Hilton Garden Inn, Portsmouth Will Open 100% Smoke Free

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. October 14, 2008

PORTSMOUTH, NH, March 13, 2006. The Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Portsmouth, NH announced its plan to open as the city's only hotel and the state's first major brand to be 100% smoke free. Scheduled to open mid May, the hotel's smoke free environment will include all 131 guest rooms, restaurant, meeting rooms and all indoor public spaces. John Schultzel, VP of Operations for Olympia Hotel Management, managers of the property, said, "Opening a brand new facility presents a fresh opportunity to enter the market with a significant point of differentiation. Portsmouth is a strong business and leisure market with strong brand competition. It is part of our overall strategy to create a niche in this popular market. And, our research tells us that we are ahead of the curve on the rapidly growing trend to provide healthy environments. Recent research clearly indicates that the supply/demand equation is, today, significantly building on the non-smoking side of demand", he concluded.

In fact, a recent USA today study showed that most major hotel brands that already allocate half to three-quarters of their rooms to non-smoking actually have greater demand for that segment. Only one major brand recently announced plans to go totally smoke free as only 8% of their guests requested smoking accommodations.

Shaun McEachern, General Manager of the new hotel said "Compared to other hotels that offer only a portion of their rooms as non-smoking, and in facilities that must contend with continuous cleaning and maintenance efforts to remedy the effects of ongoing smoking damage; we can offer our guests a fresh, smoke free environment from day one. We know that non-smokers who accidentally end up in a smoking room, or even a non smoking room that a previous guest has smoked in...are very unhappy. We want, from opening day on, to offer our guests and as importantly, our employees a clean, healthy environment they can count on."

It appears the growing trend toward non smoking room demand includes even some smokers who are choosing smoke free environments when they travel. For their convenience, the new Hilton Garden Inn in Portsmouth will offer a comfortable, well-lit outdoor patio. "However, because we are giving our word to our guests to be smoke free, smoke abuse in a guest room will be subject to a hefty cleaning fee and this message will be clearly posted throughout the hotel. With a clear communication program we feel confident that this fee may rarely if ever need be imposed", concluded McEachern.

According to USA Today, while only 200 hotels in North America offer totally smoke free environments today, the American Hotel and Lodging Association sees the demand for more gathering speed across the industry.

The Hilton Garden Inn Portsmouth Downtown is managed by Olympia Hotel Management Company representing 13 independent and franchised hotels in Maine, New Hampshire and Virginia. For more information contact: Shaun McEachern 603 431 1499 ([email protected])