Lame excuses from hotel guests are a thing of the past

It is an eyesore for many a hotelier: guests smoking unauthorised tobacco or marijuana in their rooms. One of the main challenges of unauthorised smoking is the time and effort required to get the hotel room fresh and clean again. The FreshAir Sensor offers the solution to this common problem. So says Arno Sybrandy, owner of Green Bull Company, the exclusive European importer of this innovative US invention.

First briefly, how FreshAir Sensor works: unlike conventional optical and/or particle detectors, FreshAir Sensor is the only technology that can monitor and detect specific molecules in tobacco and marijuana smoke. When smoking is detected in the hotel room, FreshAir Sensor immediately sends an alert of this via e-mail and/or a push message to a computer or mobile phone; complete with a report with exact timestamp. "In short, this detector provides immediate and irrefutable proof in case of a smoking ban violation," says Sybrandy. 

According to Sybrandy, smoking in hotel rooms is much more common than people think. "Interviews with hotel managers show that it is commonplace in every hotel, and this is consistent with a study by FreshAir Sensor showing that smoking occurs in about 10 per cent of rooms every month. After a smoking incident, a room is often put out of order, so is then not rentable. This all costs extra turnover. And even if you get into a discussion with a hotel guest whom you are sure has smoked in the room, as a hotel you usually draw the short straw."

The patented FreshAir Sensor is based on almost two decades of research and development by Dr Joe BelBruno, professor emeritus of chemistry at the prestigious US Dartmouth College. In his home country, the detector has been in place for several years, including at the Fairfield Inn by Marriott in Sacramento, California. At this hotel, especially during the corona pandemic, many rooms became out of order due to smoking guests, says Operations Manager Marissa Bocobo. "But the problem was that we could not prove that anyone had smoked. Hotel guests also came up with all kinds of lame excuses, such as: the smoke is because I showered or is from my hairspray. But since all our 76 hotel rooms have been fitted with a FreshAir Sensor, this is a thing of the past. Added to this: the smoking alerts we receive in case of a smoking incident are all the proof we need to charge the cleaning fee, looking for additional evidence is not necessary. All in all, it has been well worth the investment for our hotel!"

Even at Bally's Twin River Casino Hotel in Rhode Island, the FreshAir Sensor is paying off handsomely, says general manager Karen Valliere. "We are very happy with it, especially also because it deters hotel guests from smoking in their rooms. We have had the FreshAir Sensor for two years now. Before, there was a lot of sneaky smoking in the rooms. But if we didn't find a cigarette butt or ash in the room, for example, it was hardly provable. Now with the FreshAir Sensor, however, that proof is irrefutably there."

Karen is therefore delighted with the innovative smoke detector. "The FreshAir Sensor ensures cleaner rooms as well as better air quality. There is never a foul smoky smell in our hotel again, which has also increased guest satisfaction."  

Although the FreshAir Sensor currently only detects smoke from tobacco and marijuana, a technology to also recognise vapour from e-cigarettes is in development. Because just like in Europe, vaping is also experiencing a surge in America. "Also, FreshAir Sensor is working on a pilot programme to charge hotel guests extra for staying in a 'FreshAir Certified' room that has not smoked for a certain period of time and is free of other pollutants. But that is still in the future," concludes Arno Sybrandy.