Tobacco.org

Ballarat hotelier backs call to curb outdoor smoking  

The Resurrected Beatrice Inn: Expect Cozy and Smoke-Free 

In the heady days of New York nightlife circa 2008, the Beatrice Inn, an Italian restaurant-turned-sardine-tin-nightclub, was the default West Village boite for “Page Six”-caliber starlets, enterprising NYU students, and fashion types. Now defunct, the Beatrice Inn is currently being revamped by Vanity Fair editor and Monkey Bar owner Graydon Carter, who said he’s aiming to reopen the spot as a chophouse in five weeks. . . .

He will not keep one of the Beatrice Inn’s most famed amenities (or nuisances, depending on your sensibility): indoor smoking.

“Not in this city!” said Carter, who has in the past published jeremiads against New York City’s anti-smoking laws. “You can’t get a license for that, unfortunately. I probably would if I could.”

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A RECORD 1,737 HOTEL ROOMS TURN SMOKE-FREE AT SWISSÔTEL THE STAMFORD AND SWISSÔTEL MERCHANT COURT SINGAPORE (PDF) 

Swissôtel The Stamford and Swissôtel Merchant Court Singapore will implement a smoke-free policy from 31 March 2012. With 1,261 and 476 rooms respectively, the Swissôtel brand will boast the distinction of offering the most number of smoke-free hotel rooms in Singapore. This measure underlines both hotels’ strong commitment to improving the wellbeing of their guests.

“As public awareness of the dangers of second-hand smoke grows, more guests are demanding a smoke-free environment. We hope to be able to create an impact, committing all 1,737 guest rooms in both hotels to this cause,” said Aiden McAuley, Regional Vice President Asia-Pacific, Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts.

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Smokers United, smoker-friendly travelling, lodging and dining 

About us 

Smokers United is not a political action group. The main purpose of this project is to provide smokers with information about hotels and restaurants with a smoker friendly policy. By using this website for your bookings you give a clear signal that smokers are a significant target-group for hotels, and restaurants/bars. We do not approve smoking; smoking is not the best thing for your health. We simple accept the fact that 23% of all people do smoke, and we hate discrimination.

Our team consists of 4 people (without a job and over 50 years of age) who try to make a living by contacting hotels, and providing you with smoker-friendly information.

Your help for this project

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• Swissotel stamps out smoking 

Century Park Hotel in Jakarta Goes Smoke-Free 

An antismoking group has praised a Jakarta hotel for becoming the first 100 percent nonsmoking hotel in the country.

Bungon Ritthiphakdee, director of the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (Seatca), said Atlet Century Park Hotel deserved kudos.

“Atlet Century Park Hotel Jakarta provides the freshest air in the country, and we commend the officials and staff for satisfactorily ensuring that all its guest rooms, function areas and restaurants are smoke-free,” he said.

“Together with our partners, we will now be regular patrons of the hotel.”

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• Mideast investors to cash in on smokers’ ire 

A club of Middle Eastern investors plans to cash in on disgruntlement felt by many smokers about being forced outside to enjoy their habit by opening the UK’s first hotel built around smoking culture.

Arab Investments, the Saudi Arabian and Kuwaiti-backed group behind plans to build the City of London’s tallest skyscraper, hopes the £36m hotel, which will be among the most expensive in the country, will offer smokers an oasis from the ban that has forced them out of most buildings since 2007.

The 36-room hotel, which sits on Knightsbridge, south of Hyde Park and close to Buckingham Palace, will include separate cigar and cigarette smoking terraces and the world’s largest hotel-based humidor.

“Smokers have been pushed around by everybody since the ban came in and, basically, they have to go outside if they want to smoke,” said Khalid Affara, chief executive of Arab Investments. . . .

However, smokers wanting to enjoy a night at the hotel, which will be called the Wellesley, will have to pay a lot for the pleasure.

The 36 rooms, designed to be a blend of traditional hotel accommodation and upmarket concierge-serviced residences, range from £350 to £12,000 a night for the larger four-bed suites.

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Smoking in a Bangalore hotel? Not anymore 

Non-smokers can breathe a sigh of relief. The reason: The Bruhat Bangalore Hotel Owners Association (BBHOA) has decided to implement the guidelines laid down by the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) regarding eateries and directed city-based hotels owners to restrict people from smoking inside hotels.

On the occasion of World Cancer Day on Saturday, the association decided to set up 'smoke-free zones' inhotels. According to COTPA (revised in 2008), smoking may be permitted only in smoking zones in restaurants, bars and pubs.

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Smoking makes a comeback: Cosy outdoor cigar rooms being built at London's top hotels - but this time aimed at the ladies 

these days, far from being a venue for male solace and discourse, they are being designed specifically to appeal to women.

The tradition of the after-dinner cigar has been on the wane since smoking was banned indoors in public places in 2007.

But now London hotels and clubs are finding ways to get around the law by building luxurious smoking areas outdoors.

But Heaven help anyone who might light a cigarette in one, for fags remain forbidden.

The Lanesborough, the Langham and now the May Fair are all jumping on the bandwagon after guests indicated they would like somewhere to go for a quiet smoke. . . .

The new cigar rooms - also called a 'cosas', or cosy outdoor smoking areas - use a variety of materials to ensure they are within the law by being at least 50 per cent open.

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• Hotel smoking areas cater for women who love a Havana | News 

But now London hotels are finding ways of creating cigar rooms outdoors, and some are designing them to be more appealing to women.

They include The Lanesborough, The Langham and now The May Fair, which said it would be opening one in May beause of the level of interest from guests. The Bulgari Hotel in Knightsbridge will also have a smoking shop when it opens in April.

The renewed popularity of cigar smoking, traditionally associated with older men, has been partly driven by younger enthusiasts and a growing number of women. In Marylebone, 10 Manchester Street Hotel now hosts women-only cigar evenings where hand-rolled Havanas are sampled with cocktails.

Smoking was banned in all enclosed public spaces in 2007. But the new cigar rooms - also called a "cosa", cosy outdoor smoking area - use a variety of materials to ensure they are within the law by being at least 50 per cent open.

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Santa Monica Bans Smoking in New Hotels 

Smokers visiting Santa Monica will have to take their habit to the street when staying in new hotels, but the verdict is still out on smoking in apartments and condos.

Last Tuesday, the City Council voted to ban smoking in all new hotels built in Santa Monica, but the Council did not agree to stricter rules about smoking in multi-family buildings, citing concerns over regulating what people can and cannot do within the privacy of their own homes.

Council member Kevin McKeown was the sole voice against the ban on smoking in hotels.

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Smoking Banned In New Santa Monica Hotels 

Smokers are finding fewer places to smoke within Santa Monica. Last Tuesday, the city council further limited the number of locations where one may light up. Multi-unit residences are okay, for now. However, new hotels are off limits.

In a 5-1 vote, council members took the first step in restricting smoking in hotels. However, council members could not agree to apply a similar ban to private residences.

A separate 4-2 vote granted staff an open-ended calendar to return to council chambers with focused details on certain impacts on issues such as privacy and affordable housing.

City Hall approached the council with a prospective ordinance calling for no smoking in all newly constructed hotels and the ban of smoking in designated non-smoking residential units.

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Santa Monica votes on hotel smoking ban  

The city council in Santa Monica, Calif., voted last week to ban smoking in new hotels, the Santa Monica Daily Press reports.

If the ordinance passes a final vote later next month, smoking will be banned in all new hotels. Owners of existing hotels would be allowed to designate their hotels as either smoking or non-smoking hotels.

According to the article, the change will have an immediate impact as at least one application to build a new hotel is expected within the next 90 days.

Will it hurt business from European vacationers who are more likely to smoke? It's possible, one city council member said during the meeting.

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LETTER: Hotel ambience ruined by smokers  

RECENTLY, I had the opportunity to accompany a gorgeous Shanghainese to dinner at an established hotel in Persiaran Gurney. . . .

Our meal was great. But after dinner and as we were walking to the lift lobby, we had a shock of our lives.

We found the entire lift lobby transformed into a "smoking lounge" with restaurant's diners as well as those attending the wedding function puffing away.

Tobacco smoke filled the lift lobby. Those smokers were just so inconsiderate. . . .

A couple of diners were also avoiding the lift lobby and using the staircase instead.

Shouldn't the management notify all and sundry if the lift lobby is a designated smoking area?

The hotel should put up a signage to warn guests that they may be exposed to unhealthy second-hand smoke while they wait at the lift lobby or when they step out from the lift. . . .

While we applaud the authorities for enforcing the no-smoking rule in certain designated places, hotels should also help protect their non-smoking guests.

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