Smoke-free hotels

Hotels in New York have been smoke-free since 2003 when New York's Clean Indoor Air Act prohibited smoking in a host of areas including hotels. Other states including Illinois are yet to follow. Today's Chicago Tribune has a report on two Kimpton Hotels in Chicago, the Hotels Monaco and Burnham, implementing a no-smoking policy this month. The report notes that "smokers now must stand 15 feet away from the hotels before lighting up their cigarettes, cigars or pipes. Any guest that violates that policy receives a $300 penalty". A Kimpton spokesperson noted "We feel it is the right thing to do for our non-smoking guests, our employees and the look and the feel of the property". Kimpton's is only the latest to hotel chain to join an increasing long list of hotel names from Marriott to Westin and even countries like Ireland.