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HOTEL AIR CONDITIONING POST MONTYSAURUS

I often find great difficulty in setting the air conditioning in hotel rooms for a number of reasons: I’m getting on a bit; they rarely come with instructions; they rarely work as the pictograms, if provided, suggest; they have varying fan speeds, which seem to bear little relation to what is either desired or occurs; they sometimes have other symbols that have no explanation; some, but not many, allow me to set the temperature I want, but many more show the number of degrees that I may want to increase the temperature by, but still show the current temperature.

I am tempted to discount the first reason, as I can manage technology reasonably well given that I am a chartered engineer. In my car I set the climate control to the temperature I want and it gets there all by itself, even automatically decreasing the speed of the fan as it approaches the desired temperature. Why can’t hotel systems do something similar? Do others have this problem or does the first reason actually apply?

CAPETONIANM

I am delighted to read this and to know that I’m not alone in failing to manage hotel air conditioning. I’ve been able to manage complex computer systems for revenue and inventory management for airlines, so I don’t think I’m particularly stupid. I often find that when things get dumbed down to the level of pictograms, they are more difficult to understand than old-fashioned controls. I would also add that I detest air conditioning with a passion and do my best to stay in places where you can switch it off and open the windows, even in hot places.

GIVINGUPBA

I have this problem too, like many others I think. My solution: insist on the hotel engineer or someone else fixing it or showing me how to use it. As I’m paying (often in hotels in the Far East), I never hesitate to ask for help in a hotel, whether they can or will provide it, or not. Usually they can help.

INQUISITIVE

It’s not too difficult to manage air conditioning. Setting the temperature to your specific choice and keeping the fan on auto should solve most problems. Sometimes, cleaners keep the fan in the manual high position, so when guests come back to the room it feels very cold. Changing the fans to auto will do the trick.

ANTIPODES

I have found that air conditioning in the tropics is not reverse cycle and therefore does not warm the room. I have often found myself sitting in the full blast of a cold breeze with the temperature set at 26 degrees Celsius and freezing. The only solution, for me, is to turn the air conditioning off because the option of redirecting the breeze is not available. I don’t have a problem using the temperature control providing it is well lit. ROYALTY STATUS – EXERCISING THE BENEFIT OF GUARANTEED BOOKING POST TS-ANDY

Recently, I exercised the benefit of guaranteed booking accorded to royalty status members of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts’ Golden Circle programme. To my surprise, the hotel charged me more than double the room rate that it charged me for other nights that I am able to book online. That, to me, was opportunistic on the part of the hotel, though I am more than happy to pay a slight premium over the normal room rate for this accorded benefit. Has anyone experienced similar situations?

MARTYNSINCLAIR

That does not surprise me if the online prices were from third-party booking sites, where prices can vary dramatically. I recently tried to book two nights in Kitzbühel, Austria in March using the hotel and third-party websites. The same hotel cost £940 (US$1,185) for two nights on the hotel website and £334 (US$421) for five nights using a third-party booking site. I frequently hear guests complaining about Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) hotels, where booking direct with the hotel is generally more expensive than the SPG (now Marriott) website.

IANFROMHKG

I wonder if the guaranteed rate is like the seat guarantee that some airlines offer to members of their frequent-flyer programmes, and is only available for certain rates or fare buckets? That might explain the difference.

ALAINBOY56

I am a Hilton Honors Gold member and have on numerous occasions tried to make comparisons with other sites if, in my view, the rate was high. I can say that I have never found the Hilton website to have given a higher rate for the same room – sometimes only equal, but never higher. For this, I must compliment them.