Why is air conditioning important to a hotel’s reputation?

Air conditioning provider, Synecore, has found that many hotels in London fail to provide suitable air conditioning for their guests, which is having a negative impact on their online reputation.

Air conditioning should be a standard feature in most hotel rooms around the globe, even in countries with a cooler climate, such as the UK. However, Synecore has discovered that in many instances guests continue to complain about the lack of, or poorly maintained air conditioning in London-based hotels, which is having a negative impact on popular online review sites.

According to the Trip Advisor Trip Barometer study, which looks at travel trends for 2016, 63% of travellers globally said that air conditioning is a must-have when choosing a place to stay. That makes it more of a deal-breaker than breakfast (40%) or a swimming pool (26%).

Professional M&E contractor to the hospitality industry, Synecore, has worked with hotels across the UK, providing air conditioning design, installation and maintenance. Now firmly amid the holiday season, Synecore wants to educate hotels on how their air conditioning can have a positive or negative impact on their online reputation before it’s too late.

Synecore’s HVAC manager, Gary Piper, says, “It is surprising that so many hotels do not provide good air conditioning as a basic service to their guests. Our research has discovered that the main complaints relating to poor air conditioning in hotels are largely due to under maintained systems that don’t perform efficiently. Shockingly, complaints are often ignored, or a fan is provided as an alternative. In these instances, we firmly believe the negative comments are well deserved.

“Keeping your air conditioning system well maintained is not difficult, especially with Planned Preventative Maintenance Schemes, such as ours, where the air conditioning system is regularly serviced, cleaned, checked for leaks and tested. Most importantly these under-maintained systems could be a sign the hotel is not fulfilling its legal obligations of remaining FGas compliant and they possibly do not hold an up-to-date TM44 assessment.

“Large air conditioning systems, often found in hotels, must be regularly leak tested to prevent the release of harmful ozone depleting gases being released into the atmosphere. A poor performing system could be a sign of a leak and it must be rectified immediately, or the hotel could receive significant penalty fines if not addressed,” explains Gary Piper.

The main complaints associated with poor hotel air conditioning in London hotels include:

- Having to open windows for air flow is hugely impractical in City locations when attempting to rest, as noise levels are consistently high day and night. For safety reasons windows in hotels frequently only open a small amount, meaning natural air flow can be hard to achieve.
- Bad odours and noisy units, caused by under maintained systems, do not give a good impression on a guest and when the problems are not addressed swiftly, the guest is most likely going to leave a negative response.
- Under effective air conditioning, or air conditioning where the temperature is difficult to control is frustrating, but equally it could be a sign that system has a leak, which is illegal. Any system with a suspected leak MUST be serviced immediately. If not addressed, the hotel can expect to receive hefty penalty fines.
- Air conditioning only in public areas, not in the bedrooms, gives the impression that the staff comes first over the paying guest.

A number of hotels to receive such reviews have reacted by installing new efficient air conditioning throughout all the rooms. This is a good sign that they are listening to their customers. In fact hotels can be highly praised online for having good air conditioning in place, proving that this is an important aspect for many guests.

From its research, Synecore found that some hotels that ignored the negative feedback believe it is not possible to install air conditioning, or don’t have a contact for repairs. In response Gary Piper explains, “We design and install bespoke air conditioning systems for all types of commercial properties, there are no limits. We only use products from leading manufacturers to ensure the systems we install last. They also come with payment plans and competitive warranty periods, when combined with our Planned Preventative Maintenance (PPM) scheme, which offers a 24/7 call out service. So, there really are no excuses for hotels not giving guests the basic service of good air conditioning.”

Synecore’s PPM plans are tailored to meet the needs of the individual business. The PPM service also ensures an air conditioning system remains FGas compliant and has an up-to-date TM44 assessment. These are legal obligations that every business with air conditioning installed should fulfil. As part of its PPM plans Synecore offers an emergency 24/7 call out service, giving receptionists and facilities managers a central point of contact at all times to address any air conditioning problems.

If you would like advice on installing or maintaining an air conditioning system in your hotel, or are fearful that you may have an air conditioning leak, contact Synecore now on 0845 241 4953.