Hot Shoppes memorabilia at Marriott HQ in Bethesda - but no Hot Shoppes food! (Photos)

The current leadership of Marriott International may not recognize or appreciate the centrality of its former Hot Shoppes brand and iconic menu items to the company's identity, but it is keeping the faint spirit of them alive at its downtown Bethesda headquarters. A collection of Marriott memorabilia is on display in the publicly-accessible area on the ground floor, which also includes the MI Cafe, a coffee shop that is also open to the public. The display is light on famous Hot Shoppes menu items like the Mighty Mo burger, Orange Freeze beverage, and Teen Twist sandwich. But it features a number of Hot Shoppes (or, "Hot Shoppe," the early singular branding) items, including cups, plates, a list of locations, and even a Hot Shoppes annual report. 

There are also Marriott-branded items in the collection, such as "Do Not Disturb" door hangers from around the world, and a photograph of the original root beer stand that grew into a global hospitality giant. But the Hot Shoppes content remains underwhelming. MI Cafe is joined on the corporate campus by the Seventh State restaurant and Hip Flask rooftop bar in the hotel next door. Yet none of these three restaurants open to the public feature Hot Shoppes menu items, much less a fully-functional Hot Shoppes restaurant.

To update you on my Mighty Mo Quest: Since my last report in July 2023, the Mighty Mo burger is still not available at any of the three restaurants at the Bethesda headquarters. One inch of progress made is the addition of Mighty Mo sauce, which is served on the side with the Cheddar Burger at Seventh State. The Cheddar Burger is a fine hamburger, but it is nothing like a Mighty Mo in appearance, ingredients, or construction. 

Over at the Pooks Hill Marriott, another trademark burger, the eponymous Marriott Burger, is available, but no Mighty Mo. We continue to face the absurd situation of being able to order a Mighty Mo in Sri Lanka, but not in Marriott's corporate town of Bethesda. Perhaps Marriott is taking cues from McDonald's, which today only features special burgers overseas, but not in the country where the Golden Arches were born. Talk about America Last!

Pati Jinich burrito pop-up at Marriott HQ in Bethesda (Photos)

Celebrity chef and author Pati Jinich was at the MI Cafe in the Marriott International headquarters in downtown Bethesda today. The host of public television's Pati's Mexican Table and resident chef at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C. was hosting a burrito pop-up in the cafe, which serves Marriott employees, but is also open to the public. The pop-up was serving breakfast and lunch burritos, aguas frescas, and desserts. 

This event was sponsored by Marriott Bonvoy, and hopefully is one of more to come. Today's event was a fantastic opportunity to try the cuisine of a celebrity chef who does not yet have restaurants in the area like Gordon Ramsay or José Andrés. But such events would also help lure more Marriott employees back to the underutilized headquarters, as well as further activate the area around the cafe and office/hotel campus.

Burrito in the bag

Marriott Bethesda Downtown hotel gets a Trump bump in room rates for inauguration

Once-conservative Marriott International may have transformed into one of the most progressive and liberal corporations in recent decades, but it's still prepared to get an economic boost from the return of Donald Trump to the White House. Room rates at the new Marriott Bethesda Downtown hotel at 7707 Woodmont Avenue have risen for the days surrounding Monday's inauguration ceremony. As you can see, rates for tonight through Saturday night are elevated, rising to $489 per night on the peak nights of Sunday and Monday. 

Marriott has tangled with Trump in recent years, vowing to cut off donations to Republican U.S. Senators who did not vote to certify the 2020 Presidential election, about seven months after Trump ordered Marriott to cease operations in Communist Cuba. But that didn't stop Trump from choosing to stay at a Marriott in beautiful downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the days right before the 2024 election.

Marriott International HQ cafe already renovating in Bethesda

The MI Cafe at the Marriott International corporate headquarters at 7750 Wisconsin Avenue in Bethesda has been open for less than two years. But it has been closed for two days for "upgrades and repairs." Hopefully the upgrades will include adding the Mighty Mo burger to the regular menu - it's a crime that Marriott's most-famous dish is not currently served at its world headquarters. MI Cafe will reopen for normal business hours at 7:30 AM on Monday, March 11, 2024.

Firefighters rescue window washers trapped at Marriott HQ in Bethesda (Photos)

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service personnel have rescued two window washers who were trapped on their scaffolding at the Marriott International headquarters in downtown Bethesda. The two workers were washing windows four stories above the ground when the system that raises and lowers their scaffolding broke down. Montgomery County police, Montgomery County Technical Rescue Truck 700-B, and the MCFRS Maryland Task Force One urban search and rescue unit also responded to the scene. 

Power was temporarily cut to a Pepco utility pole during the rescue effort, MCFRS acting spokesperson David Pazos said. Ultimately, the workers were rescued using a ladder truck. Neither worker suffered any injury, Pazos reported. 

Photos 1-3: Robert Dyer @ Bethesda Row; 4 by David Pazos/MCFRS

Bethesda Marriott HQ briefly embraces its Hot Shoppes heritage with disappearing Mighty Mo

It would seem to be a no-brainer for Marriott International to serve the famous Mighty Mo burger from the Hot Shoppes restaurants that laid the groundwork for the international hospitality giant it is today. Nowhere would it make more sense to be able to buy a Mighty Mo on a daily basis than at the company's downtown Bethesda headquarters, and adjacent Marriott Bethesda Downtown hotel. It happened quietly and briefly this week, but only for 120 minutes.

Marriott HQ's ground-level cafe at 7750 Wisconsin Avenue offered the legendary burger, with a side of chips, for $10.49 Wednesday at 11:30 AM. By 1:30 PM, the burgers had sold out, an employee said yesterday. The cafe plans to offer it again for one day sometime this fall. 

Because I was not aware of the Mighty Mo special in advance, I was not able to compare it to the original I used to get at Hot Shoppes in downtown Bethesda. This video may give us an idea, however, because it was filmed at the headquarters this past May. 

You'll notice, like the Mighty Mo served at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C., and in the bar at the former Key Bridge Marriott in Rosslyn, the burger patties are thicker than those in the original Mighty Mo. This is probably a concession to modern standards, much as few restaurants would dare to serve the crab cakes of the 70s and 80s that were more cake than crab. The original was closer to a Big Mac patty, and the burgers were well-done, not the medium rare David Marriott asks for in the video. And if you're having a Mighty Mo, onion rings and an Orange Freeze are essential, I might add.

You can't get a Mighty Mo in Bethesda, but
you can in Sri Lanka!

I will continue my futile quest for a Mighty Mo burger. And continue to urge Marriott to add permanent Hot Shoppes menu items to the restaurants at the Bethesda HQ and hotel. The Mighty Mo is served more often than one would think around the world, but not as much to the customers who would remember and appreciate it most in our area. Consider that the Marriott empire's Sheraton Kosgoda Turtle Beach Resort in Sri Lanka began serving the Mighty Mo this month!

Top photo: Marriott Hot Shoppes Cookbook
Bottom photo: Marriott Bonvoy

Old Bethesda Marriott HQ demolition underway (Photos)

Demolition of the former Marriott International headquarters building is underway at 10400 Fernwood Road in Bethesda. The company moved last year to a new office tower at 7750 Wisonsin Avenue in downtown Bethesda. 

Will a major corporate HQ be taking over the old Marriott property? Nope. Moribund Montgomery County hasn't attracted a major corporate HQ in over 25 years. Instead, the Marriott site will in 2025 become home to...a retirement community. Womp womp. Another humiliation for the 2014-2018 County Council, who were at the helm when the future of this site was determined, and also fumbled away the Discovery HQ during that same term. Heckuva job, Brownie!

Marriott International employees participate in Volunteer Day at Bethesda HQ (Photos)

Yesterday was the annual Marriott International Volunteer Day, part of the hospitality firm's 2023 Global Associates Appreciation Week. In conjunction with Marriott's Serve 360 initiative, which leverages the company's size and financial strength to work toward sustainability and social-impact goals in the local community and around the world, employees gathered at the downtown Bethesda Marriott HQ to participate in Spirit to Serve activities. These efforts were directed toward the benefit of the local Bethesda and Washington, D.C. community. Let's take a look:

Employees conduct a virtual storytime for
patients at Children's National Medical Center from
the Bethesda HQ lobby

Marriott associates pack toiletry kits for the
homeless for local non-profit Bethesda Cares

Associates write letters to U.S. servicemembers
through the Operation Gratitude program

Associates participate in a cleanup
along the Capital Crescent Trail

Photos courtesy Marriott International

Marriott International welcomes public into its Bethesda HQ coffee bar

Since the Marriott International corporate headquarters moved from North Bethesda to 7750 Wisconsin Avenue, there has remained some confusion among passersby as to whether or not the cafe in the ground floor is for employees only, or open to the public. The answer is that it was apparently open to the public from the beginning. But Marriott is erasing any remaining misunderstandings by placing large posters across the windows inviting the public to come in. In fact, they're hoping you come back every morning. 

Next controversy: What is the name of the coffee bar? "Cafe?" "MI Cafe?" Or, "La Colombe Coffee Roasters?" It's referred to as all three various places.

Still more parking spaces than workers at new Marriott HQ in Bethesda (Photos)

A random check of the Woodmont Corner garage across from the new Marriott International headquarters in Bethesda at midday shows why the company and Montgomery County recently expanded the hours the public could use the County-owned parking garage. Now open to the public at 11:00 AM instead of 5:00 PM, the top two levels of the parking deck were completely empty in the middle of a recent day. There were few cars a level below that, either. Marriott had previously leased the entire garage for its employees' exclusive use during business hours, a deal made with Montgomery County long before anyone had ever heard the term, "COVID 19." Many Marriott employees have continued to work from home, and the company's CEO said last fall that he thought workers would enjoy the convivial atmosphere of the new HQ, but that he had no immediate plans to implement draconian measures to force them to do so.

Across Woodmont Avenue, there was very little human activity on the Marriott HQ plaza, or inside the vast, glassed-in lobby. When the early darkness of a winter afternoon falls, and the illuminated floors of the Marriott office tower are highlighted as a result, few people can be seen on any level of the building. By contrast, the adjoining new Marriott hotel and its restaurants and rooftop lounge appear to be very successful so far, which has helped to activate that part of the block after business hours. People may be set on working from home, but cocktails in a private igloo high above downtown Bethesda are still a draw.