Travel: More Marriott Smoking Ban Fury

Cigar Party to Be Exception to Hotel’s Smoke-Free Rule
Marriott to Host Magazine Event, To the Chagrin of Anti-Smokers

By Michael S. Rosenwald
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 22, 2007; Page D01

After Marriott International announced that its U.S. and Canadian hotels would go “100 percent smoke-free” last year, the company famous for its tidy ways said it would train its housekeepers to spot evidence of smoking.

On Nov. 20, at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square, housekeepers won’t have to search very hard. The hotel is scheduled to host Cigar Aficionado magazine’s Big Smoke, billed as a celebration of “the pleasures of a fine cigar.” A $200 ticket includes more than 25 handmade cigars. Smoking is encouraged.

So much for 100 percent smoke-free. The event, which was also held last year, has outraged the anti-smoking organization Action on Smoking and Health, whose executive director, John F. Banzhaf III, is accusing Marriott of violating a promise to its customers — namely, that its hotels would be smoke-free.

In a letter to the company, Banzhaf wrote, “Staging such an event would be clearly contrary to — and make a complete mockery of — Marriott’s pledge to its millions of customers to be ‘100 percent smoke-free.’ ”

“I think this is a very big deal,” said Banzhaf, who is also a law professor at George Washington University.

Marriott officials said exceptions to the 100 percent smoke-free policy have been granted to fulfill previous agreements. “You can count them on one hand,” said John Wolf, a Marriott spokesman. “Where there are existing contracts such as the Big Smoke, we honor our contracts.”

However, “We will not be seeking new business from groups that smoke,” Wolf said. “The bottom line is we are committed to our smoke-free policy, and we will continue to work toward a smoke-free environment in our hotels in the U.S. and Canada.”

Banzhaf said Marriott’s move not to seek new business from groups that smoke “is a step in the right direction. It shows that they can’t just renege on a promise and hope that nobody notices and get away with it. They can’t.”

Regarding the Big Smoke, a lawyer from Marriott’s general counsel office said in a letter to Banzhaf that the company was “taking all reasonable steps to minimize the impact of this event on other guests.”

The event will take place in a “closed meeting room space” that will be “equipped with air filtering and ventilation equipment,” the letter said.

“The room will be cut off from the rest of the hotel’s air recycling system — during the event and for approximately 24 hours thereafter — so that air from the meeting space will be exchanged exclusively with the outdoors and not with other parts of the hotel.”

After the event, the air filters will be replaced and a specialized service will “perform a thorough deep cleaning of the meeting room space,” the letter said.

Marriott officials didn’t say how much all the cleaning would cost, but it will probably be a bit more than the $200 to $300 cleaning fee the hotel chain charges guests for smoking in its rooms.

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Marriott No-Smoking Policy in Ashes?
Oct 3, 2007
The anti-smoking group Action on Smoking and Health alleges that Marriott is about to violate its no-smoking policy–which went into effect in September 2006–when its New York Marriott Marquis property hosts an event for Cigar Aficionado magazine next month.
There are two issues involved, says John Banzhaf, ASH’s executive director and chief council. “New York City law prohibits smoking anywhere in a hotel,” though it does include an exception that allows smoking in rooms that are “used exclusively for functions where the public is invited for the primary purpose of promoting and sampling tobacco products, and the service of food and drink is incidental to such purpose.” Banzhaf argues that the way the event is being promoted, food and drink are not incidental, but an integral part of the event.
The second issue, Banzhaf says, is Marriott’s own stated policy to be 100 percent smoke free, which, “includes all guest rooms, restaurants, lounges, meeting rooms, public space and employee work areas.” (Click here for Marriott’s press release announcing the policy.) “Once a corporation makes a public promise, they’re bound by it unless they publicly announce that they’re changing it,” he says, citing a recent case where McDonald’s paid an $8 million settlement for not publicizing a delay in implementing its publicly announced promise to remove trans fat from its fare.
ASH last week sent a letter to Marriott putting the chain on “notice of possible legal actions,” says Banzhaf. “We’re going to wait and see their response to our letters. All you need is one nonsmoker who said I switched to Marriott because of their no-smoking policy, [and] you have a beautiful class action suit.”
Kathleen Duffy, director of public relations/NYC Marriott Hotels, says that while it is true that Marriott International announced last year that its hotels in North America would be smoke-free, M. Shanken Communications, which publishes Cigar Aficionado, has been holding its Big Smoke event at the Marriott Marquis for 10 years, and Marriott has a contractual obligation to hold the November 20 event. “This isn’t something we decided to book just this year,” she says. “And we are not proactively seeking any future business like this from any company, but right now due to a contractual obligation we are hosting this particular event for one night.” Duffy adds that the hotel plans to “do major commercial cleaning, filtering, and venting” of the Marquis ballroom, where the Big Smoke will be held.
She also says, “I can confirm that we have a contract [for the Big Smoke event] for this year and at least next year at the Marriott Marquis.”
“I certainly understand the perspective of advocates for not smoking. I try to explain that we are not ignoring the fact that our company announced we would be smoke-free. This is a once-a-year event we are contractually obligated to hold for a long-term client,” says Duffy. She adds that the chain’s attorneys have received the ASH letter and are preparing a response.

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More Marriott Smoking Ban Fury
?
July 30, 2007

Marriott put their infamous Smoking Ban into effect last July but the comments are flowing on HotelChatter’s Open Thread on the ban.

The latest comes in from Monmikf who says that he was charged a $250 cleaning fee for? emptying old cigarette butts into the hotel room trash can although he never actually smoked inside the room. He writes:

The Marriott hotels must understand that these are hotel rooms and not operating rooms. I paid a hotel rate to stay at this hotel which includes the house keeping staff to clean and freshen up a room for the next guest to arrive after I leave.

They have no right to charge a fee if a room has an “odor” after a guest leaves. Some guests leave trash, piss on bed linens and may spill beer in a hotel room. What’s the charge for these types of odors?

If you agree or disagree with Monmikf or Marriott, then add your thoughts to the Open Thread. Meanwhile, we will be devising a pay scale for different room odors left behind for guests. It should make for an interesting Monday.