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Comfort Suites joins growing list of hotel chains to go smoke free
In response to guest demand for a smoke-free experience, Choice Hotels International recently announced that all 433 of its U.S. Comfort Suites properties will become smoke free on May 1. Both guest rooms and public spaces will be included in this new policy.
Choice Hotels is working directly with its hotel owners to ensure all properties are compliant by issuing conversion kits that contain step-by-step cleaning and inventory changing instructions, guest communications, and a certification check list.
Ten percent of Comfort Suites properties in the United States are already smoke free. Owners of these hotels report that not only have guests overwhelming embraced the new smoke-free concept, but owners no longer have to separate smoking rooms from non-smoking rooms. This simplifies the management of bookings and registrations at the hotel level.
Comfort Suites joins other hotel chains, including Marriott and Westin, in banning smoking in rooms and public spaces across the United States and Canada.
Source: Choice Hotels International
Pod hotels gaining in popularity
Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better - at least that seems to be the opinion of an increasing number of travelers enjoying the small but efficient quarters of pod-style hotels. While pod- or capsule-style hotels have been popular in the Asia-Pacific region for years, an adaptation of this concept has recently gained popularity in North America and Europe.
New York’s Pod Hotel is one example of the art of making a small space both functional and stylish. The rooms at the Pod Hotel come in various sizes and layouts, with the smallest option measuring 90 square feet. The efficiency of the rooms can be seen in features such as drawers under the bed, foldout hooks on the walls, and the way the desk and sink are tucked into the corners of the room.
The Pod Hotel, as well as the chain of Yotel Hotels scheduled to open in the United Kingdom in April, offer amenities such as iPod docking stations and free wireless Internet access. Another chain, Europe-based EasyHotel, offers small accommodations at reasonable prices, with properties in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and Hungary.
For more information, visit: www.thepodhotel.com, www.easyhotel.com or www.yotel.com.
Sources: Los Angeles Times, The Globe and Mail
