Banned in Boston — smoking in hotel rooms

by Charlie Leocha on December 29, 2008

Yes, Boston has become one of the first major cities in the nation to ban smoking in the privacy of your hotel room — any hotel room. For years, many rooms have been designated non-smoking because of the lingering odor of tobacco. Now, in Boston, all rooms are non-smoking.

Here is the wording from the Boston Public Health Commission board. I have highlighted the portions that apply to hotel rooms.

The board also voted to expand workplace smoking restrictions to include adjacent areas such as patios and loading docks, and to prohibit smoking in hotels, inns, and bed and breakfasts in Boston. Those changes immediately go into effect.

Several of our readers have already written to us saying they have canceled plans to visit Boston. Naturally bulletin boards and groups are humming with comments. This is from the TripAdvisor Forums:

See in Massachusetts…you don’t have many rights. Big goverment and massive social control is what most citizens here believe in. That is why we keep electing these types of officials who pass these laws without any vote. They limit freedoms because goverment knows whats best…or so the people of MA believe.

Another poster mentioned that he would only get concerned when the city bans smoking outdoors. They already have banned smoking outdoors “near” public buildings, restaurants and schools. If I were he, I would start worrying.

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Tagged as: Boston, hotels, smoking

  • Karen C.

    Since smoking is such a self-destructive thing, it doesn’t seem to me that banning it in hotel rooms (all of them) is actually limiting freedom. I see it as an attempt to help with our nation’s health problems. Perhaps the more it’s banned in places, both public and private, the more people will catch on that smoking is just plain not good for them (causes 1/3rd of our nation’s cancer cases to name one of its many ills).

  • AndyM

    With all due respect, Karen, it is the very definition of freedom to be able to do things that are self-destructive, even if _you_ happen to disapprove. Based on your response, I can only suppose that fast food would be next on your list, given the country’s obesity problem.

    Banning smoking is _supposed_ to be about its effect on others. Second-hand smoke and all that. I don’t know if I find your candor about the actual motives of the anti-smoking crowd to be refreshing or just scary as hell. Both, I suppose.

  • Dawn

    “With all due respect” AndyM, self-destruction at the expense of others is not the very definition of freedom. It is the definition of selfishness. The staff who service and anyone else who uses the room is affected – by “2nd hand smoke and all that” and the allergens left behind. What you do in your home and car is your freedom, not when you are a GUEST at a hotel.

    I can only suppose from your response that you are a smoker and will be a GUEST in the oncology ward before too long. Or perhaps having a heart attack and quadruple by-pass. Or even more fun, emphysema. Best of all…. impotency! Or maybe all of these! Aren’t you lucky?!

  • AndyM

    Dawn,

    I was being polite when I said “with all due respect”. You, on the other hand, were being snotty. Not once did I say anything about “at the expense of others”. You added that to fundamentally change the meaning of what I was saying, and was therefore fundamentally dishonest. For the record, what Karen had to say had nothing to do with the room, the hotel staff, other guests, allergens, etc.

    In addition, I am not a smoker. Never have been. Never will be. My mother was. I hate the smell of cigarette smoke. So, perhaps you shouldn’t be so quick in your supposing. But I did appreciate your expression of schadenfreude over all the wonderful things you were so happy to see in my future. So, that makes you evil and a liar, but you can be self-righteous because you “care” so much about other people by forcing them to do what they are unwilling to do for themselves. You are quality people, that’s for sure.

  • Frank

    Since I fly for a living, it’s offensive to me when I enter my NON SMOKING ROOM and smell that someone has decided to go against holel policy and smoke in the room. It reeks of smoke. I find it hard to be in that room for the entire evening, let alone SLEEP THERE. HOTELS CAN NOT GUARANTEE SMOKING ROOMS, so guests WHO SMOKE decide to light up anyway. It’s a disease that shouldnt be forced on other (healthy) people.

  • AndyM

    Absolutely, Frank. Like I say, I hate those stink-sticks, and I have found smokers to rather… casual… about following the rules when it impacts them servicing their addiction. Worse still is getting a room at the last minute and finding that the place is out of non-smoking rooms. Ending up in a room befouled with the remnants of ten thousand cigarettes makes me want to torch a rotting skunk in the hope of improving the aroma.

  • Bill

    I’m glad to see that this is coming into effect and look forward to coming to Boston. I hope that there is severe punishment for those who decide to light up in the non smoking rooms.

    Since I see smokers daily lighting up where they are not supposed to, including doorways etc, it seems the only thing that a lot of these inconsiderate people (smokers) understand is more and more regulation. For the past several decades, one sees only lack of consideration and semi compliance when it is legislated.

    I hope the fine is $1000 for smoking in a hotel room or even more.

  • Joe

    I am livid about this.
    I sure as hell canceled my NYE hotel plans for Boston @ Mandarin Oriental.
    There’s a reason why hotels can EASILY have one smoking floor, and make sure they are NO T overbooked so NON Smokers get NON SMOKING ROOMS (ON A NON SMOKING FLOOR) and why I can get a smoking room.
    Obviously Boston does not want my money on the taxes for the room, so I’ll never stay in Boston again to this ridiculous “We can do whatever we want to private businesses” government BS ends.

  • david

    Well, I dont see why i cannot smoke outside where cars are far more dangerous than me and my assassine (?) cigarette.

  • Bill

    I think a good way to test tasers would be to use them on people who light up a cigarette where it is prohibited.
    Seems that nothing else works.

  • Bob

    As a person who is planning a trip to take a cruise out of Boston with a wife who smokes, we will definitely NOT be staying the night in a hotel in Boston but instead will fly in the morning of the cruise. While this is not our preference, we refuse to bow down to stupid laws, including those that ban smoking in hotel rooms. Note that more people die from drinking and then driving, swimming, boating, and even walking than die from smoking and then doing those same things, yet the government has not yet banned drinking… yet the health authorities are trying their darnedest to do just that re smoking. It is none of their business what happens in the bedrooms of the nation, and a rented hotel room is just that… a bedroom. A pox on them, and a loss of business for Boston. Personally I hope that the cruise lines that currently stop in Boston or start cruises from Boston switch to another port that does NOT have such a silly requirement and that does accommodate smoker’s rights. If you are going to permit smoking and tax smoking, just as you permit drinking and tax alcoholic beverages, then if one can drink that stuff in a hotel room, one should be able to smoke in that same hotel room.

  • Vicki

    Should you also be allowed to let off stink bombs in a hotel room? Is that your right? That is essentially what smoking does. It gets into all of the walls, fabrics, carpets, and can be costly for a hotel to get rid of. Having worked at a hotel, and I have seen this first hand. And I have actually seen guests that will tell you they are going to smoke in the room even if it is a nonsmoking room. There is a reason why some major hotel chains such as Weston and Marriott have gone smoke free. This is democracy in action. The majority of people don’t want smoke in their rooms or establishments and the hotels are realizing that. You are free to smoke, just outside, where it isn’t impacting someone elses property. Remember, the hotel is not your property and they have a right to say no smoking in my property just as you have a right to say it in your own. The majority of nonsmokers have pushed this law through, just as they have for restaurants and bars, and I am pretty sure the businesses have not suffered from lack of buisness because of the ban.

  • Lynn

    Was just charged $175.00 smoking fee for a Boston Hotel. They are not kidding around. I won’t stay in a Boston hotel again, shame, as it is very convenient if I flew out from Logan early in the morning. Smokers need to not book in Boston, they clearly dont want our money.

  • Hail

    Boston certainly does NOT want their money, because in turn it actually cost the hotels more money to clean a room to get rid of the allergens and smoke smell for another guest who does not want to “self-destory” themselves. Also it’s impossilbe to have just a dedicated floor for smokers as the awful smell lurks down to the floor below and up to the floor above. Smoke on your own time and in your own space.

  • Hail

    P.S. I’m a previous smoker…..and sometimes still sneak a puff socially….but I wouldnt cause my smoking to harm another person when they didnt ask for it.

  • Leigh

    “yet the government has not yet banned drinking”

    ….You’ve never heard of the 18th Amendment, have you? Granted, there then was the 21st.. but… still. Yes they have. Have, past tense.

  • Lin

    If I’m paying for a room , I should be allowed to do what i normally do in my everyday life while im there. It shouldnt be the hotels choice to keep you from smoking just like its not non smokers choice to breathe our smoke. If they didnt ban specific smoking rooms people wouldnt be smoking in the non smoking ones. and It’s not like you cant crack a window if you are gonna smoke and has the staff at the hotel heard of air freshener and opening windows or using vents to clear the smoke smell out of a smoking room???

  • mel

    I find most comments here regarding support for non smoking to be fileld with hatred and self righteousness. Get over youreselves. First off it sounds like a crap ton of you have swallowed hook line and sinker all of this crap about how my left over smoke from 3 weeks ago will “pollute your lungs” and the the “allergens” will poison you or something. I sat on a plane across from a woman who brought her dog on board. I am allergic to dogs. Did I make her throw the dog off the plane? No. Did I insist on “tasering” her for it? No. Get real. The facts about smoking or not accurate. They collect this 1/3 people die of cancer from smoking crap in a very non scientific way. You have cancer? Ever smoke? Your smoking caused it. Get real. I know plenty of people who had cancer or died of cancer who never did smoke. Now…is there health related problems from it? Sure. But what all the high and mighty people ehre fail to mention is that there are risks with every lifestyle. I SMOKE. I also run 3-5 miles at a time 4 times a week. I eat right, I take vitamins, don’t drink and am overhaul healthier than my obese co workers and friends that can’t go up a flight of stairs. I am tired of being punished because I smoke. We are not 3rd class citizens. I agree with one poster; everytime a state needs a little more dough, they tax us. As far as not smoking in a place of dinning, I agree with that, but if I am in my room, I should be allowed to smoke. And please, a cleaning lady is not exposed to second hand smoke unless I stand there and blow it in her face as she makes my bed. I’d love to see a tax on Fast food. Then all of you would be screaming about your rights. I hope that you get to feel how obscene it is for goverment or other people to make rules surrounding your freedoms. One overweight man actually walked up to my table as I was complaining about the rise in taxes and said, “well you are costing us all more in health insurance.” Really? He is headign for Diabetes, Heart Failure, high blood pressure and I am the one costing the system more? Please. I was scheduled for a week long stay in Boston in June. I will be cancelling that trip today!

  • janet

    I wish we could go back to the days of smoking and non smoking rooms. Then I could really get a non smoking room instead of a semi-smoked in room and the smokers could get what they want. Besides the allergy problems – and yes, people with allergy problems can have symptoms in a room that is smoked in less frequently – I can’t stand the smell that lingers in your clothes and body. When I get home and open my suitcase and it smells like an ashtray, it’s disgusting.

  • JINXY

    Boston Ma. same place as the freedom trail how ironic they’re still taking our freedom here.If i go to a hotel and the room still smells like smoke mabey its not the fault of the prior guest but the fault of the hotel for not properly cleaning that hotel room I am a non smoker currently dating a smoker. I have complained about smelling the smoke in her hair and clothes after she smokes but its not as if when she comes out of the shower, she still reaks of smoke no!So my guess would be that if these poor serviced hotels would do thier jobs cleaning properly you would be un aware that a smoker even was previously in the room most no smoking customers complaining are probably just looking for a discount on some of these outrageous hotel fees! lets keep it real!!

  • Eric C.

    It doesn’t matter whether or not smoking is self-destructive; the issue at hand is personal freedom and choice. It’s not for the government to decide our health for us.
    The rising cost of healthcare, however, COULD be a valid point, Karen C. Except just applying it to smoking is hypocritical. Obesity is decimating our nation but I don’t see the government stepping up and laying restrictions on fast food consumption. Coming from someone who absolutely LOATHES and prays for the demise of the McSatan and its other various forms, I still know that it’s not the right of the government to interfere with the people’s choice of poison whether ii be french fries or smoke.

  • Pam C

    Yes I am a smoker and have tried to quit many many times and will continue to. I also truly believe in non-smoking restuarants and designated smoking areas. Hotel rooms should be either smoking or non. I have NEVER smoked in a non-smoking room nor would I except a smoking room if I did not smoke. I am not a horrible person for my habit and am so sick of being treated that way. My husband has horrible allergies to pets and not smoke. So places that allow pets are worse for him. When did we become a nation of uptight intorelant people who control the lives around us where will it stop. In this stressful time of so much turmoil in the world is this the BIG band wagon that we should ridding on. Eric is so right where did our personal freedom go?

  • Mary

    Kudos to Pam C and Eric C. For all of you non-smokers, you really need to look at the Freedom Act. Our government is continually ramming taxes and restrictions down our throats. Currently, it seems they are fixated on smoking and working towards our Health Benefits. One of these days, the tables are going to turn. There are ‘WAY’ bigger issues in the good, old USA right now than people smoking in Hotel rooms. I’d like to see how you would feel when you are forced to limit your Daily activity, routine, actions, etc. because our government enforces laws. Maybe, they can enforce a limit on water law and tell you that you can only shower, shave, etc. once a week or that you have to use a ‘public’ facility down the hall, out the door, and across the street, rather than one in your hotel room! Grow up and get a LIFE!

  • http://ConsumerTraveler Neal H

    Mankind, unfortunately, always seems to find a way to arbitrarily persecute certain types or groups of other people. We have so many numerous examples in our history. It is usually done in the name of some righteous principle. This time it is the “health of others”. In Nazi Germany, it was for the good of the Fatherland to rid a nation of undesirables. It was for survial of the “Master Race”. Perhaps the government of Boston is trying to achieve some semblance of being a Master Race. We should all be concerned with what is next. Meanwhile I simply will not stay in Boston. Makes me happy and the Master Race of Boston probably happy too! Kind of like the fine German immigrants who came to this country seeking freedom from oppression. I, like my forefathers from Germany, will seek freedom elsewhere.

  • Bill

    I am amazed by many of the comments here. Comparing smoking to dogs, and to fat people and saying it is a right.

    I just got back from a trip and can tell you that regardless of any regulations, people are still smoking all over the place where it interferes with the right to breathe clean air. They smoke in doorways of hotels, sneak around and hide while they light up in non smoking areas, throw their butts every which way – even throwing lighted butts on the ground three feet away from an ashtray. I guess all of the “thoughtful” smokers are on these boards posting, while all of the “inconsiderate” ones are conducting public relations campaigns which cause people to ban it more and more.

    There are multitudes of things to work on in society I don’t know why they allow pets in the cabin of the plane, but banned peanuts. It makes no sense to me. However, it doesn’t make sense to skip the smokers and attack the cars, or the fat people – for one reason, a lot of fat people ARE smokers and for another, the fat people don’t hold down the innocent bystanders and force french fries down their throats.

    If smokers are wondering why they are “picked on” it is because, as a group, they are the most inconsiderate people out there. Before the one or two polite smokers on the planet jump on me, remember I said “as a group”. Any sane individual can see how inconsiderate smokers are by taking a five minute walk just about any pubilic place. Maybe some of you polite smokers could tell some of your more impolite bretheren to smoke where they are supposed to, instead of supporting smoking anyplace, anywhere. I’m sure french fry eaters do not approve of the ones that toss their french fry packaging and ketchup remnants on the ground – so why should smokers support those of their group who light up in non smoking areas? Right now, there are still lots of places to legally smoke – and yet so many many smokers choose to do it where it isn’t allowed. Exactly why is that? What is the intended reaction supposed to be? Do these people feel that the smoke bans will be retracted if they light up?

    As far as the lady who was charged $175 for smoking in a non smoking room….why did you light up in a non smoking room? Is it that much trouble to go and light up somewhere else? Find a smoking area if you want to smoke. Apparently, according to another poster, the smokers are much more able to walk to the smoking areas than the fat people would be. As for the person who criticized tasering, give me ONE solution that would work better for these people who continually light up where they should not? Obviously signs and rules of decency do not work.
    if I had ten cents for every inconsiderate smoker I ran across, I’d be very wealthy indeed.
    Just for you “I can smoke where I want” crowd that smokes in your car, I saw a man who was smoking get out of a full sized van and there were 6 children in there – all of them breathing his smoke. Do you honestly think that is right?

    I hope a lot more places follow in the footsteps of Boston. Smoking is something the world would be a better place without.

  • Ron

    Of course the solution is to offer people a place to smoke where they don’t affect others, rather than more legislation to punish a habit that is the free choice of adults, perfectly legal and an export product of the US. Any restriction on export of those deadly cigarettes? I suspect that would be last to go…

  • Patti

    I think a point that has been missed is the hotels are private businesses and they have the right to expect certain behaviors in their hotels. The guest only pays for a limited use of a space in a hotel and it does not come with the freedoms that you get in your own home. Behaviors are more restricted in a space that is used by many people. There are courtesy issues like being quiet, vacating your room on time or not running your TV loud and late into the night. I am sure that plenty of smokers have expected the other guests to follow these civilities so they can sleep, check into their room on time and generally enjoy their stay at the hotel. I am also sure they complain when other guests abuse or ignore these “hotel manners”. Why is it so different that a non-smoker should be able to expect that a smoker would abide by these same courtesies and not smoke in a non-smoking room? Hotels are not home and you do not pay for privileges you pay for a place to stay – temporarily.

  • G. Fusco

    As a former smoker…I can honestly say to make this simple…MAKE CIGS ILLEGAL … and this will be all over with & done. Sooner or later, the Manufactures will be feeling the pinch however CIGS over seas are a HUGE seller. Make them ilegal in the US and it solves all the problems.

  • steverino

    Smoking kills. Make it illegal.
    Eating lots of red meat can kill you. Make it illegal.
    Cooking with lard kills. Make it illegal.
    Sex with a promiscious partner can kill you. Make it illegal.
    Voting for the wrong candidate can cause laws to be put into place which can affect your health adversely. They should not vote for candidates i do not approve. Make it illegal.
    Giving birth can potentially kill a woman. Make it illegal.
    Falling in love can cause great heart-ache and suicidal thoughts.
    Make it illegal.

  • Non-smoker

    Holiday Inn Boston Beacon Hill charged a fee of $400,- for smoking. Do they make these fees up as needed?

  • Mike

    Smoking should be alloud if it is well advertised and ventalitaion systems should be “state of the art”!  These hotels and resturants and bars would be filled to capacity!  They schould be allowed to exist.  After all smoking is legal!  Not pot or any of the other products

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