It has been about 15 years since smoking was banned in restaurants, hotels and public buildings in the USA and Europe. Initially, hoteliers felt that they would be seen as poor hosts if they restricted the “personal freedom” of their guests. However, this is no longer the case. Instead, the non-smoker’s right to fresh indoor air takes precedence. Here you can find out where smokers can still indulge in their habit and where smoking in hotels is taboo – for your own good, of course!
Dear smokers …
… please note that you are in a non-smoking hotel. All our rooms are non-smoking rooms. Smoking is not allowed in the restaurant and lobby. It is not allowed in the sanitary facilities and it is not allowed in the sauna and swimming pool … Sounds familiar to you, doesn’t it? Is this a problem? Definitely not for non-smokers. But a certain percentage of the world’s population smokes.
How many smokers are there?
22.3 percent of the world’s population smoke. According to the German Ministry of Health, it’s 23.8 percent in Germany (2018), 12.5 percent in the United States (2021), and 29 percent in Indonesia (2021). Even though our partners mainly have people with a high level of health and lifestyle awareness checking in, it does happen occasionally that there is a smoker among the guests. After all, there are still many well-known smokers. Jogi Löw has his Marlboro Light, Carla Bruni puffs on e-cigarettes, and Brad Pitt … oh, he said he quit during the Corona pandemic!
Sustainable travelers smoke less
“We have noticed that there are fewer smokers among our guests,” reports the HUBERTUS Mountain Refugio Allgäu. “Smokers are allowed to smoke on the outdoor terraces, such as in Traubel’s garden,” they continue. There would be enough distance to other guests so that no one would feel disturbed.
There are no problems in the hotel itself or in the hotel rooms. This may be due to the fact that many of the guests at the Allgäu Wellness Hotel practice yoga. Jennifer Aniston, for example, quit smoking through yoga. At least that is what she says in her foreword to the book “Yogalosophy”.
Hotels are considered public spaces – but what about your own hotel room?
A space that is open to the public – such as a museum, restaurant, or even a hotel – is legally considered a public place. That’s why lawmakers can require owners of these public spaces to prevent smoking there – to protect nonsmokers.
A hotel room is not a home
There are different interpretations of the hotel room itself that have occupied courts around the world. For example, plaintiffs have tried to argue that a hotel room is like an apartment that you rent for a period of time. In the rented, private living space, you can smoke as much as you want. However, the chances of the courts agreeing with you are slim. At least if you book the hotel for a vacation and do not actually live there.
Smoking ban is not a travel fault
No judge will let you get away with the idea that a smoking ban on the hotel premises and on a private hotel beach is a “travel defect”. As soon as you have been informed somewhere in the small print that smoking is not allowed in the hotel, you have lost – and probably soon even the round symbol with the crossed out cigarette will not be necessary anymore.
Non-smokers’ rights have more weight
On the contrary, if you are a smoker, you may even face penalties if you smoke in your hotel room. You could be charged with: breaking the house rules, damaging the furniture, and that the room could no longer be rented to non-smokers.
“The STURM is clearly declared as a non-smoking hotel. This applies to all indoor areas, especially our rooms,” the owners of our Green PearlsⓇ partner in the German Rhön-region tell us. Smoking is allowed on the balconies, the terrace and in front of the entrance, but only “as long as it does not disturb non-smokers! If this happens, we implore our smoking guests to turn out their cigarettes or find an undisturbed place to smoke,” it says. The right of the non-smoker comes first.
Hotels with smoking rooms are almost non-existent
Theoretically, hotels could designate special smoking rooms. Since none of the sustainable Green PearlsⓇ accommodations do this, we did some research on Google. At first glance, you’d think that there are still plenty of “Top Hotels with Smoking Rooms” in every city in the world, from Paris to Dubai. But if you go to the websites of those hotels, you won’t find anything about smoking rooms – only smoking areas!
Smoking is bad for the environment
Smoking is proven to be unhealthy for you and those around you. (Unhealthy at best, deadly at worst!) Cigarettes are also a toxic poison to the environment!
Here are some reasons why you should ALWAYS put your cigarette butts in an ashtray and NEVER throw them on the ground.
- Cigarettes are made up of various poisons; nicotine is a neurotoxin.
- When you throw cigarettes into nature, these toxins end up in our soil, groundwater, and water cycle.
- A 2011 University of San Diego study showed that both the filters and the tobacco residue from cigarette butts have toxic effects on fish – both freshwater and saltwater fish.
- The filters are made from cellulose acetate. According to the VSR Water Pollution Control, it takes up to 15 years for such a filter to decompose, and in saltwater it takes several hundred years!
Another point that should make you realize how unsustainable tobacco use is: The millions of dollars that are used to subsidize tobacco fields instead of growing food.
Smoking in Hotels – How do hotels deal with it?
As mentioned above, smoking is now banned in hotel interiors everywhere. But there are still accommodations that are reluctant to patronize you.
“We prefer not to forbid anything to our guests, they should feel carefree and free on vacation”. Gut Guntrams
At Gut Guntrams you can stay in extraordinary “floating” garden lofts as well as in various apartments near Vienna. Each accommodation has its own terrace where you can smoke freely, and you can also light your cigarette by the natural pond or in the orchard. “However, we do expect a respectful approach to nature,” it says.
A “smoker’s oasis” is promised to you at the Biohotel Grafenast in Tyrol. The Biohotel itself is a non-smoking hotel, “but we have designed a beautiful outdoor area that invites smokers and does not discriminate or even exclude”.
At the Tyrolean Hotel Klosterbräu, you’ll even find a mountain guide who smokes! Clemens, an active guide from the owner’s family, always has three “Karwendel cigarettes” for the Karwendelmarsch (52 kilometers through the Karwendel mountains with a total of 2,300 meters of altitude): “There’s always a cigarette at the start, at the Hochleger and at the finish,” he says. “It’s my vice, but it still works.”
Comfortable smoking areas
At the Lifestylehotel SAND at Timmendorfer Strand on the Baltic Sea, smokers are welcome “in that we give our smoking SAND guests the opportunity to feel comfortable in our small smoking areas,” say the owners. “Our few SAND guests who like to smoke are connected to the lifestyle and respect the environment and other guests.”
Smoking without disturbing other guests
“Our outdoor area is so spacious and generously designed that there are virtually no points of friction, as each guest can always find his or her own personal retreat,” reports the Hotel Weihrerhof in South Tyrol. “As everywhere in Italy, smoking is prohibited indoors, but outside – for example on the balcony, the terrace or by the lake – smoking is allowed. Guests are very considerate about this, they say. Problems with cigarette butts or the like are completely unknown here.
Smoking in the hotel – smoking ban rarely causes problems
On rare occasions, a guest has complained about the hotel’s smoking ban, according to Casa León Royal Retreat. The boutique hotel is located on the holiday island of Gran Canaria, where it is very dry in the summer and there are always forest fire warnings! Be very careful with cigarettes and never throw them on the ground!
At the Relais del Maro in Italy, smoking is only allowed on the terrace. However, there have been cases of guests smoking in the rooms, even though it is a designated non-smoking hotel. Fortunately, the smell of cigarettes could be removed with an ozone machine. None of the non-smokers ever complained.
Our conclusion
In general, we found that smoking in the hotel or in the hotel room is simply not done today. People go outside as a matter of course and show consideration. It is not really necessary to point this out, but it is still done.
We hope the information was helpful for you, stay healthy and … the last one to put out the cigarette!
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