Hotels
Preparing for your next business trip or vacation? Book your smokefree hotel today!
"Change is in the Air," as Marriott says in their July 2006 smokefree announcement.
Several national hotels, led by Westin, Marriott, and Heartland Inns now have 100% smokefree indoor air policies for their properties (including guest rooms, restaurants, bars, lobbies, and other indoor areas). Marriott's policy, effective Fall 2006, applies to all its brands: Marriott, J.W. Marriott, Renaissance Hotel, Ritz-Carlson, Fairfield Inn, Courtyard by Marriott, Residence Inn, and Spring Hill Suites. They cited the health concerns of secondhand smoke for its employees and customers, as well overwhelming public demand. The Choice Hotels brand has two chains, Comfort Suites and Cambria Suites, which are 100% smokefree.
Westin Hotel & Resort's 77 hotels in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean became smokefree in January 2006, the first national smokefree hotel policy. Westin's landmark policy now applies in Ireland, Scotland, New Zealand, and Fiji as well.
On February 11, 2008, Starwood Hotels & Resorts announced that its Sheraton Hotels & Resorts and Four Points by Sheraton Hotel brands, following the policy in Starwood's Westin Hotels & Resorts, would go smokefree at more than 300 hotels and resorts throughout the U.S., Caribbean and Canada.
On March 1, 2006, all three of Disneyland's hotels in California -- Disney's Grand Californian Hotel, The Disneyland Hotel, and Disney's Paradise Hotel -- adopted 100% smokefree indoor policies.
Many independent hotels and individual properties of other chains are 100% in many locations throughout the nation.
Be sure to stay in 100% smokefree hotels on your next business trip or vacation!
Villas de Loreto resort in Mexico, Waterloo House in Dublin, Ireland, the Ammans Bed & Breakfast in Oostduinkerke, Belgium, the Valletta Guesthouse in Malta, and Black Mountain of Maine 
snow resort. In addition, many vacation destination cities are now smokefree from Breckenridge, Colorado to Orlando, Florida. Camelot by the Sea in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, has made its entire property, including the parking lot, smokefree. Fran Mustert, President and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Resorts, stated in regard to the decision, "We felt it was not enough to simply limit the number of smoking rooms, or designate smoking areas. We believe the best experience for our guests is a luxury resort that is completely smoke-free." Click here for a list of 100% smokefree travel destinations in the U.S.
| “We have been delightfully surprised with the number of U.S. hotels that were already smokefree prior to the launch of www.FreshStay.com in January, 2006. We are even more enthusiastic about the number of hotels that have decided to become 100% non-smoking...We will be adding over 40 hotels to FreshStay™ within the next week... that are offering their guests a better indoor air quality experience. We expect this trend to continue to accelerate during 2006. The snowball has just begun the descent down the mountain,” says Ray Burger of Pineapple Hospitality and CEO and Founder of www.FreshStay.com. |
The Edith Macy Conference Center in New York provides 100% smokefree rooms and is a great setting for business retreats and meetings. Other hotels going smokefree include Krystal Aire Inn & Suites in Springfield, Missouri, and the Holiday Inn Express in Centerville, Ohio.
Why should hotels go smokefree?
In 2003, the Associated Press reported that, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, hotel rooms that accommodate smokers have dropped from 20 percent to the current 16 percent over a five-year period. Although the majority of many hotels and motels are voluntarily adopting smokefree policies to protect employee and patron health, the majority of hotels and motels still work to "accommodate" smokers. This poses a problem to the health of both guests and employees.
Smoking rooms often are located next to nonsmoking rooms or share the same ventilation system, not to mention sheets and towels from smoking rooms end up in nonsmoking ones. Secondhand smoke toxins and residue can stay in fabrics anywhere from a couple of hours to a couple of months after initial exposure, even after they have been washed.
In addition, hotel employees are required to enter smoke-filled rooms and common areas to perform their duties. No employees should be required to risk their good health for the sake of their jobs.
If the hotel you stay at is not 100% smokefree, be sure to request a 100% smokefree floor to minimize exposure to secondhand smoke when traveling.
| Smokefree News |
| Some hotels are banning smoking Azita Arvani recently returned from a trade show in Las Vegas, where she requested a nonsmoking room at her resort. It didn't matter. "Smoke came in through the central air conditioning units," said Arvani, a Los Angeles technology consultant. "I usually don't have any problems with hotels and smoking. Except when I go to Las Vegas." That makes two of us. I've never been to Nevada's largest city without spending at least a few moments of every day gasping for fresh air. There's good news for nonsmoking hotel guests: The scales are about to tip in your favor this summer when Wisconsin's Act 12 takes effect, and the Badger State becomes the first in the nation to ban smoking in all hotels. . . . . Here's how smokers circumvent the rules: After checking in, they light up in their rooms and flush the evidence down the toilet. Then they phone the front desk to complain about the odor of cigarette smoke, and when an employee offers to move them, they decline, saying they've already unpacked. ... Managing Smoke-Free Expectations Potomac Hospitality Services and the Charlestowne Hotels management group collectively are bringing 22 new 100% smoke-free properties to the FreshStay's family of 4,800 . Potomac Hospitality Services and Charlestowne Hotels combined offer 22 properties that have completely eliminated smoking on their properties, adding to the comprehensive list of more than 4,800 other FreshStay.com hotels, motels and B&Bs. ... Sheraton Puerto Rico Convention Center Hotel & Casino to Open in ... ...At 20,000 square feet, the hotel`s casino, which is operated by CCHRP Hospitality, will be the largest in Puerto Rico and will offer a circular casino bar and entertainment space - the first in Puerto Rico. The 'smoke-free' 24-hour casino will feature 448 slot machines, 16 table games, a full player`s reward program, state-of-the-art specialty video, sound and light features and the island`s first multi-denominational slot machines. ... FreshStay.com Targets 10000 Smoke-Free Hotels By End Of 2009 More hotels go completely smoke-free Amid growing public concern about the dangers of secondhand smoke, the number of lodgings prohibiting smoking indoors has tripled in three years, according to a USA TODAY analysis of American Automobile Association data. JD Power and Associates Reports: Hotel Guests Are Considerably ... Nearly nine of 10 guests (89%) say they prefer a smoke-free hotel environment in 2008, compared with 79 percent in 2006. Hawaii hotels fining smoking scofflaws Smokers who light up in a non-smoking hotel room in Hawai'i may may find themselves paying several hundred dollars more for the room cleanup. Travel Hawaii, a Hawai'i-based Internet retailer, has set up a database -- www.travel-Hawaii.com/smoking.html -- that details the smoking policies of hotels throughout the state. Travel Hawaii owner John Lindelow said his company updates the information as policies shift. "This is a rapidly changing area of hotel policy, so we make a lot of phone calls to stay on top of what the hotels are doing," he said. So far, the top charge goes to Aqua Palms & Spa in Waikiki, with a $500 fee to clean a smoke-free room there. Hawaii Hotel & Condominium Smoking Policies In November of 2006, the state of Hawaii instituted a strict new smoking law. As a result, many Hawaii hotels declared all of their guest rooms to be smoke-free. This has been a boon to non-smokers, of course, who no longer have to enter a hotel room with that telltale odor of "smokers past" lingering in the air. However, smokers aren't happy with such policies, as they won't be able to stay at smoke-free hotels unless they stash their habit for the length of their stay, or only smoke "off premises" or in designated areas, which are usually outside any public area in the hotel, e.g. places like parking lots and other outside areas that are at least 20 feet from any doors or windows. Some entire Hawaii hotel chains have declared all of their rooms to be smoke-free. These include: * Outrigger and OHANA Hotels Hawaii * ResortQuest Hotels Hawaii * Marriott Resorts Hawaii London's Marriott West India Quay goes smoke free Study Finds That Europeans Prefer Smoke-Free Hotels A recent survey of more than 12,000 hotel guests in Europe found that nearly 72 percent of French hotel guests now prefer a smoke-free environment, even beyond their room, suggesting that the French may embrace their planned 2008 smoking ban. This year’s J. D. Power & Associates European Hotel Guest Satisfaction Index Study also revealed that 69 percent of hotel guests across Europe prefer a nonsmoking environment, not far off from the 79 percent of hotel guests in North America wanting smoke-free hotels. The lowest group to support smoke-free hotels was 57 percent of the guests who live in Spain, and the highest group to endorse no-smoking hotels was 76 percent of British and Swedish travelers. Hotel Industry Goes Cold Turkey on Smoking Westin's Bold Experiment Pays Off, Triggers Trend NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- It wasn't easy for Sue Brush to kick the habit. "I had a few sleepless nights," the Westin Hotels senior VP-marketing said of the chain's decision to halt smoking in its 77 North American hotels. Marriott Goes 'Smoke-Free' at All Hotels in North America - More Than 2,300 Properties and 10 Lodging Brands Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR - News) announced today that all of the Company's lodging brands in the United States and Canada will become 100 percent smoke-free. Heartland Inns to Go Smoke Free
"Now guests can sleep and breathe easier in every room at every Heartland Inn," said Barb Cullinan, Heartland Inns of America, director of operations. "Our operating philosophy has always been 'do right' when it comes to our guests and this smoke-free policy is definitely the right thing to do for our guests' and employees' health and overall quality of life." Take a Deep Breath in ... Out. Again. There's Something Different in the Air at New Virginia Marriott Westin Hotels in Australia & Fiji to go smokefree in July 2006 Westin Hotels & Resorts is to become one of the first hotel chains in Australia and Fiji to introduce a smoke-free policy. Beginning July 31st, The Westin Sydney, The Westin Melbourne and The Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa Fiji will be totally smoke free and join Westin’s 77 North America hotels that introduced a smoke-free policy this past January. This new policy also reinforces Westin’s new brand positioning around personal renewal and offering guests the services, products and amenities that allow them to relax, rejuvenate and restore during their stay. Starwood offers new extended stay brand A year after launching its aloft Hotels brand, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. announced plans for an "upper upscale" extended stay brand inspired by its Westin Hotels brand. Code named "Project ESW," Starwood said in a release that the new brand will feature a sophisticated, residential product designed to be more home-like in an industry saturated with look-alike brands and generic features. Hyatt launches smoke-free guarantee to top-tier |