Free Republic

Three of communist China's big state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are part of a bidding war underway for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, the parent group that owns iconic high-end hotel brands Sheraton, Westin,  St. Regis, and W Hotels. According to various business news reports, the Hyatt hotel chain is a front-runner in the buyout competition, but if deeper pockets prevail the sale could go to China Investment Corporation (CIC), a sovereign wealth fund of China's communist government. Also bidding for the prestige hotel acquisition are the giant Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels Group Co, Ltd. and HNA Group, the parent company...

ASSOCIATED PRESS WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- A major hotel chain is going smoke-free next month and will add $200 to the bill of anyone who violates the policy, an executive said Monday. Westin Hotels & Resorts is banning smoking indoors and poolside at all 77 of its properties in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean, said senior Vice President Sue Brush. Smokers will have to go to a designated outdoor area, she said. Enica Thompson, spokeswoman for the American Hotel & Lodging Association, said Westin is the first major American chain to go smoke-free and predicted that "many of...

Beginning in the new year, the 77 Westin hotels and resorts in Canada, the U.S. and the Caribbean are banning smoking in all of their guest rooms and public areas. Anyone caught smoking in their room will have $200 added to their bill as a cleaning fee. Westin said it will be the first upscale hotel chain to go completely smoke-free. Anyone who wants to light up will have to go to a designated smoking area outside. "Industry research, as well as our own research, confirmed a clear consumer demand for a clean, smoke-free hotel environment," Westin Hotels senior vice...