FreshAir Sensor is a valued NHLA member and our guest for this week’s blog post. Learn more about the industry products and services offered by this company.
A 400-room casino hotel had a problem with guests smoking in hotel rooms. They frequently received complaints about the smells of cigarette smoke and marijuana smoke. A security officer would walk the area or floor in question, trying to determine the source of the smoke. From the hallways, they had a hard time definitively identifying the smokers’ rooms. Even when security personnel were able to determine where someone was smoking, the hotel rarely had conclusive proof.
When security did locate a guest smoking in their room it was uncommon to successfully charge them the cleaning fee. Many times, when confronted with a cleaning fee, the guest would contest it with the credit card company, causing a charge back for the hotel. The lack of data and evidence was costly and frustrating.
Unique technology monitors for cigarette and marijuana smoke
The hotel found FreshAir Sensor, the only technology capable of monitoring for and specifically detecting cigarette and marijuana smoke. The devices work over Wi-Fi and they were quick and easy to install.
Initially the hotel tried a 30-room pilot program. It was immediately clear that the devices were effectively catching smokers, so the hotel went to a full implementation in all 400 rooms.
As part of their effort to reduce smoking in guest rooms the hotel increased their cleaning fee to $500.
Now, when someone smokes in a guest room the hotel receives a notification. Security responds immediately. The hotel has the flexibility to deal with the offender in whatever way they find most appropriate. FreshAir Sensor provides a time-stamped chart of smoking event, providing scientific proof that smoking took place. When cleaning fees are charged the hotel is consistently able to collect them, the credit card processing companies accept FreshAir Sensor’s charts as evidence of smoking.
In one case, after receiving an alert that someone was smoking in a room, hotel security immediately went to the room, confronted the guest and verified the smoking. Before she had even unpacked her bag, the hotel charged the cleaning fee and asked her to leave. The room was cleaned and rented to another guest less than an hour after the first (evicted) guest checked in. That night, the hotel was able to book two room nights for the one room and claim the $500 cleaning fee. If the original guest had continued to smoke during the course of the night, that room could have been closed for cleaning for days and nearby guests could have been displeased and disturbed.
Reducing complaints and cleaning costs
After six months of using FreshAir Sensor the hotel has substantially decreased smoking complaints from guests. Even with this decrease the hotel is catching 50-60 smokers per month, adding over $20,000 a month in additional revenue.
“The use of FreshAir Sensor’s technology has allowed us to create a cleaner and more pleasant atmosphere for our guests while adding revenue for our hotel operation. We now feel closer to being able to “certify” or guarantee a non-smoking experience for our hotel guests.”
