AZ - I had a slightly better experience there in August '01: I was driving into Italy from Austria and decided at the last minute to take a different Autostrade route. I called the US *wood reservations line from a roadside reststop just after crossing the OS-IT border and secured a room with *points. Ninety minutes later I was at the hotel - they didn't have my reservation yet (they seemed used to "spontaneous" reservations taking a few hours to make it through the system) but graciously took me at my word and gave me a room (high floor, it had ashtrays but thankfully no lingering smoke "effect"). The decor was a little dated, but in good shape and very clean.

The odd thing to me was the parking - a fee-based "guarded" parking lot at the front-side of the building, versus a no-charge, "unprotected" lot in back (the hotel is highway-side in a commercial/industrial zone). Since the employees parked in the back, I did as well, with no problems.

Most experienced travelers who are sensitive to smoke realize that European hotels don't always have dedicated nonsmoking rooms, but then the hotels and theyr reservations offices should be careful not to guarantee nonsmokling accomodations if they can't honor the pledge. The only time it has happened to me recently wasn't at a *wood but in Amsterdam at the Hotel de L'Europe, supposedly one of the best in the city (killer location but rude rude rude staff) - the haughty clerk laughed when I showed my printed nonsmoking confirmation from the Leading Hotels of the World reservations office, saying "oh, that means nothing".....