More and more hotels across the US want to eradicate smoking in their establishments to help tourists stay healthy while traveling. These initiatives aim to have hotel guests no longer get choked and be exposed to the carcinogenic components of cigarettes and tobacco.
As the smell and constituents of smoke can remain on walls, curtains, carpets or bed, the hotel management and staff have always been burdened with cleaning and renovating the room to rid of the smell. The new policy will, therefore, let the hotels save costs from investing in cleaning.
Most hotel owners, especially in Maryland, pay overtime for the staff who would remove the odors incessantly from room to room. They would have to use odor-neutralizing chemicals and clean HVAC filters. Renovation or simply moving furniture accommodates to more cleaning time. It costs the hotel more money to spend and at the same time loses customers due to room closures.
Moreover, hoteliers believed that non-smoking establishments would further boost tourism opportunities and provide a positive limelight to the hotel as it promotes a safe, healthy workforce and a hale and hearty customer.
Choice Hotels CEO Steve Joyce told USA Today that "Nobody wants a smoking room." He further said that even smokers don't want a smoking room.
After the Department of Transportation banned e-cigarettes last year in airlines, hotels also followed the same policy as they began treating e-cigarettes like regular cigars. Meanwhile, Brand Senior Vice President of Wyndham Hotel Group said that smoke-free environments in the US are now what people, even smokers, are expecting.
In fact, she told reporters that implementing smoke-free rooms makes better accommodation surroundings as guests can sleep and relax well in a cleaner room with sweet smelling beddings and curtains.
President of the Americas for Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Javier Rosenberg planned on having his hotel rebranded as a non-smoking establishment. He even stated as saying, "We have received no negative feedback from guests on the move to smoke-free."
