The new JW Marriott hotel under construction in Grand Rapids, Mich., center, will feature a 19th floor and lounge exclusively for female clientele. (Photo by Noel A. Webley II)
Posted on 05/17/2007 10:55:54 AM PDT by Incorrigible
By CHRIS KNAPE
| The new JW Marriott hotel under construction in Grand Rapids, Mich., center, will feature a 19th floor and lounge exclusively for female clientele. (Photo by Noel A. Webley II) |
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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Among the amenities planned for this city's new JW Marriott hotel, one might be a first in America.
The Alticor Inc.-owned riverfront hotel is reserving its 19th floor and a lounge exclusively for female clientele when it opens Sept. 19.
Andrea Groom, a spokeswoman for the 24-story, 340-room hotel, said the idea recognizes more than half of all business travelers are women.
"A lot of women are saying they're not feeling like they're safe when they're traveling to a strange city,'' Groom said. "They don't necessarily want to go down to a lounge and feel like they are getting hit on by guys.''
The women-only rooms also will have amenities not found in other rooms, such as chenille throw blankets, ionic hair dryers, jewelry holders and special bath products.
Access to those rooms will come at a $25 to $30 per night premium over standard rates of about $229.
Is it legal?
Harold Core, a spokesman for the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, said he wasn't sure.
"You cannot deny a person services just because they are male or female,'' Core said. "In a lot of cases, there could be a nondiscriminatory reason where a hotel would have that kind of set-up or policy. But I can't speak to what that reasoning would be.''
He cited restrooms and locker rooms as examples of gender-specific amenities that are legal.
"I can imagine if this is something they're announcing publicly, it is something that will either come to a court or come to our commission,'' he said.
George Aquino, general manager of the hotel, said with only a small percentage of women-only rooms, he doesn't expect it to become an issue.
News of the women-only floor and lounge emerged Tuesday as the company announced a Sept. 19 grand opening gala. The hotel's restaurant and other amenities will be open Sept. 21.
Regular room reservations will be taken via Marriott's reservation system beginning in June.
The hotel will include a restaurant called six.one.six featuring "regional American fare with global influences.''
A special technology package in each room will allow guests to plug in laptops and music players and utilize the in-room speakers and 32-inch plasma TV.
(Chris Knape is a reporter for the Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press. He can be contacted at cknape(at)grpress.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
The men-only rooms also will have amenities not found in other rooms, such as Big screen TV's, Tivo, 200 Channels, free porno, in room refrigerators stocked with Budweiser, Coors and Heineken Beers, Fresh roasted peanuts delivered daily (yes, you can throw the shells on the floor!), urinals.
Best of all the cleaning staff will be upgraded:
You are absolutely correct and if enough frequent travellers like me say I will only stay at a Marriott if I have to - then they will lose money. They can decide how to run their business and I can decide where to take mine. It (should be) a free country.
There's a late-night Showtime "Special" if I ever saw one.
the only problem that will ever come up is if every other room in the hotel is booked. and that’s easy to solve.. just bump a female occupant of a room up to premium for no charge.
i see no problem with this policy.
LOL! Ok, maybe it NOT such a bad idea after all!
It will have wall-to-wall rug
Funny, but Rosie O’Donut creeps me out even more than Boy George ever did! Last I heard, he wasn’t putting down his country!
Try this one:
I checked into the hotel and went to "my" room. I walked in and soon noticed a garment back on the rack in the closet, and high heeled shoes on the floor. The bathroom door was closed, a light was on.
I silently backed out of the room, quietly closed the door and then went down and gave the desk clerk a bit of my mind.
The only thing creepier is I can imagine somewhere, someone is writing: "I had just checked into my room, hung my garment bag up and took off my shoes. I was using the restroom, when suddenly I heard the door open...........
Yes, it seems to me that if it is a bad business decision on Marriott's part, well, it's their business and they will suffer the costs and eventually cease the program.
And if it works out well on the bottom line for Marriott, then it seems to me that the market has spoken also.
How did I know that would be coming? Why shouldn't it be? The hotel wants to provide the service, and it evidently has customers who'll pay for it.
They should have a men's club too, if there's a market for it.
Just like in the old days, when it was recognized that sometimes men want the company of men, and women the company of women, and -- believe it or not-- there was no sexual connotation to it.
And "civil rights" commissions everywhere, plus the congenital malcontents among the citizenry who would make a federal case of this, should...uh...take a hike.
Unlawful on its face.
I have the quaint idea that private businesses should be allowed to conduct their business as they see fit. Including, refusing service to anyone for any reason.
If a hotel can make money by meeting a perceived demand from the market, by all means they need to go for it.
Handling it and being annoyed by it are two different things.
Personally I don't like having to be in the position of having to fend off the would be romeos. I generally have my nose buried in a book and would like to sip and read in peace.
A grownup male should be able to take the hint. Sadly they seem to be in short supply.
A full hotel with only a couple of rooms left on the ladies’ floor, male guest arrives with a guaranteed-late-arrival reservation. What will they do?
Unfortunately, unless there’s a conservative religious component to it, the bad will drive out the good until it’s wall-to-wall Rosie McDonuts.
There all better now. Carry on
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