Q: I’m a lifelong non-smoker and am grateful there’s a growing trend in hotels and terminals to ban cigarettes totally. However, too many hotels and motels still allow it in rooms. Often, even in designated non-smoking rooms, lingering odors of decades-old burned tobacco make the room very unpleasant.

How can I avoid booking those smelly rooms?

Marian P., Boston MA A: You can’t really get totally away from it, especially in older hotels and motels, where guests have puffed and hacked for decades. When you check in to an older place, ask the desk clerk for a corner room with lots of ventilation.

Also, if there’s a recently-renovated or newly-built hotel wing where smoking has never been allowed, ask for a room there.