Marriott Bans Smoking


Posted: Friday, July 28, 2006

By Michael Moretti

Smoking will be banned in all Marriott International, Inc. hotels in the United States and Canada starting in September.

Guests and employees will not be able to light up anywhere inside the hotels, not in the rooms, restaurants, lounges or meeting rooms in any of the 2,300 locations, which include Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance and Courtyard hotels. Currently, more than 90 percent of the rooms are nonsmoking.

"Creating a smoke-free environment demonstrates a new level of service and care for our guests and associates," said J. W. Marriott, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Marriott International in a statement. "Our family of brands is united on this important health issue and we anticipate very positive customer feedback."

This comes on the heels of a similar policy enacted by Starwood Hotels and Resorts, which made its Westin Hotels in North America and the Caribbean smoke free in January. Starwood's ban was not as comprehensive as Marriott's, affecting only 77 locations and not encompassing its W and Sheraton hotel properties.

Details of the Marriott ban have not been finalized, but violators of the smoke-free rule could face a $200 to $300 fine.


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I personally don't have a problem with this. If the Marriot feel that can make more money by having a smoke-free business then let them. I personally wouldn't stay in any Marriot owned hotels.

That's fine, I won't stay at any Marriott hotel!

No problem!

quote:

Originally posted by Tiny Tim:
That's fine, I won't stay at any Marriott hotel!

No problem!

same here !

Damn ... I will miss staying at two particular Ritz Carltons. (I had no idea that they were even owned by Marriott Intl.)

What seems hard to believe is that Marriott "claims" that for all of the divisions, that they now have only 5% of guests requesting a smoking room. Hum...from a business point of view, I can understand their decision. But I don't like it.

One day, my prediction, the only hotels that will allow smoking in rooms will be the Motel 6 and other type of cheaper places. Even the Travelodges and Best Westerns will all become smoke free.

So...the totally smoke-free hotel chains now include "Marriott" (all divisions), "Westin" (division of Starwood hotels) and also "Four Seasons" Hotels.

This may prove to a model case scenario. I will speak with Marriot management at the South Beach Miami location in a couple of weeks to get insights into the local suspicions with said forthcoming changes.

With a significant Cuban culture and predominately Spanish speaking contingency of South Beach, Little Havana, and surrounding tourist areas it seems hard to believe that a local market driven approach is not applicable in this supposed “known cigar friendly area.”

One could surmise that the 90% number could be inflated, that infrastructure considerations, ventilation regulations or other liabilities are legitimate, and thus their absence only can add to the bottom line.

It will be interesting to see if corporate policing of outdoor common space such as designated smoking areas transpires.

The Ritz Carlton also has a fantastic South Beach Miami location.

I guess I won't be stopping by The Vault in the Philadelphia Ritz for a cigar anymore.
It stinks because when I travel for pleasure, I always stay at the Ritz because of the discounted rate I receive courtesy of a family member who works for them.

I don't see why you guys would care. Even most smokers prefer non-smoking rooms.

I find it strange that Marriott bans smoking at their hotels but doesn't ban radical groups from holding meetings there preaching hate and anti-semitism.

This article talks about it, the smoking ban, and calls for meeting planners to take their business elsewhere.

I saw an article on a rival website, that more and more European hotels are instituting smoking lounges for cigar and pipe smokers. they believe their business increases when they have nice seperate facilities for smokers. That is all we ask, to be left alone and not bother anyone else.