Marrriott Goes Smokeless, Sets the Pace for All Lodging, Including Vacation Rentals
July 19, 2006. Marriott announced today that all of the Company’s lodging brands in the United States and Canada will become 100 percent smoke-free, beginning in September. This represents the lodging industry’s largest move to a non-smoking environment, with more than 2,300 hotels and corporate apartments and nearly 400,000 guest rooms under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites and Marriott ExecuStay brands.
Marriott is not the first hotel group to announce a no smoking policy, but as the largest hotel company inn the world, measured by revenue, its non-smoking policy is certainly the most significant. The company said, “The new policy includes all guest rooms, restaurants, lounges, meeting rooms, public space and employee work areas. Currently more than 90 percent of Marriott guest rooms are already non-smoking and smoking is prohibited in many public spaces due to local laws. Demand for non-smoking rooms continues to rise with new information from the Surgeon General on the hazards of secondary smoke.�
You can be sure that Marriott, the most successful of all the hotel companies, (see the June Vacation Rentals Newsletter) did not adopt its sweeping non-smoking policy lightly. They finally decided that the costs of accommodating the minority of guests that smoke do not justify the costs of making their hotel acceptable to non-smokers. The lingering scent of smoke in a room that has been smoked in is very hard to remove, and some guests are especially sensitive to the slightest smell of smoke. Most vacation rentals, like our own, have had to institute a non-smoking policy years ago. However, in our own case it is easy for smoking guests to indulge their habit on our decks and porches without breaking our rules. This convenience is not available in the confined spaces of hotels.
