The agents over at Travel Hawaii, which is becoming a quasi-travel news agency focused on Hawaii, put together some good info on the smoking ban that has pretty much banned smoking in hotel rooms and public places. They put together a nice summary of the situation here. Two chains, Outrigger and ResortQuest, are going as far as seeking to levy cleaning fees against guests who smoke in their rooms. ResortQuest actually is requiring guests to sign a release agreeing to a $450 cleaning for any breaches of smoking rules. Both are moderate chains with many locations in Hawaii and, as Travel Hawaii notes, from here on out its highly unlikely you'll end up in a smoke-filled room or even one that hints at cigarette odors. One would assume these rules would also reduce the number of smoking Japanese visitors, something that clearly has already happened (just ask the folks at luxury jeweler Tiffany why earnings flattened in the most recent quarter)

—Alex, 04/19/07