<P> From 1951 to 1975, The Ritz - Carlton Boston had been one of only two Ritz - Carlton hotels in the US . The other was the independently owned Ritz - Carlton Atlantic City which had since been converted to condominiums . Johnson's company paid the Atlantic City establishment to abandon its name and rename itself The Ritz Condominiums . </P> <P> Johnson would later enlarge the company from just the Boston property to 30 hotels worldwide in just 10 years . He obtained financing to do so from Manufacturers Hanover Trust of New York in 1983 in the amount of $85 million secured by The Ritz - Carlton Boston . This loan was refinanced in 1989 by Manhattan Tops USA of New York for $136.5 million and again in 1994 by Sumitomo Bank of Japan . By 1996, this mortgage was in default and the interest and penalties brought the total debt to $214.8 million . By splitting this mortgage note into three parts, Sumitomo Bank was able to unbundle The Ritz - Carlton Boston from the trademark rights to The Ritz - Carlton brand worldwide . </P> <P> Blackstone Real Estate Acquisitions of New York bought The Ritz - Carlton Boston at auction for $75 million in February 1998 . A month later, Marriott International of Bethesda, Maryland, acquired the hotel from Blackstone for $100 million . Marriott, which franchises and manages Marriott's 325,000 rooms, then bought The Ritz - Carlton Hotel Co. and rights to The Ritz - Carlton name worldwide from W.B. Johnson for $290 million in a two - part transaction completed in 1998 . </P> <P> In 1998, Christopher Jeffries, founding partner of Millennium Partners, obtained The Ritz - Carlton franchises from Marriott for four hotel properties under construction: two in Washington, one in New York City, and one in Atlanta, Georgia . In addition, Jeffries was searching for a brand affiliation for the new 155 - room hotel and 270 - luxury condominiums he was constructing as part of Boston's 1,800,000 - square - foot (170,000 m) Millennium Place, a mixed - use complex on lower Washington Street . Due to noncompetition clauses, the only way he could obtain a second Ritz - Carlton flag in Boston was to own the existing Ritz - Carlton . </P>

When did ritz carlton become part of marriott