Kudos to Marriott

I'm a member of the Marriott Rewards program and recently stayed in one of their hotels in Larkspur, so from time to time they email me with Marriott information. Today I got this:

In order to accommodate the preferences of the vast majority of our guests, all Marriott® hotels in the United States and Canada will become 100% smoke-free by October 15, 2006.

This is the industry's largest move to a smoke-free environment and includes over 2,300 hotels and corporate apartments under the Marriott, JW Marriott®, Renaissance®, Courtyard®, Fairfield Inn®, SpringHill Suites®, Residence Inn®, TownePlace Suites® and Marriott ExecuStay® brands. The new policy includes all guest rooms, restaurants, lounges, meeting rooms, public spaces, and employee work areas.

Good for them! In nicer hotels there's usually enough distance between the smoking rooms and the non-smoking ones that I don't notice the smoke that much. I have, however, stayed in hotels where my floor was non-smoking, but the floor below was smoking, and I could smell the smoke rising through the floor. Disgusting.

Thanks, Marriott! Us non-smokers appreciate it.

Speaking of smoking, although he hasn't smoked since 1978, NBC NASCAR color announcer (and past NASCAR champion) Benny Parsons has lung cancer. We wish Benny the best (and you can too by clicking here).