Unlucky 13th floor no longer

For years, buildings – including those in the hotel industry – have skipped naming a 13th floor. It was simply too risky a prospect to alienate superstitious guests and tennants. But the trend is changing in the US.

A recent poll among regular travellers revealed that as many as 87 per cent would be comfortable being assigned a 13th floor room and only 7 per cent said they would ask to be moved.

“It was one of the first things I learned: Don’t go to 13,” says industry veteran J.W. “Bill” Marriott Jr., chairman of Marriott International.

Bucking the trend is the Starwood hotel group that has open four new Westin Hotels in the last 18 months with 13th floors. It’s also opened two without. Another hotel, the Embassy Suites, opened in Tampa, Florida, recently with a 13th floor and has proved an interesting litmus test. So far only two guests have specifically asked to be moved from a 13th floor allocation.

In the 1960s, some a previous survey was conducted but the results were inconclusive. To remain on the safe side most developers avoided 13th floors, skipping from 12 to 14.

www.marriott.com