BuildingMyBento

Although Ibis hotels may have the a/c controls installed on the wall, I've never had luck with changing the temperature at that chain (throughout the world).

Proudelitist

Holiday Inn Express, Oro Valley. This was in 2010 or 2009. Probably a response to the economic crash in 08 that hit Arizona harder than all the other states except Nevada and Florida.

KRSW

I've been to a few hotels which had digital PTACs (through-the-wall ACs) which were limited. Fortunately, some Googling produced a service manual, which clearly showed how to remedy this.

I find the motion detector ACs far more objectionable.

Some basic electrical know-how, a few small bits of wire, and a screwdriver goes a long way on the road.

pinniped

So far, I've always been able to find the workaround online.

Agreed...the motion sensor ones are the worst.

I like it ice freaking cold when I sleep. On the positive side (for the hotel), in the winter I can often just turn the HVAC off entirely: the building itself keeps the room at 60F or a little warmer...

RandomNobody

I'm the opposite. I prefer it to be 78F or so, and even then, I'm still under a comforter. I'm flipping freezing in hotels that set it to the 60s, and don't let me change it.

(Or maids that come in the next day and set it back to mid-60s)

I don't have a problem with cold when I'm up and about. But when it's time for sleep, my body shuts down.

pinniped

Do you run into hotels where there's an upper limit on the heat? Maids messing with my temperature, no matter what it is, is annoying!!

TravelingNomads

You have just made the next few decades of my life so much better. I can't tell you how frustrated I've been at times with the a/c issue. Thank you!!!

On a side note, if this method doesn't work for some reason, some hotels have fans available if you request them from the front desk.

I stayed at a hotel once in CA that kept opening the windows to "warm" the room up and it drove us absolutely crazy.

TemboOne

So glad to have helped!

My pleasure entirely!

I love researching "stuff" like this and helping solve the problem(s) for all!

Don't have the word "impossible" in my vocabulary!!!

CyBeR

I'd like to offer an opposing point which is that the A/C in the Torre Catalunya hotel in Barcelona, while it doesn't appear to have a temperature scale, goes down to arctic climate levels *and* the maids leave it alone. It does go off when you take the card out of the slot but any random store points card will do for that which, again, the maids leave alone.

Flaflyer

Never had to try it, but there was a thread on FT about AC controls where folks said they carry a few toy balloons (latex or mylar??) and a string. Tied to the air discharge grill it silently moves all night and activates the motion sensor, keeping the AC on.

I have encountered rooms where the AC is Off when you leave, as the room key card must be inserted in the control pad when you enter. Room is always hot when you return and it takes hours to cool off. The control was not reading the card electronically, but had a series of holes which probably activated photoelectric sensors. A piece of thin cardboard cut to size with the holes cut out would turn on the AC while you were gone. I waited till housekeeping left so they would not remove the trick card.

RandomNobody

Not with an upper limit, but unsettable locally. But that doesn't happen often.

Most often is the maid (or central control, or random timeout) resetting it back into the 60s.

FlyingRabbit

that is a constant issue with hotels in Sao Paulo, Brazil. I remember one time the room was so hot I opened the door of the in-room refrigerator and slept on the floor facing it.

RAAng

I was recently in Scotland, where they claim they don't need air conditioning. Uhh...yeah you do. When I walk into my third floor converted townhouse hotel room it may be 65 outside, but it's upper '70's in the room. Plus stuffy and damp. In 4 hotel rooms over 10 days, not one didn't need some way to at least move the air around.

The hotels I hate are the ones that turn off the air while you sleep. Last year I was in one in Cocoa Beach in August that did this.

lhrsfo

I'm quite the opposite. In the above example, simply opening the window achieves the aim. I HATE sleeping with the window closed and no fresh air and I hate a/c. I can see that it's a necessary evil in really hot places which don't cool down at night but there really aren't that many of those which I have to visit and even fewer which I would want to visit.

Proudelitist

AC also gets rid of humidity. When you are in a place with "cool humid" weather (UK, Ireland, parts of the US northeast in spring) where the temp is comfortable but the humidity makes it feel damp and stuffy, using the AC for a degree or two cooler can really help. These places are the ones that claim they don't need AC...but they do.