Hotel & Motel Management: Odor busters keep rooms smelling fresh, guests happy

Hotels are using a barrage of products and techniques to control offensive odors, especially smoke, because they are one of the most common guest complaints.

Some hoteliers say equipment, such as ozone machines and specialized light bulbs, are most effective, while others swear by sprays that absorb and remove odors from the air.

Many hotel operators say ozone machines work best to eliminate odors, particularly smoke. They leave the unit in the room for about 30 minutes to one hour, and it removes odors from the room.

"We use ozone machines or ionizers on a case-by-case basis, like when someone smokes in a nonsmoking room," said Jason Powell, housekeeping manager at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. "It returns the rooms to that fresh smell."

If the smoke smell is very strong, like it is with cigars, the Hard Rock's staff will spray a little air freshener after using the ozone machine. In addition to washing bedding on a regular schedule, they use Febreze Fabric Spray, made by Procter & Gamble, throughout the room, Powell said.

New plug-in ozone units also are effective, hoteliers said.

"In order to control smoking odors, we have a plug-in ozone generating device in every guest-room. You can't have ozone generators in the room while the customer is there, so this allows breaking down of the particles in the room 24 hours a day," said Frank Nicholas, manager of the Holiday Inn Wall Street in New York.

The hotel also uses the New Aire units, made by New Aire in Sterling, Va., in its executive-level rooms because food is served in those rooms. The plug-ins, which cost between $70 and $100 each and come with a security mount so guests don't steal them, have improved guest satisfaction.

"Customers are much more happy with their surroundings and don't ask to change rooms," Nicholas said.

And a fairly new technology--a light bulb that kills airborne bacteria to help eliminate odors--also is catching hotel operators' attention. The 23-watt O*ZONELite spiral light bulb, made by O*ZONELite in Deerfield Beach, Fla., is coated with titanium dioxide. As air passes through, oxidation results, which attacks and destroys microbes by disintegrating their DNA.

"Unlike air sprays that just mask the odors, the O*ZONElite actually eliminates it and eliminates potentially harmful bacteria," said William Stone, president of O*ZONELite.

"We have used so many things, but this has proven to be the best thing," said Ed Dixon, supervisor of maintenance at Amelia Island Plantation in Amelia Island, Fla., which tested the bulbs for about a month.

In the past, the resort tried sprays, ozone machines and running guest room air conditioning fans 24 hours a day. None of those methods worked, according to Dixon. While sprays masked the odors, the light bulb, left on for an hour or two a day, eliminates them, he said.

After a short test in a few rooms, Dixon wants to expand the use of the bulb to all of the hotel's guestrooms, and eventually, meeting rooms.

"It's more expensive than the typical fluorescent bulb, but is far more worth it," he said.

Another new odor-control method is STA-BR-EX, an antimicrobial liquid product made by Nalco in Naperville, Ill. Applied to air conditioning coils, the cleaner is designed to remove the "biofilm" layer on the coils where odor and bacteria grow.

"When moisture is deposited in the [heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system], it creates a biofilm, which recycles every time that unit turns on, regurgitating odor into the room," said John Wadsworth, technical support consultant for Nalco.

The biocide can save hotels money in cleaning costs and preventing guest complaints, according to Wadsworth.

"One major hotel in Florida was spending $6,000 a month in compensation to guests complaining about odors in their rooms," Wadsworth said. "Since we've [applied STA-BR-EX], they've had no complaints."

Meanwhile, keeping the bedding, carpet and draperies clean still is the best method of odor control.

"We just keep it very simple. We have to have a clean environment, not cover up smells," said Lili Manole, director of housekeeping at Le Meridian in Minneapolis.

Le Meridian's housekeeping staff cleans the walls, furniture, glass and almost everything else with Ecolab's allpurpose cleaner. When the room has very heavy smells, such as smoke and alcohol, the room is cleaned and then an ozone machine is brought in. As a final touch, the room is sprayed with air freshener to take the smell out of the fabric, Manole said.

Shannon Pettitt, marketing manager--institutional for Ecolab in St. Paul, Minn., said the company's Oasis 270 Up and Away gets rid of odors in fabric.

"It has a formulation that absorbs malodors--smoke, urine and others--at the source and leaves behind a fresh breeze scent," Pettitt said.

Hotels are using air-freshening sprays less frequently than in the past.

"We use air fresheners only if really needed," Manole said. "We don't want to cover up odors."

"Sprays can be offensive to some people, so we just use as needed," said Jack Eslick, senior v.p. of asset management for FelCor Lodging Trust in Irving, Texas.

When FelCor's hotels do use sprays, they use neutral scents, rather than flowery scents that some guests might not like.

Instead of an industrial air freshener, Nicholas prefers Lysol's "Crisp Linen" scent to spray at the Holiday Inn Wall Street because guests recognize the scent: it is a product they use at home.

Febreze helps eliminate odors from carpet, bedding and drapes, rather than mask odors, according to Steve Spicer, region manager--Mountain West, for Procter & Gamble.

"The chemical in Febreze forms a bubble around the odor-causing molecule," he said. "That balloon collapses, and the odor, whether it is pet urine, beer, or other, dissipates, and it is just gone."

Some hotels also have had success with Ecolab's Ecosphere, a gel air freshening product that is placed in the air conditioning units.

"The rooms that don't have ozone plug-in units have these," Nicholas said. "It helps pull the odors out of the room."

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Company             Circle No.

Air Cleaners               388
Air Technology             389
Blueair                    390
Ecolab                     391
Nalco                      392
New Aire                   393
Ozonelite                  394
Procter & Gamble           395
Reckitt Benckisor          396
Steril-Aire                397

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