Hotels/Motels in La Crosse County:  Smoke-Free Lodging

The La Crosse Area Health Initiative has looked at the issue of secondhand smoke in restaurants, worksites, rental properties, homes, and worksites, and supported a survey of the hotels and motels in La Crosse County during Spring 2004.  Thirty-one establishments, ranging in size from 5 rooms to 169 rooms, were included in the analysis.  The survey included questions on the number of smoke-free rooms available, smoke-free common areas, policies regarding employee smoking, and current trends in smoke-free availability.  The following are results from this survey.

• There are 2075 rooms available in La Crosse County and 1533 (73.8%) are designated as smoke-free, meaning that they are consistently the same rooms. 
   

• Over a third of the establishments assess fines for smoking in a smoke-free room.
   

• Half of the establishments have had an increase in the number of smoke-free rooms that they offer, in the past two years.
   

• In reference to common areas:

  • 77% of the establishments have a smoke-free lobby

  • 94% of the establishments have a smoke-free pool area

  • 85% of the establishments have smoke-free hallways
     

• Except for a few small businesses with no smoke-free rooms, on average facilities offer 66% of their rooms as smoke-free, ranging from 20% to 100%.
   

• 87% of establishments have restrictions on employee smoking, most requiring that their employees “Take it outside.

Access the survey data base by clicking here:  2004 Hotel/Motel Survey Results