Cheap Hotels in New York City Up in Smoke
Since 1995, smoking has been banned in most New York City restaurants. The NY Department of Health made the no-smoking regulation more extensive in 2003 by including smoking bans in bars and restaurants and any “commercial establishment” which did NOT include a “hotel or motel room rented to one or more guests.”
Since then, many hotel chains have stepped up to provide a complete ban of smoking in all of their facilities across the board. Marriott is one chain that has been aggressively rolling out no smoking policies inside and out of nearly all of its US facilities. Westin Hotels & Resorts and Sheraton Hotels are getting rid of smoking in their establishments too.
If smoking bothers you, and it bothers us a lot, you may wish to consider inquiring about the track record of a hotel and their attitude about smoking or non-smoking rooms. Nowadays, most hotels offer non-smoking room options yet that does not mean the room or the premises will be smoke free. Smoke can enter a guest room through the central air conditioning units even if it’s designated as a “no smoking” area. It’s important to know if the room you are assigned has ever had a smoker in it. In other words, how long has the room been designated as a “no smoking” room.
Most hotels will move you to another room if you complain about smelling smoke, yet our experience has shown that the problem exists in many hotel rooms designated for nonsmoking.
A word of caution. When identifying your cheap hotel in New York City, take extra care to ensure that you don’t draw the line too cheaply to include an uncomfortable night’s stay in a room reeking with old smoke. It’s more difficult for the cheap hotels to comply but their competition will welcome you with open and smoke free arms.
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Date: May 20, 2010