How to Find Smoke-Free Hotel Rooms Worldwide

Hotels in North America are increasingly going smoke-free, but hotels in Europe and Asia often seem as slow as late-night room service when it comes to kicking the tobacco habit.

That is beginning to change, thanks to tough national and local smoking laws overseas; hotels operators' desire to cut the costs of eliminating smells, stains and burns from their properties; and hoteliers' desires to please guests who demand smoke-free environments.

Even in France, where inhaling languorously in cafes and le hotel has long been a national pastime, 78% of French hotel guests recently told pollsters they prefer non-smoking rooms.

Finding European and Asian hotels that restrict, or even ban, smoking is easier than ever before for travelers willing to put in the time to research their options. Usually, that boils down to spending some time on the Internet, surfing the Web sites of tourist boards, hotel chains, online outlets like Hotels.com, Expedia and Freshstay.com, and checking out the hotels section of sites such as Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights . ...