Two women say the Holiday Inn & Suites Phoenix Airport North charged them $500 smoking fees after staying there. They insist they did not smoke — and their fight to get those charges reversed took months.
Leslie, a hairdresser from South Carolina, says she traveled to Phoenix in April with her daughter for a work trip. After checking out, she says the hotel charged her $500, claiming she set off the room's air quality detection sensor twice.
"It's just the principle, because I did not do it, and my daughter did not do it. So, I am not paying $500 for something that we did not do," Leslie explained.
Leslie says she had no idea the sensor was even in her room.
"Nothing even really goes off. There's no noise there. I didn't even know it was in the room," Leslie said.
When she pushed back on the charge, she says hotel management told her the sensor had passed a quality check.
"She said that it passed a quality check, and that the sensors were not wrong, and that I was wrong, and that she was standing by her charge," Leslie added.
That’s when Leslie reached out to Let ABC15 Know.
"I was just trying to find help, because it's just not right," Leslie said.
Leslie isn't the only guest fighting this hotel over the smoking fee. Julie from Texas also contacted Let ABC15 Know after she was hit with the same fee from her daughter Rachel's stay at the same hotel. Rachel says her sister and her son came with her to the valley in May to see their other sister who had just had a baby.
"It's definitely been a stressful process," Rachel explained.
Rachel says the family had a humidifier running in the room for her nephew.
"He had some like allergies and breathing issues at the time. So, we had a humidifier in the room. We turned it on when we were about to go to bed, and then we turned it off in the morning," Rachel said.
The family believes the humidifier may have triggered the air quality sensor. Julie says she took a video at their home showing how a humidifier affects their air quality monitor.
"I have a videotape of the of the humidifier in front of the air filter, and it says quality of the air is 100% good, and then after you can see the air blowing from the humidifier, and all of a sudden it starts dropping, dropping, dropping, dropping," Julie explained.
Julie says she asked the hotel for documentation to support the $500 charge — but she didn’t receive anything from management.
"I asked for reports, statements, air quality maintenance on the sensor. I got nothing, nothing," Julie said.
Julie says the hotel refused to reconsider.
"They owe their customers a voice, the ability to plead your case, to be able to say, ‘Hey, we don't smoke. We have proof we don't smoke. What would you like?" Julie added.
A search online led to 15 reviews from customers on the hotel's website and TripAdvisor describing similar smoking fee charges.
REST, the company that makes the air quality sensors used by the Holiday Inn & Suites Phoenix Airport North said common devices like hair dryers and humidifiers are not typically associated with their sensor alerts. In a statement, the company said in part:
"REST does not issue charges to hotel guests or make enforcement decisions. We provide air quality data to our partner properties, which are solely responsible for interpreting that information. We strongly encourage our partners to exercise discretion in enforcement and to be mindful of broader environmental factors and guest context when evaluating potential violations."
The Let ABC15 Know team reached out to hotel management with questions about how the smoking sensors work and the protocols for handling disputes over the charges. The hotel did not address the allegations made by Julie and Leslie and sent us a statement saying: "At this time, the property respectfully declines to provide any further comment regarding this matter."
The Holiday Inn & Suites Phoenix Airport North hotel is independently owned and operated. A spokesperson for IHG referred us back to the property when we asked for their response.
Both Leslie and Julie filed complaints with the Arizona Attorney General's Office. Both women were also able to successfully dispute the $500 charge with their credit card companies.
Still, they say this has been a learning experience for them.
Leslie says she now checks whether hotels use Rest air quality sensors before booking a stay.
"I will not stay in another hotel that has them. I'm not going to do it," Leslie said.
Julie says she won't leave a hotel without reviewing her bill first.
"Make sure when you leave you have them say, give me the final bill, and you do not walk away until you see what the final bill is," Julie said.
Tips for travelers to avoid unexpected hotel charges:
- Thoroughly read through hotel policies before booking so you know what you could be charged for.
- Document the condition of your room with photos and videos when you check in and before you check out.
- Before leaving, ask the front desk for the final bill
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
