No smoking signs throughout house?

[David-and-Annie0]

Do you guys recommend that we put up signs in the house saying "no smoking"? We list it in the description and in the house rules (and in house manual that is physically there). We'd rather not put signs up, but we are brand new to this and wondering if it's necessary. What are your experiences?

Thanks, 

Annie

[Pete69]

Yes! Absolutely! Once upon a time I only mentioned no smoking in my online house rules. I also had my rules posted under the glass on a desktop. Sure enough... I had a guest smoking weed in the room. I should have paid attention to a previous review in which this guest blamed his "friend" for smoking weed in a host's stay. I've had at least one other guest that I suspect might have been smoking inside. That got me thinking. So I bought a couple of no smoking signs from Home Depot. I have one stuck right on the front of the refrigerator and under the glass desktop. And in my listing I am very redundant about mentioning no smoking. I also mention that it's illegal in my area for anyone to even smoke outside. So I try really hard to scare off these smokers and it seems to be working. I have no problem booking weekends so I can afford to scare people off.

Another nifty idea that someone once suggested was to have "NoSmoking" be your WIFI password!

If you have carpet then that smoke gets into the carpet fibers. These smells start to add up and before you know it your stay smells like an Extended Stay America hotel room.

Also tell people not to spray perfume, carpet freshener and other stuff on the carpet. I've had a couple of guests who must have sprayed cologne on the carpet (Perhaps this was to cover up cigarette smell). That takes DAYS to air out and really you'll need to steam clean the carpet.

[David-and-Annie0]

Thanks! Sorry you had bad experiences, but sounds like the signs are working. We have 2 decks and I specify that there is NO smoking anywhere on the property, including the decks and the yard.  But...if a guest does smoke, of course I would rather they do it on the deck or backyard. (not that I'm encouraging it). So, should I get a butt-bucket or ashtray for outside? So at least if they do smoke, they will not leave butts on the ground? Or will this encourage smoking....?

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@David-and-Annie0 

You can put one sign but I don't think it is necessary. Good guests will not smoke inside if it is forbidden and bad guests will smoke despite 100 signs.

But, if possible, I would advise you to put an ashtray somewhere outside your house, maybe on the balcony or in the backyard. Giving an alternative would help more than a sign.

My friends and I are smokers and when we book a property we pick the one with the balcony and we always ask if smoking on the balcony is allowed. It always was.

Interesting fact - we allow smoking inside, we even have an ashtray, but we never felt any smoke smell. We just instruct our guests if they smoke to open the windows regularly.

We also have an ashtray outside the apartment and we saw some of our guests used it. It seems if one member of the group smokes, he will smoke outside out of respect for the rest of the group. As smoking is allowed in public places (streets, parks, cafes, clubs...) our guests have plenty of choices, they don't have to hide behind closed windows.

[David-and-Annie0]

Thanks for your reply--and it's good to get a smoker's perspective. We have 2 decks and I specify that there is NO smoking anywhere on the property, including the decks and the yard.  But...if a guest does smoke, of course I would rather they do it on the deck or backyard. (not that I'm encouraging it). So, should I get a butt-bucket or ashtray for outside? So at least if they do smoke, they will not leave butts on the ground? Or will this encourage smoking....?

[David-and-Annie0]

--or somehow condone it or confuse guests after I have stated that there is no smoking anywhere?

[Sarah977]

@David-and-Annie0  Here's another smoker's perspective. Yes, I think a couple signs in the house is a good idea. But like @Branka-and-Silvia0 said, most smokers will be respectful and not smoke in the house. The ones who aren't, won't give a FF about the signs. 

Of course, smokers shouldn't book properties which clearly state no smoking. But the fact is, from reading many posts on this subject here over time, is that some will. The thing about smokers is that we're good at denial- we can think, "Oh, no problem, I'll just go out on the street to have a smoke", but when it's one AM and cold out, or everyone else is sitting out on the deck having a glass of wine, we might think "Oh, I'll just have one here, the hosts will never know, it's outside , for pete's sake". (I actually don't do this- I've always gone out on the street to have a smoke if I'm staying with someone who forbids it, no matter whether it's cold or raining- that's the price I pay for a bad habit)

So you have a choice- you can adamantly state No Smoking anywhere on the property, then be faced with evicting guests who are ignoring that, or finding you have to do a mega-clean to get rid of the smell and the butts, or try to get them to pay for extra cleaning after they leave, or you can say you really don't want people to smoke but set up an area where it won't blow back into open doors and windows and have a safe place for butts- like a bucket with sand, for those who simply must smoke.

When my daughter went and got a nose ring when she was 15, just because I didn't yell at her or ground her, didn't mean I was condoning it. There's plenty of things guests might do that we don't condone, but it just seems practical to come up with ways to mitigate stuff that guests might do regardless of our rules.

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

@David-and-Annie0 

You don't have to encourage smoking and list your house as "smoking allowed" inside, but you can leave an ashtray on the back deck and allow smoking there. Why not? I don't understand why it would be worse than street traffic pollution?

[Kaylee18]

@David-and-Annie0     I remind my guests of the house rules that are most important to me when they book. For example I say ..

"Thank you for booking with us. Just a few reminders for your stay: No smoking on the property, no parties, etc, etc, etc. "

It is a common theme that guests do not read all the house rules, so this way you can put out what's important to you and then they have no excuse for not seeing it.

I don't allow any smoking inside and out (because we live upstairs) and in warmer months smoke comes through our windows when they are open. So we decided no smoking at all. 

Just have to decide what's best for you and your property! 🙂 

[Lawrene0]

I had to put up no smoking signs inside the treehouse and on its porch, @David-and-Annie0 . I had too many guests breaking that house rule. It not only was extra work for me, but it was dangerous.

The signs mostly work. I did have a guest leave his cigarette butts carefully arranged in a line under the sign, but I guess he had too many positive reviews and needed a negative one. 🙂

I did get nice-looking signs.

That said, I don't have such a sign in the bedroom listing in my house. No one has tried it there. Also, I have never stayed in a house or bedroom that had no smoking signs. At least none that I can remember.