donn@hp-dcd.UUCP (12/19/83)
#N:hp-dcd:26300003:000:1764 hp-dcd!donn Dec 16 17:50:00 1983 I had the unhappy experience of staying in a motel room a couple of nights ago... To add to the matter, it had apparantly been recently (or regularly) been occupied by heavy smokers. I didn't realize it until the middle of the night when my (mild) alergy to smoke started to make itself known. I didn't really want to move at 2AM, and I survived the night. The next morning I asked the desk clerk if there were any non-smoking rooms for the next time I was there. (I go to that town about once a month, and overall that motel is a good choice.) To get to my point. The clerk said: "In the five years I've worked here, that's the first time I've had anyone ask me that!". He seemed genuinely surprised. We've all been taught that its "polite" not to complain about things. Maybe more of us who don't like or get along with (stale) smoke should ask at motels, as we have at restarunts and in airplanes, not to be subjected to smokers' polution. (It's not so obvious because you can't point to the smoke wafting by, but its still a problem.) Try to help the proprietor work out a reasonable compromise because unlike more visible locations, he can't tell if some turkey lites up in a non-smoking room. He also can't really afford to let a room sit idle just because he can't match his customer's preference with the available rooms. Just a continuing, polite, pressure will help in the long run, but it may be a while. On the other hand, it isn't usually as severe as the restaraunt and airplane problem. Oh, and don't let them think some "disinfectant" spray will help those people with allergies. We may not know what got us because the smell is masked, but it'll still get us, and make us less anxious to come back. Donn Terry hplabs!hp-dcd!donn
warren@ihnss.UUCP (Warren Montgomery) (12/20/83)
My aversion to smoke is not severe, but I hate coming home from a trip and finding that all of my luggage and clothing smells like old ash trays. I was recently pleasantly surprised to be asked by a hotel clerk whether I preferred a non-smoking room. I gratefully accepted and for once got a room that smelled of neither ash-trays nor disinfectant. The hotel was a Marriot, and I have no idea if this is a policy of that chain. I have seen this nowhere else. -- Warren Montgomery ihnss!warren IH x2494
dthk@mhuxd.UUCP (D. T. Hawkins) (12/21/83)
I have observed entries for "Non-Smoking Rooms" in the Howard Johnson's directory. Don Hawkins AT&T-Bell Laboratories mhuxd!dthk
54394jt@hocda.UUCP (J.D.TOMCIK) (12/21/83)
On a recent trip to Indian Hill, I found that the Sheraton in Naperville also offers non-smoking rooms. What a pleasant surprise! Jim Tomcik hocda!54394jt