Lloyds Hotel & Restaurant, Llanidloes, Powys

There’s a market
out there for non smoking

The market town of Llanidloes in mid Wales is the location for Lloyds Hotel, owned by Tom Lines and Roy Hayter. Renowned for its five-course surprise dining experience and with seven guest rooms, this three-star establishment made the decision in March 2001 to go smoke-free throughout the building.

Going smoke free was prompted to some extent by the difficulty of getting rid of the smell of cigarettes when a bedroom had been occupied by a smoker. The catalyst was a week-long stay by a heavy smoker!

Roy (pictured right with Tom) said, "I fully support and welcome the ban on smoking in enclosed public places. For those who have already become non-smoking, it will reduce the burden of communicating this information in advance to potential guests. It should also reduce the incidents, which are thankfully rare, when in spite of a non-smoking rule, a guest wilfully ignores it. This has been very hard to deal with in the past especially when the evidence is circumstantial (a smell of smoke in the room).

"We announced our intention to become totally non-smoking well in advance, in our brochure and in the large mailing we do each Christmas, with greetings to guests. A few said we would lose trade because of our decision.

"Thankfully, our experience has been the reverse. Now both the hotel and the restaurant have even greater appeal to non-smokers. Restaurant guests, who feel the need to light up, simply step outside between courses. The environment is also a great deal more pleasant (and healthy) for us and our staff to work in. The risk of fire is significantly reduced, another key concern with the introduction this October of new fire regulations.”