Heartland Inns of America has dowsed smoking at
its properties, instituting a nonsmoking policy that prohibits
smoking throughout Heartlands properties, including guest rooms and
public areas.
"Our operating philosophy has always been 'do right' when it
comes to our guests and this smoke-free policy is definitely the
right thing to do for our guests' and employees' health and overall
quality of life, said Barb Cullinan, Heartland Inns of America,
director of operations in a statement.
Heartland Inns, a chain of 19 moderately-priced hotels located
Iowa and Wisconsin, is part of a larger, growing nonsmoking trend
at lodging properties.
In January, Westin gave a significant boost to the trend when it
became the first major hotel chain to institute a 100% smoke-free
policy that will ban smoking in all 77 of its properties in the
U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.
In addition, Sandals and Beaches Resorts recently instituted a
nonsmoking policy in all enclosed areas, including nightclubs,
bars, restaurants, lobbies, conference facilities and retail
shops.
Meanwhile, Hyatt Hotels & Resorts launched a program that
guarantees non-smoking rooms and certain bed types for its Hyatt
Gold Passport and Platinum members.
To contact the reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail
to Michael Milligan at[email protected].