SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt.-
The Sheraton Burlington Hotel and Conference Center is set to ban smoking in all of its 309 rooms on Aug. 1, the first hotel in the greater Burlington area to do so, officials said.
"We think it's in line with what people expect when they come to Vermont," said hotel General Manager Robert Burnetti.
Currently the hotel has 12 smoking rooms.
The Sheraton might be the first hotel in the area to ban smoking, but it won't hold the distinction for long.
The Marriott Courtyard Burlington Harbor, scheduled to open in November, will be smoke free when it checks in its first guest.
Burnetti said the ban at his hotel may prompt some customers to stay elsewhere.
"I think it's a risk to do it. But I think, long term, it pays more dividends than not," he said. "We may lose one or two guests, but you also must think about what we may gain. How many groups would like to have an event and say to the attendees, 'It's a nonsmoking hotel.'"
Burnetti said 90 to 95 percent of guests ask for nonsmoking rooms.
But other area hotels say they plan to continue offering a number of smoking rooms.
Guests from other countries are more likely to ask for smoking rooms, said Rick Milligan, general manager of South Burlington's DoubleTree Hotel.
"We are attracting guests from outside the country," he said. "Guests who have completely different thoughts about smoking than we do in America. And we are seeing more and more of that international clientele."
——
Information from: The Burlington Free Press,
