Say No To Nanny

Smokefree Ideology


Nicotine Wars

 

40 Years of Hurt

Prejudice and Prohibition

Road To Ruin?

Search This Site
The Pleasure of Smoking

Forest Polling Report

Outdoor Smoking Bans

Share This Page
Powered by Squarespace
« John Mallon around and about | Main | Fringe benefits »
Tuesday
Sep182018

A touch of class

I posted this photo on Facebook last week and now I’m posting it here.

It’s the covered smoking area cum cafe at the Rosewood Hotel, home of last week’s Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum (GTNF) in London.

Nice, isn’t it?

Before GTNF I’d never heard of the Rosewood, even though I must have walked past it many times over the years.

In my defence the entrance is set back from the road, through an arch, so easy to miss unless you’re looking for it.

Inside it was pretty sumptuous - book an executive king room tonight and it will cost you £630 - so you might expect the smoking area, if one exists, to be tucked out of sight.

But no. It was in a corner of the main courtyard, close to reception. Discreet but easy to locate.

Nor were smokers restricted to the area above. I saw several people light up in other parts of the courtyard and no-one seemed in the least bit bothered.

My point is that smoking may be considered by some to be a dirty working class habit that needs to be eradicated, but even at the top end the market knows better.

Smokers are a minority but they’re still an important economic driver. Why else would one of the poshest hotels in London provide a warm, comfortable smoking area for their well-heeled guests?

Ultimately though this is about simple, basic hospitality which still includes the need to accommodate guests and visitors who wish to smoke.

So hats off to the Rosewood and thanks to GTNF for allowing Forest to ‘own’ the smoking area for the duration of the conference!

PrintView Printer Friendly Version

EmailEmail Article to Friend

Reader Comments (1)

Very pleasant ! If you are ever in Switzerland may i recommend the Havana Deckbar in the Parco Paradiso hotel in Lugano. Here one may purchase cigarettes and cigars and indulge freely inside. Switzerland is very smoker friendly and has a huge range of cigarettes freely available everywhere. No plain packaging either !

Tuesday, September 18, 2018 at 15:14 | Unregistered CommenterTimothy Goodacre

PostPost a New Comment

Enter your information below to add a new comment.
Author Email (optional):
Author URL (optional):
Post:
 
Some HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>