Pros
At headquarters there is a strong company culture that is family friendly, with excellent work-life balance. Though it is a huge multinational company, there is still an underlying sense Marriott is a family-run operation: One still often sees Mr. Marriott himself in the cafeteria, and several top executives have Marriott in their names. It's mostly a 9-to-5 shop at MIHQ. Though obviously workload varies by department, there's generally a mass exodus from the building at 5:15 and no one bats an eyelash if you have to take your kid to soccer or work from home. With the Starwood merger there's good energy in the building, a sense that the company is growing and we're winning. There's a stable maturity to the business -- Marriott seems to know where it will be five, 10, 20 years from now.
Cons
Generally the pay at HQ is lower than competitors in the DC area. There's an overriding sense we're making 80 cents on the dollar in exchange for reasonable hours, good work-life balance and nice hotel discounts. Most seem comfortable with the trade-off, but you'll make less than your peers in most rank-and-file positions here. HQ itself is nice in the Hub and lobby; actual work spaces are beige cubicle farms. We're moving to a new downtown-Bethesda headquarters in 2022, but it's a long time to wait.