Guests are often frustrated by hotel heating and air conditioning. You may have to leave your room key in a slot to turn it on, and the system might be motion-activated so your room gets too hot or too cold when you’re gone. Thermostats may be locked to limit cooling, which is why guests have been hacking their thermostat for years. In Europe, coin-operated air conditioning is surprisingly common.
Yet one Hilton hotel in Southern California doesn’t even give their guests access to heating and air conditioning on demand. Sometimes it’s one, sometimes it’s the other, and sometimes guests aren’t allowed to use either one.
The Embassy Suites Santa Ana Orange County Airport does not offer year-round heating and air conditioning. It’s one or the other – sometimes neither.
Our HVAC system is a two pipe system which means we have HEAT or AIR CONDITIONING. Both are not available at the same time in the building.
They offer heat when the temperature is 55 or less, and air conditioning when outside temperatures are 70 degrees or higher. They do not offer either heat or air conditioning between 55 and 70 degrees.
However, they offer space heaters at the front desk. Space heaters for guest use in a hotel seems like a very bad idea to me. Surely the fire marshal would agree?
No hvac available between 55F-70F
byu/Large_Device_999 inHilton
The “single-pipe” or “two-pipe” HVAC systems, which allow for only heating or cooling at a time, were especially common in mid-20th-century buildings, roughly from the 1940s to the 1970s. These systems were designed primarily to save on infrastructure and operational costs and were widely used in apartments, office buildings, and institutional buildings like schools and hospitals.
Retrofitting these buildings with systems that allow for simultaneous heating and cooling zones is costly, which is why many of these buildings maintain the original configuration. However,
- This hotel was built in 1985.
- It was renovated 11 years later.
- There have been 40 years to adjust this.
Orange County, California has generally mild weather. For months of the year the average daily high temperature hovers just below 70 degrees, and for several months overnight lows average over 55. There are likely entire months where this published temperature range allows them not to offer any HVAC service at all, if they even stick rigorously to it.
Guests should be informed up front about the lack of available heating and air conditioning. And a policy of not offering heating at 55 degrees seems insane to me… if they need to switch, switch at 62 and 68?
How is this compatible with Hilton brand standards?
The Civic hotel in Vancouver (autograph collection) is the same way. At least it was when I stayed there a few years ago.
This doesn’t sound too good for the Hilton
I just read the Tripadvisor reviews. Filter for 6 months and almost every review is 1 star . Appears to be many issues other than temperature control such as running out if towels, beds with no linens and being told sorry we jave no more linens. Personally, Homewood Suites John Wayne Airport is excellent. I have stayer there many times.
Both Embassy Suites at LAX have the same heat OR cool for ghe whole building design.
The GM sounds like he/she needs to be fired immediately. Terrible reviews and terrible hospitality. Hotels have gone to crap lately but this is exceptionally bad.
Wasn’t Embassy Suites some other brand before the mid 80s, maybe all those builds in the area were the same cheap builder
Went through this last New Years at a Prince hotel in Tokyo. One morning it was 79 degrees in the room. Fortunately we moved hotels after 3 days and could control the thermostat at the new hotel. It was miserable in the morning sweating trying to shower.
For me it’s not about either but the fact there needs to be air movement in the room. Does the system operate on a fan mode? Do the windows open fully? Can there be a breeze?
If we are talking stale room air, I would consider this so bad I would dispute the charges with my credit card company.
If I was staying there I would get one of those space heaters. With it, those temperatures would be easy to handle.