The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational company that operates the luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 luxury hotels and resorts in 30 countries and territories with 29,158 rooms, in addition to 46 hotels with 8,755 rooms planned for the future. The current company was founded in 1983, when the previous owners sold the Ritz-Carlton brand name and the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Boston, Massachusetts. The brand was subsequently expanded to other locations. The company is a subsidiary of Marriott International. Accommodations Historical From 2015 Predecessor company Ritz, Carlton and Ritz-Carlton in Europe The story of the Ritz-Carlton brand begins with Swiss hotelier César Ritz, who was well known in the hotel industry as the "king of hoteliers and hotelier to kings." He 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. The Ritz-Carlton in North America The Ritz-Carlton Investing Company was established by Albert Keller, who bought and franchised the name in the United States. The first Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the U.S. opened in New York City in 1911. It was located at 46th Street and Madison Avenue. Louis Diat ran the kitchens and invented Vichyssoise there. In 1911, the Ritz company announced its intention to expand to Philadelphia and Atlantic City. The Ritz-Carlton Philadelphia followed in 1913 at Broad & Walnut streets, designed by Horace Trumbauer and Warren & Wetmore. The Ritz-Carlton Montreal opened in 1912, not owned by Keller as it was located in Canada. Keller's Ritz-Carlton Atlantic City opened in 1921. The first Ritz-Carlton chain In the early 1920s, the Ritz-Carlton chain consisted of 15 hotels: Argentina Plaza Hotel Buenos Aires France Imperial Hotel, Menton Royal Hotel, Évian-les-Bains Splendide Hotel, Évian-les-Bains Italy Grand Hotel Excelsior, Rome Grand Hotel, Rome (today The St. Regis Rome) Grand Hotel and New Casino, Rapallo Grand Hotel et des Iles Borromees, Lake Maggiore Excelsior Hotel, Naples Switzerland Grand Hotel National, Lucerne United States Ritz-Carlton Hotel, New