Interview with Mary Wren, Director of Hotel Operations

Prior to FreshAir Smoking Sensors, what were the main problems your hotel experienced from guest smoking violations?

Our biggest issue was guest rooms needing to be placed Off the Market (OTM) due to odor. We actually sell out everyday, so one room sitting OTM is money lost.

We have around 100 guest room attendants working daily, and getting them to report the room as having an odor was also a struggle. For most of them, English is not their first language, so most times guests were never charged due to the poor communication.

When was your team normally discovering the incidents (while they were happening, after check out, etc.)? Were other guests complaining (in the moment and/or when new guests entered rooms that had been smoked in)?

We never found out until after the Guest had already departed and that was only if housekeeping made us aware. In most cases we would receive the complaint from the new Guest that checked in. This ended up causing even more lost revenue. The room would need to be placed OTM, and we would need to compensate the Guest whose room needed to be changed.

What did your cleaning process involve after finding a smoking violation? Did you have to take rooms out of service, at least before FreshAir Smoking Sensors were installed?

Rooms were always placed OTM, and we use ozone machines, odor eliminators in them. This can take hours and the smell still can linger. Not to mention the odor ultimately gets into the carpet, drapes, furniture, all of which are much more difficult to clean than regular bed linens.

Did you have trouble charging for smoking incidents (such as if no physical evidence was found) and/or dealing with chargebacks after?

Charging has always been a challenge. The casino environment is a unique one. What you get is all based on what you spend, so the Guests sometimes have a feeling of “you can’t charge me, I’ve spent XX in the casino.” Almost all would simply just deny. We would have to spend time in rooms looking for evidence to take a picture of in the event of a chargeback. Even then we lost most chargebacks.

Since implementing FreshAir’s Smoking Sensors, how have they helped you overcome these issues?

Night and Day! We now have a process that notifies us within minutes of the Guest smoking, so we are able to call the Guest and make them aware of the charge. Most are shocked we even know they smoked, as the devices don’t stand out. We still have people who try to deny it of course, but we will email them the document with the graph that clearly shows smoking took place. Most accept this and move on but some will state they will dispute it with their card company. However, after 7 months of installation we have not received a single chargeback.

What results from using FreshAir Sensor’s services have been most beneficial to the operations of your hotel, or your property in general?

We have seen a significant decrease in the amount of smoking in non-smoking rooms during the week. Repeat Guests are starting to realize it’s not worth paying the fee which is our ultimate goal. They are also starting to book actual smoking rooms now. We do have 2 smoking floors (total of 88 rooms), and we yield these at a higher price point as they are naturally more difficult to clean. On weekends our transient Guest numbers increase which leads to more smoking alerts. In one weekend we can easily pay for the leasing fee for the month.

How has your overall return on investment been (revenue from fees, lowered cleaning costs and damages, reduced compensation to other guests, etc.)? Have you lost any chargebacks since using FreshAir?

Let’s just say, in our first 6 months I have paid the lease fee for the next 3 years already! Beyond the revenue from fees, compensation due to rooms smelling like smoke has easily been cut in half. We are now starting to see a benefit on the cleaning side as well. Less burn holes in carpets, less odor elimination chemical being purchased. We haven’t lost any chargebacks as Guests have not even tried. Once the evidence is shown to them, they tend to just give up the fight.

If you were to recommend using FreshAir to someone who was on the fence about trying the technology in their hotel, what would you say to them?

Stop thinking about it, just try it! I tend to overthink most things in this business and this is one that has been a game changer on all levels. Revenue boost, cleaner rooms, happier Guests. No reason to overthink.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

I have dealt with at least a dozen different vendors in my 21 years at this company and FreshAir has been one of the best! We have direct contact with an account representative who is able to answer any questions we have, most times the same day. In the casino industry that’s rare.

In-Depth Review

In-Depth Review

In-Depth Review

The security team at a prominent downtown Miami hotel frequently smelled tobacco and marijuana smoke in the hallways. The director of security and safety at the active and popular hotel knew guests were smoking in their rooms, but his team could not pinpoint the locations.

When non-smoking guests complained of smelling tobacco and marijuana smoke from other rooms, security staff would investigate but could not definitively identify the room(s) with smoking.

In-Depth Review

The vice president of Hotel Operations for a 2,000 room luxury casino hotel faced daily problems with guests smoking tobacco and marijuana in the non-smoking property. Around-the-clock unauthorized smoking hindered his team from delivering a consistent, world-class experience for their guests.

The costs of unauthorized smoking in such a large hotel were staggering. According to a recent industry study about the actual costs of smoking in hotel rooms, a single smoking event can cost as much as $1000.

The long-lasting damage from smoking incidents further complicated the hotel’s efforts to collect cleaning fees. “We rarely charged guests due to the issues we were having with claims that they didn’t actually smoke,” said the VP of Hotel Operations. “Most rooms had a smoke smell, so we really couldn’t enforce anything.”

When smoking occurred in their rooms, the housekeeping staff tried to clean before the next guests arrived by spraying deodorizers and running ozone machines, but with limited effect.

Compounding the costs, the prior guests who smoked often were not charged because of no evidence, and the ensuing guests were frequently moved and compensated.

“The next guests would check in and complain of the smoke smells, be moved, and be compensated,” said the VP of Hotel Operations. “Guests who smoked in our rooms knew there were no consequences, so they continued to smoke. It was a never-ending cycle of room changes, compensation, and apologies.”

The Hotel Operations team knew they had to stop and deter smoking to improve overall customer satisfaction. The casino hotelier turned to the FreshAir Sensor Smoking Detection System with 24×7 monitoring to break the perpetual, negative cycles caused by unauthorized smoking.

With the FreshAir Smoking Detection System, Wi-Fi-enabled devices molecularly monitor each hotel room for tobacco and marijuana smoking. The hotel staff receives immediate Smoking Alerts each time unauthorized smoking occurs.

FreshAir Smoking Alerts are sent to a mobile phone, email, and/or front desk computer. The Smoking Alerts are discreet and location-specific, empowering the hotel’s team to respond quickly and proactively.

The casino hotel has enjoyed remarkably positive results. “Housekeeping is no longer cleaning rooms a second or third time,” said the VP of Hotel Operations. “The entire property actually smells better and has a much better feel.”

The property receives daily and weekly smoking reports from FreshAir Sensor. Accessible through their FreshAir Client Portal and customizable to each team member’s notification preferences, the reports are accurate resources for hotel staff to access archived Smoking Alerts, charge cleaning fees, and prevent and win chargebacks.

“We actually have customers that have been successfully charged over five times,” said the VP of Hotel Operations.

Since installing FreshAir Smoking Sensors with molecular monitoring, arguably the most positive and immediate impact for the property is the significant cleaning fee revenue – far exceeding the cost.

“Our collected smoking charges last year FreshAir Smoking Alerts were hundreds of thousands of dollars. Before going live with the sensor technology, I had concerns,” said the VP of Hotel Operations. “I didn’t think that guest behavior would change and doubted the return on investment.”

“I have shared my results with others in our market, and they laughed. I broke it down month by month, sent the results in emails and showed them folders of charge after charge after charge. It’s hard to argue P&L numbers, and no one is faking or embellishing our own bottom line. Once they see that and talk to the team, they understand the positive impacts.”

With the FreshAir Smoking Detection System, this casino hotelier reversed the perpetual, negative cycle of unauthorized smoking, missed cleaning fees, extra housekeeping work, poor guest satisfaction, and room changes and extra compensation for unhappy guests in smoked rooms.

The casino hotel is realizing the financial and operational benefits of the FreshAir Smoking Detection System:

In-Depth Review

Trinity Updegrove, director of hotel operations at Bally’s Atlantic City Resort, continuously fielded complaints from guests about tobacco and marijuana smells in his smoke-free rooms.

“Guests were complaining about the rooms smelling like smoke after check-in,” said Updegrove. “In some cases we’d have to move the guest to another room, and we’d have to service the original room again, costing extra money for labor.”

Bally’s attempted to charge the offending guests for cleaning fees but struggled to collect the physical proof needed to successfully charge. Evidence was found almost always after a guest checked out and their credit card had been released. Guests who violated the smoking policy were simply not getting caught.

Complaints about smoking appeared frequently in the hotel’s online reviews. The negative reviews undermined the hotel’s promise of cleanliness and demonstrated how a hotel’s reputation could sustain costly and long-lasting damage from unauthorized smoking.

According to a recent industry study about smoking in hotel rooms, negative online reviews can hit a hotel’s bottomline for years to come, and the actual costs of smoking can add up quickly. The study found cleaning and property damage can cost four to five times more than the average industry cleaning fee, and reputational harm was the largest hidden cost of smoking.

Updegrove and his team at Bally’s knew they had to do something to solve the smoking problem. They turned to FreshAir Sensor to tackle the property’s unauthorized smoking challenges.

Using patented Polysens™ technology, the FreshAir Smoking Detection System immediately detects burned tobacco and marijuana with molecular monitoring in individual rooms and suites. When smoking occurs, the system sends smoking alerts to hotel management.

FreshAir Smoking Alerts are time-stamped, scientific proof of smoking, discreetly sent to hotel staff, enabling Bally’s to take timely action.

“Guest violations are now charged while the guest is still on property, so we can contact or lock a guest out with declined credit holds,” said the director of hotel operations. “Guests are notified as soon as they smoke, not at the end of their stay which could give them multiple smoking opportunities.”

The ability to effectively charge cleaning fees while guests are still on property turns smoking incidents from an operational expense into a viable and valuable revenue stream for the casino hotel.

“The revenue generated pays for the device and monitoring, deep cleaning labor, and general cleaning of the room (curtains and other fabrics). Another benefit is the amount of service recovery we are saving on complaints,” said the director of hotel operations.

Since working with FreshAir Sensor, the reduced guest complaints and costs of switching rooms and compensating guests enable Bally’s to save money and achieve an even better return on investment from the specialized FreshAir sensor technology.

The benefits of installing the FreshAir Smoking Detection System at Bally’s improve all aspects of their room operations.

The revenue generated from immediate smoking detection and cost savings from fewer complaints generate positive return on investment. For Trinity Updegrove, the reasons for recommending FreshAir are simple: “FreshAir pays for itself, and the guests have a better room.”

In-Depth Review