FRANKFURT, GERMANY—The Mövenpick Hotel Frankfurt City has opened as the company’s first nonsmoking hotel. The four-star business and conference hotel is located right next to Frankfurt’s trade fair grounds. The new hotel has a total of 288 guestrooms on seven floors, including two rooms with disabled access and eight rooms specially furnished for allergy sufferers. “Although we’ve been present in the Frankfurt area for a number of years now with a Mövenpick Hotel at Oberursel, we’re particularly delighted to have gained a foothold in the downtown area of this major city,” says the new general manager of the...

NEWPORT NEWS, VA.—Zentox has announced the expansion of its facility in Newport News, Va. The expansion will increase the company’s current square footage by approximately 50 percent, with 60 percent of the new space earmarked for the manufacturing of Photox units. Photox is an advanced air purification system for the reduction of indoor airborne microbiological and volatile organic compound (VOC) contaminants. Based on photocatalytic oxidation technology, Photox is designed to remove noxious odors, toxic vapors and infectious organisms from the indoor environment. It is available in two sizes—the Photox 500 and the portable Photox 100. The Photox 500...

BUFFALO, N.Y.—In response to customer requests, the Buffalo Niagara Marriott is adding PURE Allergy Friendly Rooms for their guests who suffer from asthma and allergy conditions, or who simply want the most comfortable stay possible. The PURE program provides guests an environment where every surface is treated to minimize contaminants, irritants and odors. “We are excited to be the first full-service hotel in western New York to offer our guests PURE Allergy Friendly Rooms,” says Dick Schroen, general manager at the Buffalo Niagara Marriott. “It is also great to be working with Buffalo-based PURE Solutions, the leader in...

HOUSTON—An increasing number of hoteliers are choosing to set their properties apart by becoming nonsmoking facilities. There are many advantages to making the change: • Providing a healthier atmosphere for guests and staff; • Protecting bathroom counters from burns, carpet from holes, etc.; • Extending the life of soft goods, carpet and interior paint of the property; • Shortening the time it takes housekeepers to clean a room; and • Creating a special marketing niche for your property. The Groveland Hotel near Yosemite National Park has been smoke free for the last 12 years since Peggy Mosley became general manager there. Peggy’s experiences provide boundless...

NEW YORK—The Premier became a fully nonsmoking facility on June 1. The hotel’s smoking rooms (24 rooms in total) underwent a deep cleaning process prior to their conversion to nonsmoking rooms. One hundred and one of The Premier’s rooms are currently nonsmoking. This conversion marks The Premier as one of the first New York City deluxe hotel rooms to become nonsmoking. The Premier is owned and managed by Millennium Hotels and Resorts, North America. The Premier is located at 133 West 44th Street in the heart of Times Square adjacent to the Millennium Broadway. The Premier features a...

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—Sydney’s Courtyard by Marriott North Ryde Hotel has became a smoke-free property, in response to strong and consistent feedback from guests. The hotel’s move coincides with World No Tobacco Day, a global event to highlight the dangers of smoking. Effective immediately, “smoking rooms” no longer will be available in the 196-room hotel, located at the corner of Lane Cove and Talavera Roads in the Macquarie business precinct. “Our smoke-free policy is in line with increasing public concern and opinion against smoking in public places,” says Louise Byrom, general manager of the Courtyard by Marriott North Ryde....

SAINT CHARLES, MO.—Hot on the heels of Starwood Hotels & Resort’s announcement that its Westin Hotels would go smoke free, entrepreneur Ray Burger has launched a new Web site for hotels that are smoke free. As of late March, the online directory at www.freshstay.com had grown to 200 hotels. “An average of five smoke-free properties is added to the online directory every day,” says Burger, president and founder of Pineapple Hospitality Inc., which owns and manages the site. “Already, most states and 100 cities are represented. Dozens of national and regional brands as well as management companies,...

HOUSTON—Many years ago hotels began introducing nonsmoking rooms for their guests—maybe a few rooms, then adding 10 more, then a section of one floor, then a whole floor, etc. Today, almost certainly, the majority of guestrooms at most U.S. hotels are designated as nonsmoking. As the years have passed, we have all come to understand that tobacco causes cancer. Second-hand smoke has also been proven to be detrimental to our health and possibly cause cancer. Legislation and lawsuits regarding tobacco use have impacted our society so profoundly that tobacco use and its effects have been hugely reduced. As a result,...

PLYMOUTH, MASS.—Linchris Hotel Corp. announced that the company’s newest property, the Hilton Garden Inn, located at Exit 5 on Route 3 in Plymouth, Mass., will be a completely smoke-free hotel. All guestrooms, as well as the hotel’s Pavilion Lounge, its front lobby and common areas, will follow the same nonsmoking policy. The Hilton Garden Inn was scheduled to open in May 2006. The decision to make the Hilton Garden Inn smoke free reflects Linchris’ commitment as a leader in its industry in regards to the health and well being of its guests and employees. The Hilton Garden Inn...

BOISE, IDAHO—ProTeam Inc., a Boise-based producer of commercial vacuum systems, is partnering with Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to provide indoor air quality technology to hotels in the Florida Green Lodging Program. ProTeam’s full line of vacuums includes HEPA-media upright vacuum cleaners. The company also is a corporate leader in promoting cleaning systems that improve indoor air quality and enhance health and safety. “The last thing anyone wants while vacationing or attending a conference in Florida is to get sick because of poor indoor air quality or cleaning,” says Mathew M. Wood, ProTeam president. “Our efforts...