Why switch from Marriott to Hilton?

For at least five years, I've breakfasted every weekday morning on the patio of the Marriott Courtyard. Wonderful patio, wonderful staff. But come mid September when the Marriott goes totally non-smoking, I'll be gone. From then on, I'll be at the Hilton on their patio where I can enjoy a smoke with my coffee, as can other writers who join us. It's a damned shame that this smoking hysteria has spread so far. I seriously doubt that, sitting on a patio in the open air, anyone who gets a whiff of smoke from my cigarette is gonna fall over dead on the spot. That's just silly. More, it's stupid. Which is why I'll be voting for Arnold for CA gov this year. His Dem
opponent is a major mover when it comes to anti-smoking. Fine. But I don't react well to force. I'm perfectly willing to sit on a patio and never enter the inside of any public space with a cigarette, knowing that many people don't care for the smell of cigars or cigarettes. I would never knowingly light up near anyone with asthma, for instance, though I know people with asthma who smoke. But when summer comes and people who prefer a non-smoking area and so sit inside when the weather isn't nice, immediately want to sit on the patio...which is a smoking area...and then complain about smokers, that angers me. There's a limit to my tolerance. My dad often said two things: Spare me from the righteous, and Give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile. True. At the same time, none of these politicians and health nazis want to give up a single penny of the tax money or the jobs smokers provide. Therefore smoking remains legal...they just don't want smokers to smoke.

From USA Today:

Despite trend, there's room at many inns for smokers
Updated 8/2/2006 10:11 AM ET
By Gary Stoller, USA TODAY

Some hotels are beginning to buck the growing trend of going smoke-free.
Marriott said two weeks ago that all its 2,300 North American hotels would be smoke-free in September. It follows Westin, which started the move in January when it banned smoking at hotels in the USA, Canada and the Caribbean.

But more recently, at least four chains, including some industry giants, have said they'll continue to accommodate smokers.

Extended Stay Hotels, which owns 676 hotels in the USA, says consumers deserve a choice, and it will not shut out smokers. InterContinental Hotels Group, Hilton Hotels and Hyatt Hotels also said they would continue to offer rooms for smokers.

"Everybody's making a position statement now," says American Hotel & Lodging Association President Joe McInerney, who expects continuation of the smoke-free trend.

Extended Stay CEO Gary DeLapp says his company aims to deliver "a home-away-from-home experience" for guests. Customers at Extended Stay Hotels are typically business travelers who stay about 20 nights. The hotels accommodate many foreign guests who smoke, he says.
DeLapp, an "avid non-smoker and runner," says one-quarter of the five brands' rooms were set aside for smokers four years ago. Now, 10% to 15% are for smokers.

InterContinental Hotels Group, which has seven hotel brands, including Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza, says customers are not complaining about smoke. All of the company's 3,600 hotels are required to set aside at least 75% of rooms for non-smokers, and 20 lodgings are entirely smoke-free, says spokeswoman Virginia Osborne.

Hilton spokeswoman Kendra Walker says the company, which has 10 brands and more than 2,800 hotels, continues "to offer a choice to guests, based on historic guest demand." Hilton's nine U.S. brands offer up to 15% of their rooms for smokers, she says.

Hyatt, which has 215 hotels worldwide, has no plans to go smoke-free, says spokeswoman Katie Meyer. About 1% of its North American hotel rooms are set aside for smokers, she says.
Frequent traveler James Collins, a smoker, says he "can't accept" hotels banning smoking. "I think much of this is due to the second-hand smoke hysteria, and their desire to look good to the public," says the health care consultant from Conover, N.C.

Robert Milk, who doesn't smoke and has stayed at hotels 160 nights this year, says he respects chains' decisions to accommodate smokers. But the health care consultant from Glen Allen, Va., says he will stay at their hotels only if no smoke-free hotel is nearby.

Wrap...