In September, Marriott International will become the latest and the largest chain to ban smoking in its hotels and resorts. All U.S. and Canadian properties — including more than 2,300 Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites, and Marriott ExecuStay facilities — will be smoke-free.

Mike Beardsley, senior vice president of sales, North America, Marriott Corp., admits the change “probably will have an effect on non-U.S. groups coming to U.S. properties. We will have some kind of designated smoking areas, such as outdoor lounges. … We are making sure that we can accommodate guests who want to smoke — we won't make them go to the curb.” Guests might be able to smoke on guest-room balconies, but hotels will make that decision individually. If a guest smokes in a nonsmoking area, Beardsley says the policy is to hold the individual, not the group, responsible for cleanup charges.

Groups already booked after September who have large smoking contingencies should contact their hotel. “We would work with the meeting planner to determine what the impact would be if the accommodations we would need to make for them are not to their satisfaction,” says Beardsley. “It may be that the group would have to move, but that's not where we want to go.”

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