July 24th 2006

Parts excerpted from Reuters and the Wall Street Journal, 7/24/06

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hotel chain Marriott International Inc. will announce on Wednesday that it is eliminating smoking in all rooms of its 2,300-plus hotels in the United States and Canada.  Westin Hotels announced a similar policy earlier this year.

The move is part of an effort to stop an increasingly common source of guest complaints.

More than 90 percent of Marriott's hotel rooms in the United States and Canada are already smokefree, but smoking will now be eliminated in public spaces, such as restaurants, bars, and meeting rooms, the report said.

The change in policy will start in September.  Guests who smoke in hotel rooms face a clean-up fee ranging from $200 to $300, according to the story.

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