I’m not a smoker, and I’m fairly sensitive to cigarette smoke.  My partner accuses me of being obnoxious whenever anyone lights up nearby me (I think she’s referring to my crinkled up nose and my hand frantically attempting to wave the smoke away from me, and though I would never wish to use the word obnoxious as a descriptor of myself I provide this info as some sort of full disclosure or something.)

Anyway… here’s some news. If you’re a smoker you’ll want to avoid these hotels and if you’re not a smoker, you’ll love them: Marriott has just announced that starting in September all of its hotels in North America will be 100% smoke-free. This includes 10 different brand-names: Marriott, JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Courtyard, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, Fairfield Inn, TownePlace Suites and Marriott ExecuStay.  Under the policy, smoking will not be allowed in guest rooms, restaurants, lounges, meetings rooms, public space and employee work areas.

In January, Westin instituted a non-smoking policy at all of its properties in the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean.  Sandals and Beaches resorts also went non-smoking in May.

Addendum – May 2007.  Comfort Suites are also now smoke-free.  For the full blog entry, click here.