saving money on your business travels

Sure, the best thing you can do is stay in a hotel that offers an option of smoking and non-smoking rooms. But that may not always be an option, and you could get stuck with a room that smells like cigarette smoke. The following are some tips that may help you get rid of that smell.

Clean Up A Bit

Odors can get stuck to several places. Some you can easily take care of, while others are difficult to deal with. Consider the following:

1. Light bulbs attract smells. The heat from the light bulb will releases smells when you turn on the lights in your hotel room. So consider carefully wiping off the light bulbs before turning on the lights in your room. You can also ask the hotel staff to do this for you or change the bulbs altogether.

2. Fabrics absorb smells like cigarette smoke. You can ask your hotel staff to change all the sheets, covers, and curtains during your stay.

3. Most hotel rooms have carpets, and carpets trap smells. You can ask your hotel staff to place you in a room without carpeting if that is possible. You can also sprinkle a small amount baking soda on the carpet for at least 3 hours and have the hotel service personnel vacuum your room. Baking soda has a high pH value that will neutralize cigarette odors. This is because bad odors have a low pH value.

The aforementioned are a few things you can do to get rid of that smell. And your hotels' staff may help you do it. But there are cigarette odors that may be more stubborn and harder to remove.

Natural Odor Absorbers

Believe it or not, your walls can also trap smells. There is not much you can do about that except paint the hotel room walls over. But seeing as that is not possible, you can consider the following alternatives.

1. You can bring an air purifier with you, or you can mix 1 cup of apple cider vinegar and 1 cup of hot water. Let the smell from this mixture consume the room for a few hours, and it may help absorb that horrid cigarette smell. Vinegar is helpful because it removes particles like the kind left by tobacco.

2. Think about bringing some activated charcoal. Activated charcoal contains several carbon holes on its surface. These holes will attract particles like the kind that cause the cigarette smell. Just add activated charcoal to a cup or basket in your hotel, and the smell should diminish within a day.

You should also consider opening up the windows to let some of the air out. And, as a reminder, it is better to book a hotel early on to make sure you do not end up with a room filled with this odor.