Comments on: Have You Seen What’s in Your Hotel Room Air Conditioner?

By: Hotel System

Hotel System — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 10:39:36 +0000

Good information. No one
Good information. No one really checks the AC unit in the hotel. What kind of smell was coming?
The hotel management must do a repair on the AC units on monthly basis. Curious on their carelessness.

By: Paige Nienaber

Paige Nienaber — Thu, 05 Dec 2013 08:18:09 +0000

Thank you! What’s with all of
Thank you! What’s with all of the disgusting hotel air ducts? http://hotelnightmares.com/whats-with-all-the-bad-airconditioners/

By: Allison Bailes

Allison Bailes — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 05:07:30 +0000

Scott W.:
Scott W.: Yeah, I've pulled off covers before but this is the worst I've seen.

Marty: This is the worst I've seen before. I didn't end up moving because the hotel is fully booked, but they did send someone to clean the unit. I'll post a photo above after I finish commenting.

David B.: Yeah, it's definitely more than temperature control.

Bill S.: I don't know if this one's on your list, but it's Hilton Garden Inn, which has become my favorite hotel over the last several years.

Ira E.: I don't think the air flow is affected all that much. The coil was pretty clean.

Mike M.: This hotel doesn't have wallpaper. I think a lot of the better hotels learned in the '80s and '90s that vinyl wallpaper and Gulf coast humidity didn't go together. I make a point of not looking at the mattress, but at least they clean the duvets between guests at Hilton Garden Inn.

pat: I'm not saying anything about bed bugs because I don't want to jinx myself. I saw my in-laws go through the huge hassle of trying to get of them a couple of years ago.

Cameron T.: The filter on the PTAC in my room was completely clean. It was the downstream side of the unit that was all gunked up. Yeah, chilled water fan coils would work well. So would a ductless multi-split, especially one of the models that can bypass the condenser and move heat from one zone to another. One of the reasons I like to stay at Hilton Garden Inns is that they do have soundproofed rooms. I've never been kept awake in one by noise in a neighboring room.

David: I like mini-splits or multi-splits. As Cameron mentioned, chilled water fan coils would work well, too.

Carl C.: Just pop the cover and see what it looks like before you settle in.

Curt K.: Actually, they didn't move me because the hotel is full. Instead they sent someone to the room to give the unit a good cleaning. See the photos above that I'm about to post.

By: Curt Kinder

Curt Kinder — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 20:00:50 +0000

Motel and HVAC maintenance
Motel and HVAC maintenance contract are about as likely together as oil and water.

Miserable though they are, the attraction of PTAC / PTHP units is that they can be installed and (not) maintained by non-HVAC contractors or even licensed EPA techs.

In Florida, if a heat pump has an electrical plug, is self-contained and has less than 3 tons capacity, no license needed. I imagine similar rules apply in other states.

Unless the in house maintenance guy / gal feels the need to open up the sealed refrigeration system, they needn't even have an EPA card. If they have the card, they can perform repairs without a contractors license as an owner's employee.

Most complaints are meant as Allison's was - move guest to another room.

By: Carl D Clark

Carl D Clark — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 19:35:36 +0000

Oh great,

Oh great,
I am getting ready to take a few day road trip, guess we will have to stay in my truck - the wife won't be happy
Thanks Allison

By: David

David — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 17:15:03 +0000
So what's the best type of
So what's the best type of HVAC system to put in a hotel room? Ductless mini split?

By: Cameron Taylor

Cameron Taylor — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 16:43:24 +0000
My first full time job out of
My first full time job out of high school was in hotel maintenance. It was the tail end of the summer of 1980, the hottest summer on record in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. I was initiated into my new gig via moving tons of ailing PTACs to the on-site shop for repair and then back to closets on the floors to be kept as spares. At least we had a regular filter change program, but these things even when maintained decently are beat to death in hotel settings. At another hotel I worked at a few years later, I'd try to remove the PTAC whenever we had a room down for maintenance needs. I'd take it outside and wash it...incredible how much gunk would stream out and onto the pavement.

The PTAC design itself is problematic: I have yet to see one that can maintain consistent temperature control and not cause uncomfortable drafts for room occupants. The most comfortable air conditioning in a hotel room I ever experienced was at a Hilton in Indianapolis; instead of a PTAC it had an upflow chilled water fan coil unit in the wall controlled by a remote thermostat...and the filter was CLEAN! It was also quiet, which I've never seen from a PTAC. PTACs....a window unit on steroids...and sounds like it, also!

Oh, and when I was a kid we would occasionally stay in Rodeway Inns on family vacations. They were built out of concrete block and had chilled water fan coils in a soffit near the bathroom. And they were whisper quiet. Hotels should consider the noise and health hazards PTACs pose when proposing to build or remodel...whisper quiet HVAC, as well as sound deadened rooms, would certainly entice me to stay there vs. the typical PTAC plagued "bumps in the night" via thin walls and ceilings place that's all too familiar to a weary traveler.

By: pat

pat — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 16:26:07 +0000
Allison

Allison
This is exactly what the bed bug exterminator requested.

By: Mike McGuinness, CIH

Mike McGuinness, CIH — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 16:25:12 +0000
Southern climate +
Southern climate + overcooling + short cycling + little or no maintenance = your pictures
Btw, cut a patch out of the vinyl wallpaper on the exterior wall and tell me what you see

I don't want to you guys what's on the bed sheets...

By: Ira Eisenstein

Ira Eisenstein — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 16:09:54 +0000
Health issues are of course
Health issues are of course top priority,
BUT
This is the same thing as a homeowner who doesn't change their furnace filter for 2 years.
How much longer does that PTAC or PTHP have to run to warm or cool the room to the desired temperature with all that dust clogging up the airflow? How much more energy will it use?
You'd think the hotel would care about that even if they don't care about the health concern.