The JW Marriott Dubai has just announced that the hotel has increased its number of non smoking rooms to 45%. The hotel increased this percentage from 26% at the beginning of the year, creating three dedicated non smoking floors, making the JW Marriott Dubai one of the leading hotels offering the most non smoking rooms in the UAE.

All 67 newly confirmed non smoking rooms have also undergone light refurbishment to remove all upholstery, including curtains, beds and linen to be in line with the existing non smoking rooms.

The bold move was initiated by Wajdy El Chaar, Director of Rooms Operations at the JW Marriott Dubai who conducted research amongst the hotel guests. Wajdy El Chaar confirms,

“Guests are becoming more health conscious in today’s modern environment and we can see this in the number of non smoking room requests we continuously receive. This trend is also seen developing from customers who are GCC nationals which was our biggest surprise.”

He concludes, ‘With this trend taking place and developments with Marriott International we are looking to be the pioneers in the region by offering our guests the luxury and healthy environments they require’.

Further research was also conducted amongst some of the major hotel chains in Dubai and results showed that the average amount of non smoking rooms accumulated to approximately 28% in total rooms inventory, making the JW Marriott Dubai ahead of its competitors.

Marriott International, Inc. also announced on the 24th July 2006 that all of the Company’s lodging brands in the United States and Canada will become 100 percent smoke-free, beginning in September 2006. This represents the industry’s largest move to a non-smoking environment, with more than 2,300 hotels and corporate apartments and nearly 400,000 guest rooms under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites and Marriott ExecuStay brands.

‘Creating a smoke-free environment demonstrates a new level of service and care for our guests and associates,’ said J.W. Marriott, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Marriott International. ‘Our family of brands is united on this important health issue and we anticipate very positive customer feedback.’

The new policy includes all guest rooms, restaurants, lounges, meeting rooms, public spaces and employee work areas, with the demand for non-smoking rooms continuously rising.

Marriott has also been nominated this year for a

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World Travel Award as World’s Leading Hotel Brand.
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