PRESQUE ISLE, Maine – The Northern Lights Motel is now a smoke-free facility.
According to owner Mary Nevin, the motel was closed the month of December allowing for the three remaining smoking rooms to be converted.
“At one time, seven of our rooms were smoking and the other seven were non-smoking,” said Nevin. “We cater a lot to people who travel with their pets, and we found that the smoking side usually ended up being filled with non-smokers that travel with their pets, so we reduced the smoking side to three, and now we’ve reduced it down to none.
“We now have seven non-smoking, pet-friendly rooms and seven non-smoking, non-pet friendly rooms,” she said.
Since the three remaining smoking rooms had to be redone, Nevin figured it would be a good time to give the 11 other rooms a fresh look, as well.
“We ripped all the wallpaper out, put new paint in there, got new furniture, new carpeting and new curtains,” she said. “The Atrium down in Brunswick recently closed, so we went down there and purchased a bunch of stuff from them including curtains, pillows, bedspreads and some furniture.”
Northern Lights Motel reopened Jan. 2. Nevin said she has received a lot of favorable comments from travelers since becoming a completely smoke-free establishment.
“Some of the people who have been here recently have stayed with us before,” said Nevin, “and they’ve said things like, ‘Every year you do something different. It’s never a surprise to us to see things changing around here, but this change was really good.’”
All of the rooms have a theme, including one that’s more European.
“It has almost a pumpkin color on the wall and green and red striped curtains,” Nevin said. “My Dad had done some valances for me for the curtains, so that we could have the curtains swing open instead of on a drawstring. All the rooms look really good.”
Other themed rooms include grape, angel, flower and duck.
Nevin said there will be a $225 fee assessed to anyone who smokes in the non-smoking facility.
“We have advertised here that if you smoke it’s going to cost you $225,” she said, “so we really do discourage any smokers from coming into the motel altogether. I’ve had a few negative replies from people regarding the fee, but that’s the way it is.
“The fee is for cleaning. It takes two days to get the smoke smell out of a room,” said Nevin. “We have to clean the carpets, wash the curtains and bedding, and that doesn’t even count the amount of money that we lose because we can’t rent that room for two days. Hopefully the $225 fee will discourage people from smoking.”
Notice of the fee is on the bill of sale that guests’ sign.
Guests are permitted to smoke outside or in what Nevin calls the “smoker’s shed.”
“This is done for everybody’s health,” she said. “Not only our customers, but the girls who work with me, as well as myself. We’re all non-smokers, and when we go into smoking rooms, it’s the worst. Our eyes go, our noses go, allergies start to act up, and there’s a lot of sick leave. I think this way is for the best.”
In the spring, Nevin said she anticipates a new coat of paint to be applied to the doors, as well as new signage welcoming patrons to the non-smoking facility.
Northern Lights Motel, located at 72 Houlton Road in Presque Isle, is open from 7 a.m.-10 p.m. seven days a week. For more information, call 764-4441.
