Le blog JVD

Purifying the air in hotels

Written by Pierre Alexandre Deveau | Feb 10, 2023 8:30:04 AM

What does air purification bring to hotels?

Financial benefits
 
Treating the air in hotel guest rooms and common areas can help optimise occupancy rates by improving the hotel’s image and perceptions of the quality of its amenities. Now more than ever, hotels can leverage their pure, clean air to stand out from the competition and attract more customers. Sometimes, rooms have to be closed (meaning they are unoccupied) for a few hours due to strong tobacco, perspiration or other odours left behind by the previous guests. The cost associated with absenteeism caused by poor air quality in hotels amounts to an average of €450 per year, per employee. Illnesses brought about by airborne transmissions or overexposure to chemical cleaning products can be effectively avoided in most cases, thanks to the beneficial effects of air purification.
 
Health protection
 
It’s true! By purifying the air in your hotel, you can reduce the transmission of airborne viruses and bacteria for your guests and your staff (leading to a drop in sick leave). This provides a real health shield for your establishment (which is why JVD chose Shield as the name of its air purifiers). Nowadays, 1 in 3 French people have allergies, so treating the air in your hotel also lets you add an additional benefit that your guests will appreciate: allergen-free rooms. Another positive effect is observed when hotel air is purified: the management of chemical pollutants that are released into the air by cleaning products, for example. This also improves the quality of work produced by your employees who are responsible for cleaning your establishment, protecting them while they perform their various duties.
 

Enhanced comfort

On average, 16% of hotel guests complain of unpleasant odours* in those establishments. Some hotel rooms have windows that do not open, causing olfactory (smell) comfort to suffer. Since guests often leave behind strong body odours (perspiration, perfume, etc.) that may be disagreeable to the next guests, purifying the air can dramatically improve the customer experience. Offering this kind of healthy environment in your common areas as well as your guest rooms is a way to stand out from the competition and give foreign guests an enhanced sense of welcome (as international visitors tend to be more attuned to air purification than Europeans).

* Data from qualitative and quantitative surveys and studies conducted by Coach Omnium 

 
What harmful substances are found in hotel air?
 
1- Contaminants

Airborne viruses have a high impact in the hospitality sector. In winter, seasonal viruses like the flu and stomach flu can be transmitted, especially from November to March.

2- Odours
 
Unpleasant odours like those generated by smoking, bathrooms and body odour can fill the air, disrupting the respiratory comfort of a room’s occupants. In common areas, odours associated with cold tobacco, pipes and moisture can linger.

3- Pollutants 

Some people can also perceive the smell of chemical pollutants from disinfectant products, generated when cleaning the different areas in a hotel. A lesser-known fact is that these pollutants can also be released by the linoleum, adhesives or paint used in furniture. It is worth noting that a hotel’s location also has a major impact on its indoor air quality.

4- Allergens 
 
Spikes in allergens like pollens typically occur in hotels between April and July, especially when windows are opened more frequently.
 

Benefits of the Shield range
 
• Reassurance of a hygiene protocol.
 

Treatment of occasional odours: Testing conducted in real-world conditions, in a 40 m² room, simulating an extremely strong spike in odours and VOCs. The test results recorded a 90% decrease in odours in under 30 minutes, using both the Shield® device’s Boost mode and Continuous mode.

Reduced viral load over short periods of time (under 20 minutes): Testing conducted by an independent lab, using the procedures defined by the standard NF B44-200 to examine the performance of Shield® in response to continuously generated contaminants. The results have shown microorganism destruction rates ranging from 94% to 97% after a single pass (whether measuring microorganisms on their own or in combinations that are representative of real atmospheres).

Created by a master: Ramy Fischler, founder of the RF Studio agency, was named Designer of the Year in 2018 and was awarded the Order of Arts and Letters by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication in 2016.

• Discreet, quiet presence.

• Ease of upkeep and user safety.

• Lasting performance and harmlessness.

Eco-friendly: Protection for not only human health but also the environment, thanks to a design which prioritises easily recyclable materials like steel, a technology that uses no consumables and requires no filter replacements, the elimination of plastic from all packaging, and a guarantee that the device will be serviceable for at least 10 years.

 

Key areas and times at hotels

The key areas and times at hotels can all be effectively controlled by Shield Compact or Shield professional-grade air purifiers equipped with their accessories. Here is a list of the most important ones:

  • Banquet, meeting and seminar rooms and business centres: Shield in each room
  • Guest rooms: Shield or Shield Compact on a bedside table, a desk or even installed on our wall mount designed by RF Studio
  • Reception desk: Shield Compact on the desk
  • Dining area: Shield at the entrance/exit to limit the spread of odours to the rest of the hotel
  • Housekeeping: Shield on a cart or Shield Compact depending on the size of the room, to purify the air during housekeeping activities.

 

 Testimonial from a hotel owner and manager                                                      who uses Shield Compact air purifiers 

"Our hotel is non-smoking, but we still have smokers who stay with us. While they follow the rules and don’t smoke in their rooms, they still come down to smoke outside, on the pavement in front of the hotel. If they smoke a cigarette or two and then go straight back to their rooms, they still exhale an odour of tobacco that spreads through their rooms. We noticed lingering traces of tobacco smells after these guests stayed with us for even a night or two, so we started looking for a solution. At first, we tried fragrances, but that wasn’t great, since it only added to the problem rather than eliminating it. Then, we found this product and are very happy with its effectiveness. It quickly eliminates any residual odours caused by smokers’ exhalations, allowing us to quickly turn over our rooms for the next guests. And when we do renovations or retouch the paint in our rooms, when the work was done in the morning before a guest checking in that evening, we realised that there were sometimes lingering odours of adhesive or paint, and this product also helps a lot in eliminating all those minor residual odours." 

M. Patrick JOULAIN