FYI-Non-smoking for all Marriott

[garydeb]

Hi All,

I just saw this on CNN Money. All Marriott's in the US will be all non-smoking by Sep'06. This is great news for me!! I'll be going Marriott all the way when I'm not at DVC of course....

-Debbie

 

[floridafam]

They are going to be getting more of my business.

 

[erikthewise]

Hallelujah! I'm not sure how much business I can throw Marriott's way, but when I can I will. Springhill Suites are a nice alternative for family accommodations.

Unfortunately I think that Disney resorts will not be quick to follow this trend, as much as I would like it. Especially DVC.

 

[CarolA]

Don't get too excited.

Marriott hotels are NOT good about making all of thier franchises play by the rules... so some hotels may ignore this.

And as I have said, ALL this does it make it much more possible that you will get a room that someone smoked in. I travel a lot on business. My co-workers smoke and if they get one of these hotels, they smoke in their room NONE of them have ever been fined.

(And my least favorite part is at these hotels you have to wear a gas mask to get in since ALL the smokers are crowded outside the doors... I would rather they were in thier rooms!)

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Here's the press release from Marriott: http://marriott.com/news/detail.mi?marrArticle=137410

Westin announced a similar policy this year. And the three Disney hotels in California are smoke-free.

I think it's just a matter of time before the Disney resort hotels in Florida, including the DVC resorts, go smoke-free. CarolA made good points that some smokers ignore the rules, and that smokers who aren't allowed to smoke in their rooms will smoke in outdoor places where their smoke will bother non-smokers than if they could smoke in their rooms.

The hotels aren't just doing this because of health concerns or the potential for lawsuits from guests and employees subjected to smoke residue and secondhand smoke. It's easier for hotels and timeshare to manage reservations and room assignments if they don't have to worry about designated smoking and non-smoking rooms.

I welcome the lodging industry's eventual transition to 100% smoke-free. I just hope the indoor rules will always be accompanied by rules for outdoor smoking (such as no smoking within 25 feet of an entrance) and proper enforcement of indoor nonsmoking.

 

[rocketriter]

This does depend on local enforcement. At the BCV over July 4, our clearly-marked non-smoking room stank of smoke (and air freshener) when we checked in. No health issues around this in our family, but it was disgusting. It seems to me that housecleaners could report this sort of thing, but I doubt that's policy.