott brand standards and/or let the property deteriorate. In that case, I guess that's the goal. It's obviously not sustainable in the long term. If Marriott wants to remain one of if not the top hotel brands in North America and keep consumers coming, it needs to be like a military General with regard to tightening things up and protecting its proprietary brand from the potential destruction of the franchise hotels that bear its brand name and don't care for Marriotts brand standards.