I always have restricted myself from coming up to Genting Highlands.
There are many reasons I love coming up here, but there is only one reason i hate coming up here.
And that is : Cigarette smoke.
And that is : Cigarette smoke.
Don’t get me wrong. The rooms in the First World hotel are decent and clean. It’s just that, some patrons, really are inconsiderate.
Last trip in June, I had accompany my lil’ sister up this hill to watch a concert of her favourite idol.
It was almost 3 years I had last been up here and I had an asthma attack back then due to the mix of cigarette smoke and the cold weather.
I’m a non-smoker and I’m sensitive towards cigarette smokes, especially when the areas are enclosed and there’s no way I could dissipate the smoke, they just stain the entire indoors. It gets worst when the mix of nicotine and cold air was just right that I started hyperventilating and followed by as asthma attack.
It was 3:17am in the morning and I was woken up by second hand cigarette smoke in my room.
No, there isn’t anyone else but my travelling party sleeping in the room and the smoker in the group (my dad) knows very well not to smoke in the room, and he was fast asleep.
Just to give you a clear picture, I have booked a NON-SMOKING room on a non-smoking floor at First World Hotel.
The horrible fact I had learnt from this trip is, smokers gets terribly creative when they need a puff and are either lazy to go out of the room or just wanna cheat in a non-smoking room.
I remembered a friend’s buddy from one of my Thailand trip and he was in the same room as my guy friend’s and that buddy smoked in the non-smoking hotel room– in the toilet, blowing his smokes towards the ventilator.
Clever isn’t it?
Only then, the ventilator in the Thailand Hotel was actually attached and facing out of the building, so he managed to get pass.
In this case of mine, unfortunately, it isn’t so. I’m very sure this dude, and yes I’m very sure he’s a dude (cause I think girls don’t have this weird sense of creativity) isn’t aware that the ventilator shaft is internally interconnected on the entire building and–
YES!
The second hand cigarette smoke actually floated into my room via the ventilator in the toilet.
The second hand cigarette smoke actually floated into my room via the ventilator in the toilet.
While, I’m not totally annoyed by the smoke in the afternoon when it just fumes the entire room, cause I am not in the room in the day most of the time, but I’m annoyed cause I’m woken up abruptly and I CAN’T FREAKING BREATHE.
I literally had to stick my face out at the slit of the window to suck in fresh air.
No matter how I tried to dissipate the smoke in the room, I still couldn’t breathe normally. And for someone like me who has a history of asthma, this short shallow breathing pattern isn’t a good sign.
In the end, I had resort to leaving the room and seek a place with some decent fresh air to calm my lungs as I felt I am on the verge of an asthma attack.
As I walked, I realised that the entire First World Plaza indoor theme park reeks of stale, murky cigarette smoke, long after the rides have closed and the lights had dimmed. There were also one or two smokers standing at the corners smoking.
Places where I could sit and take in fresh mountainous air are so rare, they are like private properties in the prestige areas.
I finally found a seat outside Resort Hotel where there is a cafe by the front entrance that has outdoor seats. Then again, although the air is fresh, it is only when there are no cars zooming by.
I usually do not give negative reviews and I do love going up once in a while to Genting Highlands. I just wish there was something that could be done about it. After all, not all visitors have casinos in their agenda when going up the hill.
p.s. I was googling a photo to accompany this post when I found this.
Really interesting read:
I really do understand that there will always be smoking activity in casino resorts.
It’s just that, if the owners and architects would have establish this fact, then First World Hotel will definitely be so much better to stay in, now that the better hotels (resort hotel/ highland hotel) can no longer be booked because they are only available to members with silver card status.
It’s just that, if the owners and architects would have establish this fact, then First World Hotel will definitely be so much better to stay in, now that the better hotels (resort hotel/ highland hotel) can no longer be booked because they are only available to members with silver card status.
This is one main reason that I don’t fancy going up to Genting Highlands. They don’t simply give a damm for non-smokers and non-smoker’s rights. No point getting lung cancer from second hand smoke. Rather spend my holidays somewhere else. Anyway I don’t fancy gambling there.
Hi David,
Thanks for your comment.
Yes, it’s unfortunate that they can’t cater a better service for non smokers. I haven’t been up there since this incident that I blogged. I will still ask friends and family who occasionally go up there, about the sitaution there and so far nothing much has changed.
Yes, I do take my travel elsewhere now too but now I am more aware of such hotel situations and more concious in choosing hotels cause there are still hotels overseas that also like this. 🙁