Smoke 'em out: Hotel puts bounty on guests who light up

ALL ROOMS SMOKE-FREE | Swissotel housekeepers get $10 for catching guests

Cyndi Gibson became very familiar with the outside of the Swissotel Chicago on Wednesday.

She went outside five times in the freezing cold to enjoy cigarettes.

That's because a bounty was on her head.

If guests are caught smoking in their rooms, they are fined $250.

Housekeepers collect a reward if they catch smokers, though it's only an extra $10.

The 50-year-old Cincinnati resident is the latest Swissotel visitor forced to adhere to rules banning smoking at the East Wacker Drive hotel -- including guests' rooms.

"I have been saying all day that this is ridiculous," said Gibson, a communications consultant who was staying at the hotel to attend a conference.

"But I understand the problem for nonsmokers."

The hotel's rule comes just as Illinois institutes a smoke-free ban in public places this month.

Twenty guests have paid the fine since the hotel instituted its smoke-free policy Dec. 3, hotel officials said. The fine helps pay for the cleanup of smoke-filled rooms.

It costs about $400 to get rid of the odor of smoke from carpets, draperies and bedding, according to officials.

"The health of our guests and staff is of the utmost importance to us, and we will do whatever we can to preserve it," said Nicole Jachimiak, a hotel spokeswoman.

Wednesday night, nonsmokers were split on the hotel's policy.

"I get tired of going into a bar and smelling like smoke," said guest Frank Lenertz, a 60-year-old financial planner from West Chicago. "In the old days, if you went into some hotel rooms, you could pick up the smell of smoke very quickly. It was bad."

But nonsmoker Linda Amburn, a 47-year-old Quincy resident, said the fine "seems a little excessive."

"I don't think it needs to be that much," said Amburn, a vice president for operations at an insurance company.