 Blackstone Real Estate Acquisitions bought The Ritz-Carlton Boston at auction for $75 million in February 1998.A month later, Marriott International acquired the hotel from Blackstone for $100 million.Marriott International, which franchised and managed over 325,000 rooms, then bought The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. and rights to the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain worldwide from Johnson for $290 million in a two-part transaction completed in 1998.