Smokers are confined to less room at the inns

NEW YORK – Attention smokers: Your world just got a little bit smaller.

Now that a second major hotel chain, Marriott International Inc., announced Wednesday that it would go smoke-free, analysts say they expect even more hotels to do the same.

Marriott said it would implement the most significant ban in the industry so far at its hotels in the United States and Canada in September. With its move, it joins Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide’s Westin properties, which was the first hotel chain to go smoke-free in December.

Jeffrey Randall of A.G. Edwards & Sons Inc. said that before the move, Marriott had already designated 90 percent of its rooms as nonsmoking in response to demand from guests.

“That already speaks to a sea change in guest preferences,” Randall said.

Americans have responded to health concerns about smoking, and over the last 10 years, that has translated to a shrinking number of requests for smoking rooms, according to travel agent Mary Peters.

“We can count on one hand the people who request smoking rooms,” said Peters, who owns Friendly Travel American Express in Alexandria, Va.

Intercontinental Hotel Group said Thursday that it is not planning to ban smoking in all rooms, but that it would certainly reconsider if customers said that’s what they want. Intercontinental owns and franchises hotels under brands such as Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts and Candlewood Suites. It keeps a minimum of 75 percent of rooms as nonsmoking, company spokeswoman Virginia Osborne said.

A spokeswoman for the Hilton Hotels Corp., Kendra Walker, said the company does not have plans to follow Marriott’s lead and instead prefers to offer guests the choice of getting a smoking room.

Still, most Hilton hotels already keep nearly all its rooms as nonsmoking, based on historical demand.

Meanwhile, the number of smoking rooms owned by independent hotel operators has been shrinking. Since Westin’s announcement in December, more than 40 owners have implemented their own bans, the company said.

Marriott said its ban will be the largest in the industry, affecting more than 2,300 hotels and corporate apartments and nearly 400,000 guest rooms under several brands including Marriott, JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites and Marriott ExecuStay.

Once in effect, Marriott’s policy prohibits smoking in guest rooms, restaurants, lounges, meeting rooms, public space or employee work areas. The hotel chains have touted their respective moves as being health-conscious, but consumer demand makes them profit-conscious, as well.