Common hotel practice: non-smokers charged more! (1 Viewer)

[Peter McM]

I just made a reservation at the inn at Turkey Run State Park. The lady asked smoking or non, and we quickly got into the discussion of why people who choose not to pollute their lungs have to pay extra for their healthy lifestyle. She said non-smoking rooms are "more sought after, and therefore 'prime real estate'".

Isn't there some law we can invoke against this discrimination?

 

[Jason Seaver]

Should there be? We're talking basic supply and demand here. It's a bummer and counter-intuitive (you'd think that the increased cleaning costs smoking entails would figure in), but I hardly think that it's something that requires a legal remedy.

And I say this as someone who is an obnoxious, "no smoke in my air and all air is my air", person.

 

[Kenneth]

Yeah, I agree with Jason on this one (supply and demand). There probably aren't that many Hotel choices there but you could always shop around and see if you can find a better rate at a different hotel. Once you do, make sure you inform the Hotel why you changed. You might get a better deal or they might eventually adjust the distribution of their rooms to provide more non-smoking rooms.

Kenneth

 

[Leila Dougan]

If non-smoking rooms are so highly sought after, why doesn't the hotel owner just make all the rooms non-smoking? Seems like a good way to turn a higher profit.

(I actually know the answer, but am trying to make a point).

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Especially since their insurance costs should be lowered substantially.

 

[Bryan X]

I don't know how common this is. I've never been charged more or less for a non-smoking room.

 

[Chris Lockwood]

I've never heard of this, but if anything, they should charge more for the smoking rooms, since those require more cleaning and have higher risk of fire. Plus those ashtrays aren't free.

I've always taken a non-smoking room when offered, but I shouldn't have to pay more.

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Ummm..... why not just rent a smoking room and don't smoke in it? Its not like the non-smoking rooms smell great at most hotels anyway.....

 

[Bryan X]

I honestly can't stand it if there is even a hint of smoke in a room. I've even asked to be moved from one 'supposed' non-smoking room to another non-smoking room, because it smelled like someone had smoked in it.

 

[Peter McM]

Same as Bryan. I once got a smoking room just to save money, and had to keep the window open all night to keep the smell down.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I have stayed at a lot of hotels over the years and have never been charged more for a non-smoking room than a smoking room. Of course non-smoking rooms are sometimes not available. When no non-smoking rooms are available, I make a comment to management and on the feedback form, but otherwise let it go.

Many hotels are by now making whole floors or wings non-smoking, so I think that availability of non-smoking rooms has increased dramatically.

In any case this is a fairly recent phenomena. I can understand that if non-smoking rooms were more sought after, a hotel could charge more for those rooms, just as they charge more for rooms that have better views.

You have the option to decide what is important to you and how much you are willing to pay: either for the better view or the non-smoking room. So I think that it is perfectly OK for a hotel to take that position.

My overall view is that most hotels would alienate a large percentage of their customers with such a practice. Only in a place such as you describe (I assume that the Inn in question is the only non-camping accommodation in the State Park), where there is no competition would such a practice survive for very long.

BTW, Peter, how did you manage hotels before non-smoking rooms became the norm?

 

[Chris_Morris]

Strangest thing I saw was the resort we stayed in at Myrtle Beach last year (The Caribbean). I made the reservation online and realized that there was not an option for smoking/nonsmoking. I called them and was informed all rooms went both ways. They use a chemical treatment, think high power Febreeze after each guest left. I was skeptical, but when we got there, everything smelled brand new and clean Needless to say we are staying there this year, in 2 weeks no less


Chris

 

[Jay Taylor]

Like most of you I’ve never been charged extra for a non-smoking room.



I’m disappointed that hotels with entire non-smoking floors still have a problem with smoke odor in the non-smoking rooms.



They wash the sheets and towels together with the laundry from the smoking floors. As a result, your non-smoking room may smell okay until you pull the bedspread back and go to bed. Then the smoke fumes hit you.



I’ve also been in a motel that had a ventilation system that sucked air out of smoking rooms and blew it into the non-smoking rooms. The smoke odor was so strong my wife and I became nauseated!

 

[Todd Hochard]

I travel 10-12 weeks a year on business, and I can't say I've ever run into this.

quote:They use a chemical treatment, think high power Febreeze after each guest left.

Not really crazy about that idea. I'd much prefer the absence of, as opposed to the elimination of one with another.

 

[Bryan X]

quote:

quote:They use a chemical treatment, think high power Febreeze after each guest left.

Not really crazy about that idea. I'd much prefer the absence of, as opposed to the elimination of one with another.

I'm not crazy about that either. When I was in a non-smoking room that smelled like smoke, I called the front desk and they said they would use one of those on the room while we were at dinner or something. I said, 'no thanks, I'd rather have a different room'.