People often inquire about the signs they see (like the one above) around the Hotel Boulderado. When the second expansion of the North Wing was completed in 1989, the Hotel Boulderado was still a "smoking" hotel. By the early 1990s, five rooms throughout the hotel were converted into non-smoking rooms. As demand for non-smoking rooms grew over the years, we added more. From the original five, we added non-smoking sections, then non-smoking floors. As each floor became non-smoking, signs like the one pictured here were installed to remind guests. By October of 1998, there were approximately 25 non-smoking hotel rooms, with two floors in the North Wing designated as non-smoking. The next step was to convert the Historic Section to non-smoking status. By 2008, all 160 guest rooms at the Hotel Boulderado were non-smoking.Converting a former smoking room to a non-smoking one is no easy task, by the way. The walls, baseboards, and doors are washed with a vinegar solution to cut through the nicotine. The rooms would often need to be repainted because of the build up from the smoke. The drapes, carpet, and upholstery were then steam cleaned using special cleaning agents to neutralize the residual build up. New beds were installed, and all the bedding was replaced with newly washed bedding. Last but not least was the final stage, installing signs that read "This is a non-smoking room."
