Non Smoking. Non-smoke-ing.

[Getoutofmylobby]

Me too...could I leave cash or a check as a deposit possibly?
Though I think for the hotel, taking the guests cc info in advance is pretty brilliant.

We hardly take cash at all. And those that do pay cash have to have a credit card anyway. The secret is that by asking for a credit card from EVERYBODY it keeps the undesirables from staying and using/making/selling drugs or trashing the place.

Don't worry Becky, your debit card is ok.

[Ree]

The youth organization that I help to supervise went on a weekend trip a couple of years ago.
The other adviser and her husband both smoke, as did another chaperone, as well as a few of the teens.

When the other adviser booked the rooms, she specifically asked if they had two adjoining smoking rooms. We needed five rooms altogether, and four needed to be adjoining, since there really weren't enough chaperones along.
She was told they did have smoking rooms that were adjoining.
She asked for them to book two of the adjoining and one double room, all smoking.
When we got there, we were given all non-smoking rooms, with only one being an adjoining room.
This meant that, instead of our group all being together with a chaperone between the two rooms, there were a couple of rooms where the teens were left unsupervised.
They smoked in the room.

We were billed an extra $50 on the credit card.
I can completely see the reason, but what ticked me was, if they had given us exactly what we requested, it wouldn't have happened in the first place.

That's what I don't understand. If they can't guarantee, why even bother taking a request in the first place?
(I'm not a smoker anyway, and I preferred the non-smoking room, but as I said, we ended up with unsupervised teens who obviously needed a good smack in the head for being so ignorant of the rules - but...they weren't my kids so there wasn't much I could do.)

[Tigress]

What's wrong with getting a cripple room? You get more space in the bathroom, more leg room under the desk, and more space either side of the beds. You don't have to think about the reasons the space is there. If you don't need a wheelchair, be grateful that your body works!

And PhoneGoddess? Tell your employers, please, that I'm grateful that your cripple rooms are desirable ones. It's nice to not be shoved off into a corner somewhere.


(I use a wheelchair. I can walk short distances, but not long ones.)

I love getting the handicap-accesible room! They are usually slightly bigger and you get a cool flip-down seat in the shower. The latter comes in really handy when you've had a little too much to drink and standing in a wet, steamy, slippery area is not exactly a good idea.

I got one last year for an anime convention (one of the last ones available). I only hope I get one this year, since a couple of friends and their child will be crashing with me and we could use the extra elbow room!

[MadMike]

I tell them that with that if they did smoke they would be charged leading to much simpering and "it was a joke what's your problem?"

My answer would be, "No it wasn't. Jokes are funny, that was not." Yeah, it's always "just a joke" when they get in trouble for it.

My parents just recently took a trip from Florida to Michigan and a couple of hotels they stayed at fined you $150, and added that to the hotel bill if you were caught smoking in a non-smoking room.

The one place we stayed at the beach wouldn't just fine you. They'd also kick you out. Never experienced that personally, as neither of us smoke.

Too bad there isn't a button you can push to make the smoke detector in those rooms go off when you know someone is smoking in a strictly NON smoking room.

Fuck that, turn the sprinklers on.

[Getoutofmylobby]

That's what I don't understand. If they can't guarantee, why even bother taking a request in the first place?

Hotels try to give people what they want or need but sometimes, especially on really busy nights, that just can't happen. We treat requests as just that. Rollaway beds, floor preferences are usually easy to get, but rooms in a specific order are really difficult.

The reason is that people don't always stay for the number of nights they make their reservation for. If i had to guess, a customer in one of the rooms you requested decided to stay longer. Some gutsy hotel managers ask that person to move to a different room, (i've even seen managers move people's stuff without them knowing) but usually the incoming reservations are SOL.

Oftentimes on busy nights people request a limited number of the same thing in which case it is first-come-first-served.

The only other thing it could be is blatant incompetence from the front desk staff. Which i guess is possible.

[ahanix1989]

I'd like just a little sensor. You see a couple holes in your ceiling, turns out behind those are smoke sensors. Obviously the smoke will rise, and those will alert the staff that it's detecting a form of smoke within a nonsmoking room.

[Horsetuna]

I dont have a major credit card. The banks wont give one to me. This makes it VERY hard for me to book vacations I found, even though I'm very upstanding. Hell, if they want I'll pay a nice fat deposit if it works. But if CC is the way to go...

I guess I'm sol :/ I understand the reasoning and its not the hotels' fault, just makes me sad.

[Andara Bledin]

Most places will take a debit card in lieu of a credit card.

I don't have a credit card, either, and I have never had a problem with hotel reservations provided I had enough for the required deposit in my bank account.

^-.-^

[Lehk]

*EDIT - Removed large image that has already been posted.

W if they alternate the room status, why not just take the trays OUT?

perhapse a local ordiance prohibits smoking in motel rooms, and the owners of the establishment happen to not give a flying you know what.

[Lehk]

I dont have a major credit card. The banks wont give one to me. This makes it VERY hard for me to book vacations I found, even though I'm very upstanding. Hell, if they want I'll pay a nice fat deposit if it works. But if CC is the way to go...

I guess I'm sol :/ I understand the reasoning and its not the hotels' fault, just makes me sad.

ask a local bank about a secured credit card. you put down a deposit on the card and that amount is your credit limit.

[slick]

Debit cards work also, but a credit card is best, since its not directly linked to your checking account.
I have had a credit card since I was 18, its convenient to have when make large/multiple purchases. I can see how its easy to get into issues with one though, but when dealing with hotel rooms or car rentals, etc. Its a nice thing to have.
I understand that not all people have credit cards, and that I turn away good people because I have to have a credit card, but a small establishment like ours can't afford to deal with these lame situations.

Also, a gaurantee and a request are different by a long shot. We only gaurantee the room type and dates of stay when you make a reservation, thats it (so if you wanted a non smoking king for 2 nights and we have it, you got it). If you want first floor, or a room next to a friends room, those are requests that we can try, but not gaurantee in any way. Most hotels I have seen don't gaurantee much either, its way to hard to do. However, a smoking preferences should always be a gaurantee, unless there are circumstances which are the hotels fault, thats a whole different story.

[Andara Bledin]

When I book my boss, I rarely run into a situation where the smoking/nonsmoking status of the room is guaranteed. It is always stated that they will note the preference and you'll get it if they have it.

^-.-^

[Jack7957]

I dont have a major credit card. The banks wont give one to me.

Try Orchard Bank. I've got bad credit, but got one through them. No deposit needed, but the limit is only $500, plus a $2/month automatic charge for having it. I'll use it for a year or two to build my credit rating back up.

I believe most, if not all Marriott hotels (like Fairfield, Courtyard, Residence) are 100% non, and all Comfort Suites are also.

The Marriott I'm staying at next week for work has right on the hotel info page in red lettering that it's "100% smoke free". The rest of the page is black lettering so that statement really stands out.

Actually, what I had noghtmares about after a while were the old bigots. Trashy old ladies demanding a room RIGHT in front of the pool on the BOTTOM floor, BUT IT BETTER NOT BE A CRIPPLE ROOM!

I don't like the cripple room either, mainly because with work we're usually using the room all week, and I'm worried someone might actually need it, and here I am, ablebodied and can use any room.