Las Vegas hotel outrages anti-smoking campaigner by fining her $420 for incident she insists would NEVER happen

An anti-smoking advocate says she was wrongly slapped with a $420 fine for tobacco use at a Las Vegas hotel – despite insisting neither she nor her husband smoke.

Mary Ferguson, who spent much of her career training nurses about the dangers of smoking, was stunned to find a $419 charge on her hotel bill accusing her of doing just that during a July stay at the Rio Las Vegas.

‘I do not smoke. My husband does not smoke. We have never smoked,’ she told 8 News Now. ‘In fact, I was a health educator doing tobacco cessation for nearly 20 years.’

The couple had chosen the hotel because it had been newly renovated and offered them a good deal. It’s also a non-smoking facility, which was a plus for the couple who ‘just don’t like to be around it.’

Their bill stated that the smoke index reader came in at a staggering 100 — 10 times larger than a normal reading, with the hotel claiming it was proof the pair had lit up. An air quality count of that level is considered ‘hazardous.’

‘We fell asleep shortly thereafter. We went to bed afterward. I had no idea that we had this, you know, toxicity in the room whatsoever,’ she said.

‘There was no one knocking at our door. No alarm went off. Nothing. Like I said, the only indication we had that this was an issue was upon checkout, and the fee was charged.’

And Ferguson, who visits Sin City monthly, isn’t the only one who was hit with the nasty charge. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has received nearly 30 complaints about smoking in relation to the Rio Las Vegas.

Mary Ferguson, who spent much of her career training nurses about the dangers of smoking, was stunned to find a $419 charge on her hotel bill accusing her of doing just in July

Their bill stated that the smoke index reader came in at a staggering 100 — a whopping 10 times larger than a normal reading

One anonymous customer told the organization that they were charged $396 the day after checkout for smoking.

‘This is outrageous, nobody smoked, none of us smoke at all,’ they wrote.

Another hotel guest said they received a $453.52 smoking fine for three months after their stay.

‘I did not smoke in the room. I believe the device may have misread steam from a hot shower or another non-smoking source,’ they wrote in September.

Another questioned in July how many people are unknowingly being charged the fee.

‘It makes me wonder how many people they get away with charging this smoking fee. I would never book here again,’ they wrote.

The hotel had issued that person a refund of $396.83 and admitted that the smoke detection system ‘may occasionally register environmental triggers that are not necessarily the result of smoking activity.’

The hotel told customers on the BBB website that these incidents could be ‘one-offs’ or ‘isolated.’

‘There was no one knocking at our door. No alarm went off. Nothing. Like I said, the only indication we had that this was an issue was upon checkout, and the fee was charged,’ Ferguson said

Ferguson’s fee was eventually waived after local news covered the incident.

The Rio Las Vegas told 8 News Now that their smoking policy is ‘consistent with other properties in and around the Strip.’

‘Each violation is reviewed thoroughly to ensure fairness, and we remain committed to maintaining a safe and comfortable environment for all guests,’ it told the outlet.

The Daily Mail has reached out to the Rio Las Vegas for comment.

Vegas has raised many eyebrows in recent months over its sky-high hotel charges.

Sharina Butler, of the Bahamas, was staying at the Paris Hotel Las Vegas when she received a bill for $224 due to her son unplugging a tray used for mini-bar snacks and drinks.

The policy, which is written on a small card in the front of the tray, says there’s a $56 charge for every day the tray remains unplugged.

‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ she told the hotel employee, she recalled in a TikTok video. ‘The tray isn’t attached to any electricity, the tray isn’t attached to anything, it’s just a plug.’

The fee was eventually dropped after local news inquiry about her charge. ‘I do not smoke. My husband does not smoke. We have never smoked,’ Ferguson said

She explained that they had unplugged the tray to charge their phone while sitting at the small desk inside the room. Butler also said she didn’t read the note on the minibar because she knew she wasn’t going to touch any of the overpriced items.

Locals and longtime Las Vegas regulars fear that the city is ‘dying’ due to ballooning prices and a crisis that spans both housing and tourism.

Visitors dropped by 6.7 percent compared to last August, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority said.

Two months prior, the city saw precipitous year-over-year losses of 11.3 and 12 percent in June and July, respectively.