India and China have the world’s most polluted cities. Their luxury hotels are turning that into a business strategy. When Barbarae from Austria visited the Cordis Hongqiao Hotel in Shanghai in January, she loved the simple check-in process, the extra-large bed, the electric drapes and the fancy wine glasses in her room. But there was something less common that also struck her, which she mentioned in a review on travel site Booking.com: “the special air-filter program.” That experience didn’t come cheap: The hotel’s rate typically hovers around $250 a night. Yet for the “haves” who can afford it, it’s worth it. Windows in the hotel are always closed, and all air that enters the Cordis Hongqiao passes through two layers of filtration. Every one of the hotel’s 396 rooms has a pollution monitor that shows the levels of PM2.5 — particulate matter so small it can get stuck in a person’s lungs. The hotel claims the air inside is usually 10 times better than outside. But the hotel isn’t alone in China, or in the region. | 