Crystal Gateway Marriott in Crystal City Appoints Bradley Hugh Colton as New Hotel General Manager

Arlington, VA. – July 17, 2009 – Bradley H. Colton, a Marriott hotel veteran, was named the new General Manager of the Marriott Crystal Gateway hotel, in Arlington, VA. Mr. Colton returns to the Washington, DC area from the JW Marriott Dessert Ridge Resort & Spa in Phoenix, AZ, where he served as Resort Manager for the past three years.

In his new role as the Crystal City hotel General Manager, Mr. Colton will be responsible for all hotel operations including: 697 well-appointed guestrooms and suites, over 34,000 square feet of updated pre-function and event space, and the Atrium Bar & Restaurant Mez.

Mr. Colton is a third generation Marriott employee, his grandfather was one of the original investors of Marriott's Hot Shoppes and his father, Sterling Colton, is Director Emeritus for Marriott International. Colton began his career with Marriott International, in January of 1982, as an intern of the accounting department at Marriott's corporate headquarters in Bethesda, MD. Over the next 27 years, Mr. Colton has held several Marriott hotel operations positions including senior leadership positions as General Manager and Area General Manager at Marriott hotels including the Gaithersburg Washingtonian Marriott, Tyson's Corner Marriott, Bethesda Marriott and Bethesda Suites Marriott. He was also Brand Executive for Residence Inn and TownPlace Suites, Marriott's extended-stay brands. Mr. Colton holds an MBA at University of Virginia's Darden School of Business in Charlottesville, VA.

Mr. Colton has been very involved in his local communities having served as a board member on the Montgomery County Parks Foundation and on the Montgomery County Advisory Board for Doug Duncan and was Scoutmaster for his sons' Scout troop. Mr. Colton is active in his church and enjoys spending time with his wife, Melanie, and his four children.

Surrounded by nearby shopping and dining destinations at the Crystal City shops and the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, Crystal Gateway Marriott is a 697-room hotel that completed a $15 million redesign of all of its meeting space and guestrooms, including installing the Marriott's proprietary "plug-in" technology, linking IPods, camcorders, video cameras or laptops to the 37 inch HD flat screens in each guestroom. This hotel near Pentagon City features over 34,000 square feet of meeting space, including the 16,000 square foot Arlington Ballroom, Northern Virginia's largest ballroom, and 25 additional meetings rooms. The Arlington, VA Marriott hotel conveniently located near Reagan National Airport, the yellow and blue Metro rail lines, and is ideal for conferences, meetings and other social events. For more information or to make reservations, contact your travel professional, call the hotel directly at (703) 920-3230, or visit www.crystalgatewaymarriott.com.