How to charge smokers?

@lordhunt stale tobacco smell is really, really unpleasant. I am a former smoker too. Have you ever stayed in a smokers hotel room? i have two ashtrays on the patio.

to the OP: there are candles too that absorb odors. Boiling vinegar on the stove will absorb odors. Also you can charge a deposit.

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To address several twists:

I don’t vilify smokers. We provide an entire home and the quarter acre lot it sits on for use (at every ABB I own) and every outdoor area is smoker friendly. Smoke to your heart’s content… OUTSIDE. We even have covered outdoor areas for smoking in the rain. These people are smoking inside, and in BEDROOMS, for goodness’ sake. There are no ashtrays inside, and it’s never safe to smoke in a bed… even if smoking was permitted indoors.

Now that smoking is properly banned indoors almost everywhere, I think everyone realizes (or should) how pungent, sticky, and foul tobacco smoke is to the non-addicted. It is a nasty smell, and it sticks to everything. Your hair, your clothes, your jackets, your car… your bed. It is not unreasonable to favor avoiding first-degree exposure for that reason alone. Never mind the negative health affects.

And finally; yes, I will review the guest honestly. I feel bad for the latest guest, because it was her traveling companion who turned her nose to the rules and smoked in her bedroom… but that’s the way it goes when you exercise poor judgment. She unwisely elected to allow her friend a bed under her booking (with the correct number of guests indicated), and it will be her profile that suffers the negative review. I’ll mention it in her review though so other hosts can decide if it applies to their particular booking request.

I’d had a great run for a year and a half… but in the last two months I’ve had four(!!!) guests smoke inside. The intent of this post was not argue about smoker right or solicit advice for a review, but rather to see if other hosts had some “pro tips” for scrubbing odors or took other precautions to soften the blow when they show up to smoked-in listing.

Thanks for the replies all…

If I had four smokers in a row who smoke inside it would be more than 100% of my guests as I rarely get any. That is saying something - that there is need to have an indoor facility where a smoker can smoke.
Check google for ways to get rid of cigarette smoke. Boiling vinegar is my favorite. Opening windows is great in summer but not in winter when one is paying for the heat. I find fresher sprays toxic but to each his own.
I think it cruel to send smokers outside in the middle of winter. Owners should have to sign a statement promising to pay the hospital bill if the smoker gets pneumonia.
My husband’s motto was to accept the guest and circumstances as they were. The most important dignitary of a foreign country went to my husband’s office one day to converse. This was big. Husband’s dog was there and he received the dignitary by poohing at his feet! My husband did not bat an eyelash. He merely rang for his secretary and ordered him to have the mess removed as if this happened everyday! Then he turned to his guest and continued their conversation.

Make sure if you try the Ozone generator that you use it properly. Ozone is not safe for humans.

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Once year you pop in to defend smokers. Poor, poor smokers. Smokers don’t have rights, they have obligations… not to infringe on the rights of others.

Smoking inside someone else’s house is a very big deal. I don’t know why you are playing dumb as if you haven’t already had this conversation on this same forum a dozen times.

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I don’t have one dumb hair in my head. So think of another excuse to insult me.
Is the subject a matter of insulting the other person? If so, as a lady, I have nothing more to day.

Nothing more insulting to hosts than pretending that people smoking in a rental is not a big deal.

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Ozone generator should be used with caution however a Ozon cleaner is very safe… :slight_smile:

The internet tells me otherwise. Do you have a link to the device you are using? With all my dogs here I’m always looking for ways to keep my home smelling fresh but it has to be safe for living things.

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I will try and find it… I never use it with people in the home and only if there is an over powering smell that I am attempting to rid the home of. So I do not use on a constant basis and only when I have the time to have the room accumulate itself back to normal 4-5 hours and then I crack a window. I understand the concern especially if you are attempting to use a commercial size…our are about the size of a loaf of bread.

LOL. Ok. I think we have a different concept of what constitutes “very safe.” And more than once I’ve mixed up ionizers with ozone thingies. I don’t know what the difference is between a generator and a cleaner. Based on what I can see I would never be able to use an ozone anything because I can’t leave the house empty for 5-6 hours. I’m almost always back to back bookings. If I ever have a smoker ruin the inside of my room I’ll have to cancel the next guest or two. Thanks.

Edit: I’ve just burned a pot of rice and lentils. I wish I had a magic smoke remover now. And where is that wind that was here all morning now when I need it. Lucky for me it’s warm enough I can open all the windows and doors and get it aired out quickly.

In years, I’ve never had a problem with guests smoking inside. I’ve found cigarette butts a couple of times in the trash, and an empty Marlboro pack on the dining table but that’s about all.

Okay, now I’ve been so smug about it…

I can’t help with getting rid of the smell because I get some smells which, to me. are much worse. (Fried ham for pre-departure breakfast? Non-smokers hate the smell of smoke but old fried ham is pretty gross for a vegetarian, truly). I open all windows but I have very few fabrics to harbour smells so it’s easy.

I don’t know whether it’s because I’m an ex-smoker, but I find it pretty easy to identify them when they arrive so I deal with the problem before it starts.

LOL… the wind is never around when you need it. You know what…I have just realized it is an Ionizer not Ozone… oh good grief I need a vacation!!

Ok, I have ionizer buttons on two of my HEPA air cleaners and my third air cleaner has proven to be very good with smells so far though it has no ionizer.

I’ve been confused by the Ionizer and Ozone too. We really don’t want people to use Ozone generators in Airbnbs.

Funny enough I said last night that I never had a guest who smoked in the room and guess what I found today? A guest smoked in the room.

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It’s just mind blowing. It’s just not acceptable to do in other people’s homes. Zero stars, thumbs down.

This one was at a boutique hotel that I’m hosting actually and some of the other guests are smoking in there too. The most amazing thing to me is that anyone still smokes in 2019 actually.

Smoking is a bit of a contentious issue! The way I see it is you don’t want to put off potential guests by being too heavy-handed, but at the end of the day it’s your property, and you have a right to protect it as you see fit. If that means being a bit “shouty” about the rules then so be it.

I would make sure your house rules are super clear, and state the consequences for rule breaking. Maybe you could ask guests for a security deposit? This would cover the cost of deep cleaning, and should a guest break your “no smoking indoors rule,” you can charge them to cover the cleaning required to get rid of that smokey smell.

Is there any reliable way to collect on this deposit? I’m generally told by airbnb that, because smoking smell doesn’t lead to “direct physical damage” that I’m out of luck. Thoughts?

People still stuff their faces with junk food and allow themselves to get 100 pounds overweight, too. And use toxic chemicals.
What always struck me as ironic was to go into some newly constructed office with a sign on the door saying “We have a clean air policy” with a no smoking symbol under it, then you walk into the office and it reeks of formaldehyde and other toxic substances from the new countertops, carpets, etc.

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