What is the corporate motto of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company?

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company’s corporate motto is “Ladies and Gentlemen serving Ladies and Gentlemen.” The phrase expresses the brand’s belief that employees and guests deserve equal dignity, respect, and exceptionally thoughtful service.

Hotel executive Horst Schulze is credited with establishing the motto as part of Ritz-Carlton’s service culture. It reframes hospitality workers as professionals rather than servants and links employee pride directly to guest experience. The wording is one part of the company’s broader Gold Standards, alongside its Credo, Employee Promise, Three Steps of Service, and service values.

Readers sometimes confuse the motto with the Ritz-Carlton Credo, which says that genuine care and comfort of guests is the hotel’s highest mission. They are related but distinct: the Credo states the guest-centered mission, while the motto describes the relationship between the people providing and receiving the service. The stored answer preserves the canonical phrase, even without the optional opening “We are.”