The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. is the parent company to the luxury hotel chain, The Ritz-Carlton Hotels. Ritz-Carlton operates 87 luxury hotels and resorts in major cities and resorts in 29 countries and territories.

The current company was founded in 1983, when the previous owners sold the brand name to create The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C., based in Boston, Massachusetts, which expanded the brand to other locations. The hotel company is today a subsidiary of Marriott International.

Predecessor Company

Ritz, Carlton and Ritz-Carlton in Europe

The story of The Ritz-Carlton begins with Swiss hotelier César Ritz who was well known in the hotel industry as the "king of hoteliers and hotelier to kings". Ritz redefined luxury accommodation in Europe with his management of The Ritz in Paris and the Carlton Hotel in London, among others. He and the renowned chef from his hotels, Auguste Escoffier, opened a la carte restaurants known as Ritz-Carlton on board the Hamburg-Amerika Line ocean liners SS Amerika in 1905 and SS Imperator in 1913. The restaurants on those ships ceased operating in 1914 with the outbreak of World War I. Although Ritz died in 1918, his wife Marie continued the tradition of opening hotels in his name.

International Commerce Centre

The International Commerce Centre (Chinese: 環球貿易廣場) (abbreviated ICC) is a 108-storey (see below), 484 m (1,588 ft) commercial skyscraper completed in 2010 in West Kowloon, Hong Kong. It is a part of the Union Square project on top of Kowloon Station. It is the world's ninth tallest building by height, world's fourth tallest building by number of floors, as well as the tallest building in Hong Kong.

Notable amenities include The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong hotel and an observatory called Sky100.

The ICC faces the second-tallest skyscraper in Hong Kong, the 2 International Finance Centre (IFC) directly across Victoria Harbour in Central, Hong Kong Island. IFC was also developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties, along with another major Hong Kong developer, Henderson Land.

Development

MTR Corporation Limited and Sun Hung Kai Properties, Hong Kong's metro operator and largest property developer respectively, were responsible for the development of this skyscraper. Known in development as Union Square Phase 7, its current name was officially announced in 2005. The International Commerce Centre was completed in phases from 2007 to 2010. The tower opened in 2011, with the Ritz-Carlton opening in late March and the observatory in early April.