So I passed the problem over to the hotel who, at some time in the past must have had an email or telephone conversation with a human at TA to set up the listing in the first place.
About 10 days ago, somebody else spotted the listing and also informed management. So once again I started scouring the TripAdvisor site for a way of contacting a human. Every time that I thought I was getting close, the automatic links sent me back to the FAQs.
A little lateral thinking was called for. I could not report the problem as being a destructive review, as nobody had yet commented on the fact that everyone, staff and guests, were smoking throughout this so-called non-smoking hotel.
It was a week ago that I made the breakthrough: I could report a fraud, naming TripAdvisor as the offender. At this point I was able to state my case in a real e-mail (albeit on the website).
Last Sunday I had a response from a real live human. The setting or clearing of this option was not controlled from the Management Console. Apparently TA searches the hotel web-site for a smoking policy. Not finding one it selects non-smoking as the default. So I had to change the website.
Not wishing to add more than necessary, I chose a small icon and added it to the front page to indicate that smoking is allowed. I then informed the helpful human where to look. An hour later he replied, saying that all was good, and the setting would be changed within 48 hours.
On Monday I got a request to review the service that I had received. Of course the setting had not changed, so I gave a very poor review.
On Tuesday they got back to me. Other changes had been made, but the important one might take another 3 days.
Today I was informed that the change has been made. Sheherazade is no longer a non-smoking hotel, and I have an e-mail address with which to contact TA on other matters.
You might think that I, as a non-smoker, might not have been concerned, but this is Egypt. Most people making a booking will first look at TripAdvisor and check the amenities. Is a smoker likely to even make an enquiry, let alone a reservation at a non-smoking hotel? Will the hotel even know how many potential bookings they have lost? How long before a reviewer reports that they were expecting a smoke-free atmosphere?