I like the idea of this, but I'm wondering how effective it is. Last week I was in two separate "non-smoking hotels" and both of my rooms had obviously been recently smoked in. Yuk.

It's a great concept, but I can see where it could be a problem in a conference hotel when some of the attendees smoke, as is often the case. Would they stay elsewhere because of their smoking, or would they sneak one in the bathroom as I might have done in my smoking days...LOL, thinking the smell actually went away!

I had not thought of an added problem for that hotel now: that now people can't book non-smoking rooms because they are all allegedly non-smoking. Now you may be finding random rooms scattered around the hotel that have been smoked in.

Of course, that can happen in a hotel that has a small percentage of their rooms as smoking rooms too. Either a smoker gets a non smoking room because that's all that's left, OR, (and this happens) they book a non-smoking room because they don't like the smell of stale smoke any more than we do.

Getting rid of the smell entails dry or wet cleaning virtually all soft goods in the room, including drapes and carpeting and changing filters. Now you have a room immediately out of commission until the cleaning is complete....or you have a really unhappy guest until it does get done.

So...if you were management, would you charge them for cleaning? How many people would actually fess up to it or would you get, "Oh, that wasn't me who smoked...it must have been the previous guest". How do you stop it?

I would prefer they offer some smoking rooms, since smokers are gonna smoke regardless.

My girlfriends and I ended up in a smoking room when we had booked nonsmoking for our h.s. reunion two years ago. There were no other rooms available, so management offered to "fix" the room - and soon enough a man showed up with a bottle of Febreeze that he proceeded to spray liberally around the room! Needless to say, the "fix" only lasted a short while... but by the time we hit the beds after the party, none of us cared too much!

I am now about to go to Beijing for a month (taking a class), and I've been told that there's no way to guarantee "non-smoking" in the hotel where they're putting us up. I'm not sure we'll be able to get them to do that level of cleaning, either (2-star hotel geared to university students and the staff doesn't speak English). I'm thinking of bringing a small air purifier (came with our larger Sharper Image one). Any idea if this will be at all efficacious?

I think it would bre great if hotels that advertised themselves as non-smoking - and there should be more of them would enforce it. If they can have smoke detectors in airplane toilets they can put them in hotel rooms.

This way the staff would know they have to seriously sanitize the room - and the miscreant cuold be charged - perhaps $50 or so - for the extra work.

I think that would stop people from smoking in non-smoking rooms. There's no reason they can;t go outside to smoke - like they do here in restaurants and office buildings.

In WV, there is a state law prohibiting smoking in B&Bs - even if you are the owner, you can't smoke inside. We feature that statement prominently in our policies and guest information booklet and say that we will charge a $250 fine and cleaning fee if you are caught with the possibility of eviction. It is easier to figure it out in a small establishment but I have not had a problem with smoking.

Portland Oregon does a great job of keeping non smoking businesses, non-smoking.
In fact, our apt in a brand new building was entirely non-smoking and that meant guests and anyone in the garden/outdoor areas. The residents would be evicted if caught breaking the rules.
The building has about a year long waiting list for people wanting in so I think there are more people who agree with a smoke free environment ..
The Monaco Hotel in Portland is also smoke free..I am pretty sure smoking is not allowed in any rooms.
I remember how stinky Las Vegas was to me the first time I went back there, after getting used to being in cities where it is getting harder and harder for people to smoke in public.
OO...could they put in smoke detectors like they have on airplanes that would alert the hotel to a sneaky smoker? or perhaps when the maids come in each morning, they can do a sniff test...
lol....We have been pleasantly surprised that the non-smoking laws in Buenos Aires are being taken very seriously and people are not making a big fuss over it..

Marriott has signs up in all of their rooms saying they will chard $250 if there is any evidence of smoking in the room. I am not sure if and how they enforce this.
When my husband has stayed in some Marriott properites, entire wings have been blocked off with air cleaners in the hall way; he thought that some VIP was staying there and demanded to smoke.

^ Actually, that's interesting. One of the hotels I was in was a Marriott (Albany). When I noticed how smoky it was I actually looked around and wondered if I was in a smoking room. I saw no signs or anything to indicate that you could not smoke in the room. So I called down to ask if I was in a non-smoking room, and they responded that it was a non-smoking hotel. But it wasn't very clearly marked as such!

$250 is not excessive considering a pet charge is often $75 or more.

I was in a hotel recently that had a card saying there would be a $75 charge if they found evidence of smoking. The way it was worded, anything smoking (tobacco, marijuana, side of beef, etc.) would count.