As a smoker whose 19 year old son still lives at home, i don't smoke inside the home. I don't want to rent an Airbnb that allows it inside. But I wouldn't book a place that prohibited smoking outside, regardless of whether i smoked or not, bc it's a pretty clear indication of an overly controlling host, and like others have mentioned, what else are they going to be ridiculous about? What perfume i like to wear? My scented body wash? What foods i eat? How i dress? What time i go to bed? What things I like to read on your patio? What movies i watch on my tablet? Whether my husband and I have sex? Are there cameras hidden in the house to ensure their expectations for guests are followed?
That said, we've stayed at dozens of AirBnB's ourselves as a family, and I can't imagine being so disrespectful to the host as to smoke outside by open windows, or to leave butts *anywhere* on the property (tossing butts anywhere, anytime is a gross and unethical behaviour). On vacation, I do exactly what I do at home- keep a small closed container for my butts *outside*, and take it with me when I leave if there's no garbage pick up while i am there.
Cigarette butts are especially strong smelling and usually more offensive than the smoke itself. The brand of cigarettes i smoke actually sends us small recycling bags and rubber sealed mini "butt cans" (in the shape of a trash can) that fit in your pocket, for free several times a year. You use the mini butt can to store the butts, and when it gets full, you put them in the recycling bag and it permanently seals. You can recycle them yourself or send it back to the manufacturer, who recycles them. You can buy them, or baggies, at almost any store dirt cheap, if you're concerned the guest won't bring them, and i'm sure you'll make a nice little profit on the charge for them.
The people here claiming that an outside smoker (who leaves their butts outside) can somehow infilitrate their home, furniture, curtains, and interior flooring with the pervasive odour of an indoor chain-smoker in a few short days, are being patently absurd. For the record, in the 3 dozen times we've hosted our vacation cabin, no one has ever complained that it smells like smoke inside my house- and you guys know guests are not the type to hold back when they're unhappy. We bring our own pillows and linens anytime we book, bc i don't like using the hosts- we've had poor experiences with back to back bookers who didn't ensure they were cleaned, and who knows how many people have used them? It's not that much more to pack, so you could always ask smokers to bring their own, or to wash yours before they leave if there's an in house washer & dryer. That's a completely reasonable request.
I understand that people are not always conscious of their habit, but a simple statement in the listing and info book most hosts leave out (the one with the wifi password, which they're guarunteed to look for) should suffice. A prohibitively high fine and threat of an immediate and non refundable exit for guests who don't follow those rules should take care of rule breakers. If you're truly that concerned about outside/inside transfer, designate an area outside- more than 10 feet from the house is pretty excessive though. I won't even comment on the person who thinks it's reasonable to ban people from smoking in their own vehicles. Actually, i will- there are prescriptions for that kind of personality disorder. You just went from beyond unreasonable, straight into narcissistic personality disorder territory.
An across the board outside smoking ban on any area of the premises is discriminative. There is no such thing as an allergy to cigarettes. There are things like asthma, COPD, and other bronchial illnesses that smoking can exacerbate, but that goes back to the aforementioned notation in the listing, and is indicative of someone who is predisposed to large number of sensitivities, which means you probably aren't a good candidate for hosting a rental in the first place. The only thing I can see that working for is someone who exclusively rents to other people who have similar health complications, which is perhaps a much needed and untapped niche.
My mother hates the smell of cigarettes, and i respect that. We were in Michigan for vacation a few years back, and anytime we were walking around outside and i wanted a smoke, i made sure to move out of her space. One afternoon we were on a very empty boardwalk, with plenty of room, when a couple in their 20's decided to walk immediately behind me. Within a few seconds, the woman began delicately pretending to cough, and the husband made a loud and dramatic show of asking if she was okay and needed to sit down . It was not an oscar worthy performance by any stretch, and as the primary caregiver of a brother who died of AIDS related pneumonia, i know what a legitimate cough sounds like. Later that evening we saw the same couple at a restaurant that allowed smoking on the patio, which also had an outdoor bar, and she seemed to have no problem with 25+ smokers around her when it meant she could drink. I hate alcohol, including the smell, but if a drinker isn't driving then that's their perogative, not mine. Unless I am so far up into their personal space to be able to smell them, it's not a problem.
Lastly, I read a lot of comments about how easy it is to "just not smoke". You're wrong. Full stop. Smoking is an addiction. It's a biochemical rewiring of brain chemistry. If it was really that simple people wouldn't be doing it to the detriment of their own health, and spending a months mortgage payment on them. Scientific research has consistently demonstrated that it is an extremely difficult addiction to stop. As a 25 years sober recovering addict, i can assure you, kicking the cigarette habit is harder than kicking opiates. However, it's still legal last time I checked, and expecting a guest to try to break the habit and go through the accompanying withdrawal symptoms- in the middle of a vacation- is the exact opposite of what a vacation is for, and setting yourself, and the smoker, up for failure.
Again, this is not a commentary on allowing indoor smoking. That would make it very hard to book anyone but smokers. An outside area within reasonable distance from the house should not. There is a large difference between protecting your investment, and being an unreasonable control freak. If you think you should have the right to tell your guests how they should live when outside of the rental, or *in their own car* you're probably not the right fit for a host. You might do well working in the prison sector, though.