Case Study: Hotel Successfully Eliminates Cigarette Smoke Odors

The ability to effectively clean hotel rooms is vital to the revenue growth of any hospitality provider. But with designated smoking rooms — and the errant guest who lights up in a non-smoking room — still in existence, hoteliers are continually challenged with keeping these rooms clean.

Fortunately, there are safe ways for hospitality providers to confront odor challenges. In fact, one major Las Vegas Casino has taken a progressive approach to odor management that allows it to more easily keep rooms free of tobacco and other odors.

In 2014, the casino implemented the use of three Fresh Wave IAQ M130 Vapor Phase Units, which offer a “dry” dispersion system for efficient and safe application of Fresh Wave IAQ Air & Surface odor eliminator. These units run consistently for most of the day in the hallways of the smoking floor, which has 122 rooms. For the guest rooms with particularly heavy cigarette odors, the housekeeping team typically runs the units for an average of 45 minutes — rendering the rooms largely odor-free. In addition, these units are used in the non-smoking rooms if guests have broken the rules by lighting up.

“We tried about 30 different other solutions, which included aerosols, room foggers and ozone machines, and none of them worked as well as this solution,” says the Executive Housekeeper at the casino. “Also, since safety is very important to us, we wanted a solution that was completely eco-friendly.”

The housekeepers at the casino have a standard 45 minutes to effectively clean and deodorize a room. But combating a foul odor can cause delays in bringing a problem room back on market. This can cause late check-in times for guests, and in some cases, the need to offer them another form of compensation.

“Foul odors really do impact the bottom-line,” added the Executive Housekeeper. “Odors can cause the staff to fall behind, or they cannot fully clean the air within a room.”

In addition, the machine uses an eco-friendly solution, meaning it is safe for the housekeeping staff to work along side the unit while it is in use. That can save valuable time and dollars for the department.

“As a result, productivity is enhanced and we can provide highly safe environments for our staff to clean the rooms,” added the Executive Housekeeper. “This also plays a major role in helping us to retain cleaning staff.”

The casino is looking to continue its eco-friendly odor management efforts moving forward. The facility is not only a leader in hospitality and guest services, but also a prime example of how hospitality providers can use progressive cleaning approaches to help support business growth — while also keeping the indoor environment safe and odor free.