Do Hotels Still Have Smoking Rooms?

Many travelers who smoke cigarettes want to know – can I still get smoking rooms at hotels or have they all become non-smoking? While options have reduced over time due to health concerns, some properties still accommodate guests who smoke in designated spaces.

Hotels With Total Smoking Bans

In recent years, more and more hotels have implemented complete indoor smoking bans for rooms and public areas. Major chains leading the charge in prohibiting smoking hotel-wide include:

• Marriott – All Marriott-managed brands in North America, including luxurious options like Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis, no longer offer any rooms where smoking is allowed. Nearly all public spaces are smoke-free too.
• Hilton – Hilton Hotels & Resorts have banned smoking entirely on hotel grounds, except potentially designated outdoor smoking areas located away from entries and windows. This covers rooms, balconies, and both indoor & outdoor public spaces.
• Disney Hotels – Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resorts prohibit smoking everywhere at their hotels for all guests and visitors. Those who smoke must go off Disney property to avoid fines.
• IHG Hotels – Nearly all IHG hotel brands, such as InterContinental, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn, have adopted 100% smoke-free premises in the U.S and Canada, including all rooms and common public places.
• Hyatt Hotels – Hyatt no longer offers smoking rooms for their full-service hotel brands in the Americas like Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, and Hyatt Regency. Any remaining options only exist at some limited-service Hyatt Place/House locations on request.
• Best Western – Nearly all Best Western hotels now offer exclusively non-smoking room accommodations as of 2022.

The trend continues globally as well. More regional hotel groups go completely smoke-free yearly. Anti-smoking legislation also tightens nationally across many countries.

Hotels That Still Offer Smoking Rooms

While entirely smoke-free hotels rise, those allowing smoking decrease daily. However, options still exist permitting cigarette smoking in designated hotel rooms and sometimes on private balconies. Availability depends highly on regional regulations and specific hotel management policies around smoking.

Remaining U.S hotel brands where smokers may still request smoking rooms include:

• Wyndham Hotels – Certain Wyndham hotels, especially in the south and midwest, still provide smoking floor options. Not all do though, so call ahead to check regional availability at places like Super 8, Days Inn and Ramada before reserving rooms.
• Choice Hotels – Some Choice properties may have rooms where smoking remains possible, particularly at discount Rodeway and EconoLodge locations, but policies vary. Clarify if smoking-permitted rooms exist at the chosen hotel before booking stays.
• Red Roof Inn – Most Red Roof locations have designated floors for smokers with rooms where cigarette smoking is allowed. The affordable roadside chain still appeals to many smoking travelers on budgets seeking motel-style accommodations.
• Independent Hotels – Smaller individually owned boutique hotels, motor inns and budget motels frequently permit smoking compared to big chains. Contact them directly to learn smoking rules.

Regionally things differ. Parts of Asia and Europe offer far more smoking hotel room options compared to North America. But globally no smoking legislation tightens steadily.

What About Casino Hotels and Smoking Rooms?

For casino hotels, smoking regulations loosen slightly in places. Nevada casino hot spots like Las Vegas still allow guests to smoke cigarettes on gaming floors and in designated hotel rooms at many resorts. Atlantic City, Reno and other American gambling destinations follow similar guidelines.

Smoking cigarettes inside casino hotels remains possible under specialized ventilation allowances. Yet non-smoking casino hotels increase too, especially on tribal lands with self-imposed bans. Guests should call casino hotels ahead to ask specifically about smoking rooms before traveling to gamble.

Overall Availability of Smoking Rooms Continues Dropping

Banning smoking indoors fully aligns with public health initiatives from leading health groups like WHO and CDC. As smoking rates decline worldwide – currently 15% of U.S adults smoke – consumer demand for smoking rooms plunges too.

In America, under 10% of hotel rooms allow cigarette smoking now. Major brands forecast eliminating smoking rooms almost entirely over next several years in North America. Only small independent hotels may still offer smoking accommodations as nationwide bans accelerate regionally.

Non-smoking rooms represent overwhelming majority of hotel room inventory today. Smokers encounter increasing challenges securing smoking-permitted rooms for trips but options, albeit limited, still exist – research thoroughly when booking hotels.

Why So Many Hotels Ban Smoking Rooms & Indoor Smoking

Expanding indoor smoking bans result from multiple driving factors around guest health, hotel operations, costs, and industry trends:

Secondhand Smoke Concerns

Banning smoking indoors protects against hazardous secondhand smoke that lingers and flows between rooms. Tech like floor seals once claimed effective but rarely worked well enough long-term in confined hotel spaces.

COVID also triggered hotels to implement stronger ventilation and sanitization safeguards incompatible with indoor smoking due to evidence it abets transmission.

Operational Efficiencies

Cleaning smoking rooms takes extensive work eliminating nicotine residue and odors on walls, fabrics and flooring. Deep cleaning runs minimize precious hotel room inventory availability.

Staff also spend less time handling guest complaints about smoke migrating between rooms with uniform smoking prohibitions.

Lower Renovation Costs

Non-smoking rooms stay fresher with fewer destroyed items like bedding and carpets that require pricey replacements from burns or contamination. Refurbishment frequency and overhead expenses drop significantly long-term sans routine smoking damages.

Insurers even provide discounted property coverage for 100% smoke-free hotels in some regions given reduced fire risks too.

Shifting Guest Preferences

Demand for non-smoking rooms dominates heavily. Most U.S. travelers no longer smoke, including the lucrative family travel segment. Health-conscious millennials with corporate travel budgets also want smoke-free stays.

Sustainability & Green Travel Focus

Eco-conscious guests sympathetic to sustainability principles expect smoke-free policies that improve indoor air quality and reduce waste from ongoing smoking room repairs. Brands marketing wellness amenities cannot permit smoking without seeming hypocritical either.

Final Thoughts

Allowing indoor smoking has simply become detrimental for hotels aiming to control overhead, satisfy contemporary guest preferences, and project positive brand imaging around health.

While total bans spark some backlash among smoking loyalists, the vocal minority no longer outweighs business gains stemming from non-smoking norms – especially amidst rising anti-tobacco legislation banning smoking hotel-wide.

Smokers do still have some, albeit very limited and shrinking, options to request smoking-permitted hotel rooms at this point in time however. But proactively checking regional smoking policies before booking any hotels and understanding stricter attitudes around indoor smoking represent essential due diligence for guests who smoke traveling anywhere nowadays.