Posted on 07/19/2006 4:47:01 AM PDT by xrp
Marriott to make all US, Canada hotels non-smoking
Wednesday July 19, 6:34 am ET
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Marriott International Inc. (NYSE:MAR - News) on Wednesday said it will make all of its hotels in the United States and Canada entirely non-smoking, beginning in September.
The company said the policy change, which it called the largest in its industry, covers more than 2,300 hotels and corporate apartments with nearly 400,000 rooms.
Marriott, based in Bethesda, Maryland, said more than 90 percent of its guest rooms are already non-smoking. It said more customers have been demanding non-smoking rooms.
The change covers such brands as Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn and Fairfield Inn. Marriott has nearly 2,800 lodging properties in the United States and 67 other countries.
Not only that but the ventilating systems often cause the transfer of smoke from smoke rooms to nonsmoker rooms.
And it can lower the value of a home when it goes up for sale. The house I bought was from a smoker and we spent forever scrubbing the walls and ceiling. What we though were soft yellow walls were really white. The rinse water bucket looked like a spittoon when we were done a room. And we had to throw out all the carpeting because of the smell.
I agree, I am a smoker and normally get smoking rooms when I travel but it is their company and their choice. I will still stay at Marriott's provided they don't treat me like a leper in place the new smoking area behind the kitchen dumpster.
ML/NJ
That is their business....
....if they happen to loose money over it, because people do not want to give up the ability to smoke in their rooms, well that is their business too.
Not being a smoker I would frequent Marriott...It does not affect me in any way...nor do I see it as an abrigement of freedom...on the contrary I see it as the company excercising their freedoms, whether for good or ill...for their own reasons or because they fear the smoking nazi's and that is ok because it is their business.
They could loose or make money over this...and that is not my business either....
that and his corpse would have a musty odor that might waft into other guests rooms.
Lose
"It is a damn poor mind indeed which can think of only one way to spell a word." -Andrew Jackson
As a smoker, I do to. I prefer hotels with balconies so that I can step outside and smoke. I smoke only outside on the porch in my apartment for the same reason.
I suspect the number of smokers has declined substantially enough over the years that it no longer makes sense from a business standpoint to allocate a fixed number of rooms to them.
"Itz uh dam pur mynd inded witch kan think uf onlee 1 way 2 spel uh wurd." -Andrew Jackson
ya see....it wurks.
Oh the humanity !
Did you ever fart in your non-smoking room?
Do smokers complain about women's dousing themselves in $1/quart perfume, and standing in a crowded elevator polluting a smoker's airspace?
Get a grip....the whining and attacks on others (smokers) is so in-grained now that it's approaching class warfare status.
It's PC to be anit-smoker, and your right to eating fat food will be your reward when the "fat police" take over (after the next appropriation of the Lawyers' Class Action Suit takes away another free choice from Americans, at the expense of consumers).
Don't get too attached to sitting in front of a fireplace in your own home, either, as the "clean air" tree-huggers will take that choice from you in the future, too.
Wake up America, and get a life.
I am an active smoker, but I also realize that my habit makes everything in an enclosed area, stink.
What's wrong RAYMAN? Sad to see your beloved nanny state didn't get to twist some arms in this deal?
Go fill out a 1040, and do what you're told by your master.
I fill out my own, and cheat like a baseball player on steroids.
taxcheattaxcheatilovetotaxcheatandscrewrayoutofmoney!!!
I'll bet nanny-state and her legion of worshippers are PO'd because they didn't get to force their will on this company.
A choice was made, that's fine by me.
I agree with that....I've been smoking in the garage for 39 years, as my wife won't tolerate smoking in the house because of that. When we're in the car, I don't smoke in there, either, when others are in the car. On trips, I have all the rest areas scoped out on the trip, so I can stop and smoke outside.
I don't mind the inconvienience to accommodate others, but I DO MIND having over-the-top people complaining when they come across a smoker, some 100 feet away from them, and walk all the way over to tell them the hazards of smoking, etc., or tell them to please not smoke around them (I've had this happen outdoors by those who are on a mission.........)
Smoking rooms in motels are usually also "pets allowed" rooms, I've found, and that's not a room I want to sleep in, so I stay in non-smoking rooms, too.
Accommodating others is one thing, having others MANDATE your behavior is another.....
"toushay!"
The problem, Ray, is people like you that are hypocrits.
In this particular case I have no problem with it. It's the companys choice and therefore I can vote with my feet and wallet.
In your case, you say, "Oh no, I would never vote for a smoking ban. But I sure do enjoy the results."
It's people like you that created the problem.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.