Why don’t hotel room windows open?

Every time I stay in a hotel the windows are cemented shut and the only air available is through the a/c. Once the power shut off on a 96 degree day and we had to leave the room because it was boiling hot. This had me thinking why do hotels do this, what about fire safety? That doesn’t seem legal to me.

18 Answers

to prevent suicides

It is to save money on heating/air conditioning costs. Because people open the window for fresh air and run A/C same time. This is the same reason hotels pretend they are trying to save the environment when they ask u to reuse towels and bedding. That is also to save money. Hotels receptionists are instructed to lie and say it is to prevent people jumping out, but that is not the real reason. They don’t want to tell u it’s because they are trying to save money.

Now,if you travel to South America, Asia and Europe, guests around the world simply won’t tolerate staying someplace where windows don’t open for fresh air. So they have a sensor system where you must close the window for the AC to turn on. If the window is open, AC won’t run. The hotels in the U.S. are too cheap to install this, and hotel guests here will actually put up with having to breathe stale,fart-filled air.

I can’t stand breathing other people’s fart air, so I simply call ahead and ask if their windows open.

Can you open the hotel room windows all the way.

Hotel Ametyst Prague Questions & Answers

Can you open the hotel room windows all the way (wide) or only can be opened slightly (tilted)?

6 answers

Hi our room had a big window that you could open up with beautiful view.

Our room had doors and could be opened, rooms also have air con if during the summer months you needed it.

Hi yes the room windows opened wide. Beautiful views.

Yes, the windows can be full open

Unfortunately I cannot answer this question, we were at the hotel in December, quite cold so we had no reason to open the window.

The one that was given to me had all the way-opening windows. Without beeing certain, i asume that all rooms have the same type windows.

P.S. : I had a non-smoking room.

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Do any of the hotel room windows open? I love the.

El Cortez Hotel & Casino Questions & Answers

Do any of the hotel room windows open? I love the fresh dry desert air

5 answers

Yep, only the little bathroom tub/shower window opens in the tower & vintage rooms. You can open the window more than a few inches in a cabana suite, which is just across one street from the main hotel/casino, and only 3-4 levels. but still not too much there either. The dark side of Las Vegas tries to prevent security and hotel personnel from dealing with anyone jumping out of anymore windows or off ledges. It happens more than the media/news will ever tell but if you live here long enough, you end up knowing a lot of security guys and they all have stories like this. Still to this day.

I agree with the other responses to your question. The location of the El Cortez Hotel & Casino is in downtown Las Vegas at a very lively spot. We could see the Stratosphere Hotel & Resort Casino, one of the highest buildings in the city and an historic landmark from the window in our room! We had a small window built into our shower which does open. That is pretty awesome! Otherwise, the noise from the streets below would be more of a nuisance than the fresh dry desert air!

I would recommend renting a car and visiting the beautiful desert landscapes outside of Las Vegas. A very close location is Red Rock Canyon.

No the windows do not open except for a little one in the bath room.

I believe only the bathroom window opens. And like others have said, you’ll want it closed when you sleep because it’s noisy.

I stayed there 3 times and have never had a room with windows that opened. Much quieter with windows closed since the city never sleeps!

Why don’t hotels let you open your room’s windows?

All I wanted to do was open my hotel window.

I was visiting Hong Kong for the first time in the month of February, a seasonal sweet spot when the air temperature was cool and relatively dry. Way up high in a boutique hotel tower in Tin Hau, I fancied some fresh air to go with the natural light flooding my austere but chic room.

But first, I had to sign a waiver.

The room’s window had a handle, but it was locked. When I rang reception they told me they’d be happy to unlock it for me – if I’d sign a piece of paper promising to accept all responsibility. It felt like I had to promise not to fall out (or words to that effect). It seemed odd, but I signed and soon had my supply of fresh-ish urban air.

At least the window could be opened. To my dismay as I’ve travelled around the world over the past decade, it’s become more common for hotel rooms to have windows that can’t be opened. At all. Not even after pulling a sad face at reception, or resorting to outright pleading.

I hate staying in hotels where the windows don’t open. If I have to leave the air-conditioning on for airflow, I end up feeling dehydrated, as if suffering from a hangover. If I leave the air-con off I feel suffocated, and develop a different kind of headache. Either way it’s awful. Aren’t hotels supposed to be a «home away from home»? What home has windows that can’t be opened?

Why do they do it? I’ve given up asking hotel staff about this, because the answers range from nonsensical to unlikely. A common explanation involves danger: that by opening windows, guests will soon be falling out of them – by accident or on purpose.

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This over-the-top response gives pause for thought. I’ve stayed in plenty of hotels which compromise between a full-open window and the sealed variety, by enabling it to open ten centimetres or so. Enough for some ventilation, but a challenge to fall through.

I suspect the real reason is the obvious one, when dealing with any price-sensitive, customer-facing business: cost. Openable windows have hinges and other moving parts which require maintenance, and they let in dust and other random particles which add to a room’s wear and tear.

More significantly, open windows affect the efficiency of a building’s air-conditioning system, which might explain why unopenable windows are most commonly found in brand-new hotel towers resembling corporate office blocks.

The unopening hotel window seems more common in the USA, where they at least have decent air-conditioning if you’re forced to live without fresh air. In Europe, you’re still likely to find hotels with windows that can be opened. However, the plague is creeping in even there.

On a recent UK trip I stayed in a Manchester hotel within a newly built glass and steel tower. The geniuses which designed it had managed to combine the worst aspects of two continents: the unopenable hotel windows of North America, and the feeble air-conditioning of Europe. My west-facing room was uncomfortably warm in the afternoon, in an unseasonably sunny summer.

Whatever reasons motivate hotels to seal up their windows, there’s one thing I’m sure of – no guest actively wants windows that can’t be opened, nor has ever asked for a room with that feature. So it’s up to we travellers to prompt change, if we want it.

If, like me, you can’t stand a hotel room deprived of fresh air, here’s a checklist when considering a booking. First, ring the hotel to see if it has rooms where the windows can be opened; if you ask, they may book you into one of these, or into a room with balcony doors which can be left open at night.

If it’s difficult to contact the establishment, have a browse through the TripAdvisor reviews for the hotel, searching within them via the keyword ‘window’. Fellow sufferers are sure to have mentioned if the windows can’t be opened.

Older hotels are often a good bet for openable windows, though you can’t always rely on this; there’s nothing sadder than a window frame in a grand old establishment whose handles have been welded shut.

If you do get stuck in a room that’s made unpleasant by the absence of an opening window, say so on a review site. If enough people do so, it might prompt a rethink among hotel chains and their contracted designers. We might even get some windows reopened in those vintage hotels.

You can at least thank your lucky stars you haven’t endured a room that follows the latest fringe hotel trend, as reported in the Wall Street Journal in August this year – rooms without any windows at all! That really is my idea of hotel window hell.

Do the windows open in the hotel room?Thanks.

AKA Tribeca Questions & Answers

Do the windows open in the hotel room?Thanks.

5 answers

yes you can open just to change the air, of course not totally but it works; consider i’m claustofobic so i appreciate a lot the smyth hotel

Hi had a suites with terrace and could easly access it throught the window doors

The windows on the 9th floor open partially

The window in room I was in on 8th floor DID open. Good chance you didn’t see my specific review but as I mentioned I was having problem with room cooling down and after two maintenance requests that didn’t fix problem we resorted to opening window. I was on 8th floor back side of hotel.

I don’t believe it they opened in our room but I can’t say that I remember trying to open them the best way would be to call and ask especially if you know what your room number is going to be