What can one do when you have guaranteed your reservation with a credit card and they won't give you a non-smoking room? Are you liable if you go somewhere else?

Here's what I'd like to know. How many smokers ever run into the opposite problem--they want a smoking room and only non-smoking is available? It seems like you never hear about this side of the issue (maybe it's the demographics of Fodors?). If hotels are constantly running short, why don't they change more of their rooms over from smoking to non-smoking?

Ummmm...Julie that's hardly a problem for smokers.
If they're put in a NS room they just go ahead and smoke anyway. They don't care, by and large (judging by the number of clearly smoked-in NS rooms I've had).

You're missing my point. It isn't whether or not smokers consider an unavailability of smoking rooms to be a problem--it's whether or not there are the right number of smoking rooms to meet demand for them. Regardless of whether or not smokers care, I care, because I don't want people smoking in the non-smoking room that I've got reserved for the next night. If smokers never, ever have problems getting a smoking room and non-smokers always seem to have problems then it seems that the proportion of rooms reserved for each needs to be changed. I'm asking whether there are any smokers here who've been told all the smoking rooms are sold out.

Julie --

Yes I am a smoker and have encountered this problem of being put into a non-smoking room when I requested a smoking room. No I did not smoke in the room but rather went outside to smoke.

I've seen notices on check in forms and in rooms (particularly in country inns) advising your credit card will be charged if you smoke to cover the expense of removing the odors. My husband smokes. On more than one occasion, we've requested a smoking room, only to discover our floor (as designated by the number button in the elevator) is not smoking, there's a no smoking plaque on the wall when we exit the elevator, there's a no smoking plaque on the door of the room, and there are non-smoking notices throughout the room. When he calls downstairs and says, "I requested a smoking room", they say, "We'll send an ashtray right up." I think if you have to have a non-smoking room, you have to book at places that respect that. Some do, some don't.

Ben, what is the name of the hotel in SB? Do you feel comfortable giving the name? You spent close to $400 a night so I assume it's one of the nicer hotels.

You may not be able to "force" a hotel to honor a confirmed non smoking reservation.

However, they would have no right to charge you for the room which they could not provide.

I would walk away from a hotel before accepting a room smelling of smoke.

Hotels should all have ozonators(not the Sharper Image thing) which actually would remove the smell from a non smoking room in which someone had smoked