More US hotels go smoke-free
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mid growing public concern about the dangers of second hand smoke, the number of hotels in the US prohibiting smoking indoors has tripled in three years, according to a USA TODAY analysis of American Automobile Association (AAA) data.
There are more than 8,300 smoke-free lodgings in the US, nearly 6,000 more than in 2005, AAA’s figures show. Of these, more than 7,000 are hotels, motels, inns and B&Bs, while the rest are condos, cottages and other rentals, the paper said.
It said this reflects a growing number of state and local governments having passed laws restricting smoking in hotels and other public places.
“Making a hotel smoke-free is the right thing to do because it protects guests and employees from second hand smoke,” according to Joe McInerney, President of the American Hotel & Lodging Association.
Two years ago, Westin Hotels & Resorts said it was responding to guests’ demands for a healthy environment. It became the first chain to go smoke-free at its 90 U.S. hotels. Marriott, the nation’s largest hotel company, made nearly all its more than 2,500 U.S. hotels smoke-free several months later. Marriott subsidiary The Ritz-Carlton, Walt Disney, Gaylord, Comfort Suites and Cambria Suites are other chains with all smoke-free U.S. hotels, the report said
It added that some 264 Sheraton and Four Points hotels in the US would be smoke-free by the end of next month, quoting a spokeswoman for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
The report said 23 states have laws that specify how many non-smoking rooms must be in hotels, and 534 cities and counties restrict smoking in hotels in their jurisdictions, quoting the Americans for Non-Smokers’ Rights.
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