Marriott says, “No burning tobacco inside our hotels.”

I just got this in my inbox from from Marriott hotels:

Dear Marc: In order to accommodate the preferences of the vast majority of our guests, all Marriott® hotels in the United States and Canada will become 100% smoke-free by October 15, 2006.

This is the industry’s largest move to a smoke-free environment and includes over 2,300 hotels and corporate apartments under the
Marriott, JW Marriott®, Renaissance®, Courtyard®, Fairfield Inn®, SpringHill Suites®, Residence Inn®, TownePlace Suites® and
Marriott ExecuStay® brands. The new policy includes all guest rooms, restaurants, lounges, meeting rooms, public spaces, 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. Designated smoking areas will be made available outside of the hotel for our guests who smoke.

This policy will enhance the level of service and care we can offer our guests. We hope to see you soon in our new smoke-free hotel environment.

For more information, click here.

Pretty crazy huh? Now for the record, I do not smoke. I also travel a lot for business. There have been times when I’ve been attacked by the smoke monster in my hotel room, both when someone was smoking in their own room and it somehow drifted into mine and when I’ve been assigned a room that was obviously used by a smoker before me. I gotta say, it’s heel when you can’t get away from it when you are in what is effectively your home for the week. Of course here in California, you really can’t smoke anywhere except Arnold’s “other office“. It’s a funny thing to watch too when Suzette and I go to a restaurant back home and I get this perplexed look on my face when they ask me if we want “smoking or non-smoking”.

Out here in Cali, all the tables are non-smoking. But, I think you have been allowed to smoke in hotel rooms. This ban from Marriott doesn’t just apply to hotel rooms in California, but all of the US and Canada. As far as I am concerned, if you’re a smoker and don’t like you should stay somewhere else. That brings me to this, why is Marriott doing this? Have they received enough complaints about issues I’ve already mentioned that I have had (this is the explanation on the web page the link in the email links to, but is that just the “press release reason”)? Did one of the executives at Marriott have a serious life altering situation involving smoking? Is it just easier to maintain the rooms with they are not smoked in? I just have to wonder. Call it natural curiosity.