We stayed in a Travelodge for a few nights recently and the room had windows which didn’t open at all. SO has breathing difficulties and even if there’s advanced aircon he still needs to feel like a room isn’t sealed. We were told that’s a newer part and they moved is to the older part with regular windows. I ring ahead now and am constantly being told by various hotels that their windows don’t open. What’s going on?
Why are new hotels being built without opening windows?
r/AskUK
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Having a window open and the air con on just wastes power, so they probably just make it impossible to open them to prevent that
Energy efficiency. Blowing in fresh air through the ventilation system helps the hotel better control amount of heating and cooling needed.
Kids fall out of windows.
People probably try and smoke out of them.
AC is probably going to be better than letting the public open windows.
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Most premier inns are like this now
Stop drunk idiots having too much fun. Americans like to share tiktoks of the current window locks to mock the UK. Probably valid. Big cost saver no doubt.
To be fair when I worked briefly in a hotel the number 1 reason for a room changing request was the window was stuck open.
Safety, and energy efficiency, and cleanliness.
People can’t fall out of closed windows.
Easter to control heating and AC.
Use one filter to remove dust from the air on the air intake.
I hate this. Even in a busy city, I want some “fresh” air. I’ve been unwell in a hotel and the air conditioning just didn’t help the room feel les stuffy and I really struggled. It’s totally fine that they only open a few inches for safety, but I just wish they’d all open a little bit.
Because it’s cheaper to build and reduces running costs for the Owner, so more profitable.
As someone else has said, it’s down to the a/c. Hotel users expect a/c in most rooms now, but if you also have openable windows the energy put into cooling or warning the air can be wasted. The theory is that the system provides all the air ch ages that people need – of course it’s not that simple for some people (personally I feel psychologically shut in if the windows aren’t openable). There are ways of dealing with it with sensors on windows (turning off a/c when open, or changing it to a different mode at least), or with better active or passive ventilation. But of course that costs more money. Hotels like Travelodge are all about cheap builds, low running costs, so you won’t get more advanced building design.
I’ve never heard of a medical condition that requires windows to be openable.
Because capitalists would burn their own grandma if she was the cheapest source of fuel.
last premier inn we were in had simialr, issue was the aircon was black with mold inside it and stank when switched on!
Cost/efficiency. It’s cheaper to install non-opening windows than opening windows. Especially when you are installing hundreds or thousands of them. All the rooms have air con anyway.
What about fire safety?
I worked in a major hotel chain about 15 years ago and the windows didn’t open, I think it’s maybe been more common than you think?
New health and safety building regs either require or strongly recommend that windows in most tall buildings to be fitted with window restrictors that stop windows from being opened more than 100mm, so that people can’t open them fully in case they fall out.
I hate it too, I guess it’s for various safety reasons but I hate being in what feels like an artificial environment, it’s claustrophobic.
it probably makes it harder to have a smoke out the window
and it’s cheaper to put in closed panels in I guess.
I actually prefer it as the hotels with opening windows tend to only allow about two inches restricted by a cable and they lack AC. I’d take air con over a stuffy room (with only city noise / smells outside usually anyway).
A lot of hotels are built near main roads/loud areas and require windows to be closed to achieve the required internal noise levels within the rooms. If they have openable windows then they do not achieve BREEAM credits.
To stop kids, drunks, suicides falling out.
Because although people generally associate cooling a room with opening a window, whereas if you’ve got AC, a sealed room is quickly going to be cooler than the outside temperature, and if you open a window you’re just letting in hotter air and also the AC is then trying to cool down the whole planet rather than just the room.
I stay in these hotels weekly and have done for a decade and those with non opening windows are horrible. Usually there is an air vent and an air con/heating system if the windows don’t open, but just knowing the window won’t open makes us all feel a bit claustrophobic.
I will say that this is preferential to the older hotels whose windows have very tight restrictions and no air con; being able to only open the window a couple of inches in the height of summer with no other ventilation is vile. To the point I started to take a pocket tool kit and I’d unscrew the restrictor to throw the window open wide at night (I’m an adult, I’m not going to fall out, and I always screwed it back in after).
I can understand the restriction but a few I’ve been in open so little I can’t even get my hand out. Nearly had a panic attack once when it was 28 degrees in the room with a tiny pathetic fan blowing hot air at me, and I couldn’t even stick my hand out of the window.
I get claustrophobia if I am in a space without opening windows. I now call ahead to hotels and check. I’ve found that, as a rule, new, corporate, chain hotels are worst. If given the choice (sometimes I am, even for work travel) I prefer old, quaint, individually-owned hotels, which tend to have opening windows (and better breakfasts), but you will end up having to navigate more stairs, and there’s a greater chance your room might be haunted.
Stayed in one recently. Brought portable CO2 monitor. Levels quickly exceed 2500ppm even with AC on and single occupancy. At these levels expect headaches, impaired cognitive function. It’s really not ok.
Because we have to cater for the biggest idiot in society with everything we do.
Not just hotels – many office blocks and commercial buildings don’t have windows that open. Non-opening windows are cheaper, safer, have less maintenance etc. and are likely considered to look better by contemporary architecture standards. The HVAC systems are designed and balanced to work without opening windows, and honestly provide better quality air (filtered + exchanged more frequently) than what you’d get by opening the windows.
Doesn’t help with the psychological comfort of being able to open a window, or when the building managers disable the aircon to save money of course.
How do councils not hound them for fire windows?
Apart from newer premier inns ive not seen aircon in most uk hotels
Theyre saunas all year round
In short: Everyone wants to kill themselves or somebody else.
They are totally awful. One of the reasons I don’t really like Premier Inn any more is their sealed windows.
They say they provide some air ventilation system but it is NOISY I literally cannot sleep with it rumbling away. So then have to attempt to get to sleep in a hot and airless room.
All could be solved by letting me open the window a little.
I stayed in an EasyHotel once and never again. Paid a literal extra fee to stay in a room with a “window” as some are apparently just concrete walls all around. The window was about the size of my forearm and tucked way up in the corner of the room. Could have covered it with 7 sheets of loo roll
To stop people jumping or falling out
I assume it’s to do with the same sort of stupid regulations that mean that I have to have inch thick reinforced glass in front of my window because the window sill is lower than standard
One thing I do wonder as well is whether it helps with noise, from a clueless perspective anyway. I’ve stayed in airport hotels that, for obvious reasons, need a lot of sound proofing and the windows are part of that. From the looks of it they even looked triple glazed so you never heard anything.
I guess the same applies to city centre locations with traffic/nightlife etc, hotels do unfortunately get complaints about noise issues that are outside of their control so I suspect newer buildings or renovations just opt for the sealed windows to help with this
I stayed in one recently where the window didn’t shut and I know which I’d rather have. It was a ground floor room as well, chunks of the window frame had been cut away but it wouldn’t even pull closed.
As far as I’m aware it’s multifaceted.
No windows means things can’t go in or out, which prevents bugs and gross stuff going in, or massively prevent people trying to break/sneak in.
On taller buildings it prevents people stepping outside if they plan on hurting themselves.
By having the AC be the main source of fresh(ish) air it ensures the rooms are at a comfortable temp for anyone willing to take the time to adjust it.
Sealed windows basically makes the rooms safer overall, while ensuring the environments are better for customers. (Also cuts down the outside noise, which people typically hate)
Overall I see positives, but I can imagine it’d be a nightmare for people with claustrophobia or something adjacent to it.
Because they have air con. You don’t want windows to be open with air con running.
I stayed in a newly built student block. None of the windows opened. I could stick it for a night or two, but I couldn’t handle it for weeks at a time.
I remember me and my parents stopped in a hotel in Mexico, Cancun one year and the windows of the hotel bedrooms did not open, we did not even have a balcony
A lot of new hotels do that for energy efficiency and safety reasons. Sealed windows make it easier to control heating/cooling and reduce noise from outside. Fire safety regs can also play a part, plus cheaper maintenance. Totally sucks if you like fresh air though!
I’ve stayed in a travelodge which has curtains but a brick wall behind them.
I mean, what do you even say about that?
Many hotels have them where it’s too cold to need aircon. I agree, they suck.
We stayed in a newer Premier Inn near the O2 a while back and if they are all like that now, I’ll never go back.
The windows would not open (at all) and we both love fresh air at night, even if it’s cold. It wasn’t cold, it was boiling in our room and the thermostat (which wouldn’t go below 19c) didn’t appear to do anything at all.
Sealed air buildings are the worst, I work in one as well and I absolutely hate it, we’ve been battling with the estates team for the air recirculation to kick in at a lower CO2 level for ages, we struggle to stay awake in there. You can’t beat fresh air.
Get an air bnb then
Probably a few factors but the ones that spring to my mind are to eliminate falls risk and reduce chances of someone climbing in or out through it.
There’s a small hotel chain in London called the Zedwell, I’ve stayed in a couple – and neither has any windows at all, all of the rooms are in the middle of the building (or underground) but both excellent air-con.
It takes a little getting used to, but on the other hand each are very, very quiet, dark as death when the lights are off, the beds are comfy with good quality bedding, usb in the power sockets, decent walk in shower, and the bathrooms so clean you could eat your breakfast off the floor (if they did breakfast, which they don’t).
However you don’t get a lot else, there’s no tv, furniture or kettle, only a couple of knobs hanging off a wall for storage and a mirror.
Better that than a tired old hotel with a view of a wall opposite and a kettle you don’t trust…
I stayed in a travelodge in Dublin, the rooms of which were completely sealed. I just dreaded that what if the air con stops working or whatever brings in the fresh air stops working while sleeping at night. I’d rather have windows that can open.
It has nothing to do with money, is compliance in certain countries to have windows stoppers retrofitted, or in the case of new builds having it closing all together. Liability and compliance are the reasons!
Mostly to stop smokers
Insurance is much less if people can’t top themselves.
Money and they don’t want people breaking in or jumping out of them.
This is to satisfy the BREEAM accreditation for new builds in the uk, its lazy but installing a sensor on the window to stop the fan coil unit is additional cost and possible maintenance issues so its easier and cheaper to seal the windows, that way they get a tax break on sustainability
HVAC systems are easier to manage in buildings without openable windows.
For instance, if humid air is allowed into the building via an open window, it can knock the AC out in summer. Fully mechanically ventilated also humidify air to keep it above 40% RH in winter, below which is the main cause of spread of airborne pathogens.
You will be getting plenty of fresh, filtered air from the central system.
You would be better asking this question in AskEngineers
It’s the same with trains. The whole construction industry is cooked.
Just in case any Russian oligarch wishes to stay.
It’s so that nobody jumps
They are not allowed windows that open that far.
It’s so fire can’t get in
They don’t want you smoking, jumping or throwing things out the windows, they also don’t want anyone/thing coming in through the windows, and they probably want to keep heat/cold on and noise out
Because it simplifies things.
They dont have to mitigate the risk of a child falling out of an open window, theres no risk a guest leaves a window open and a bird flies in, gets stuck and craps all over the room, no risk bad people try to get into the hotel through open windows, no risk the latching mechanism fails and means the window cant be closed (it happens, has done to a number of windows where I work), no risk your guests leave the air-con running full blast with windows open and cost you a fortune.
Not needing to open allows the windows to be more air tight too, which means less heat loss in winter. It might not sound like much, but if youre talking about hotels with hundreds of rooms the cumulative effect is probably not insignificant. It’ll also allow for better sound isolation, which is great since a lot of these hotels are often on major roads.
Ultimately the main reason is it benefits the hotel and not enough people care for it to cause any downsides to the hotel.
*Premier Inn has entered the chat.
Two main reasons: energy and noise.
Noise: Hotels will be required to demonstrate that the bedrooms are not subjected to noise levels above a certain threshold (as dictated by the council’s Environmental Health officers, planning policy and building regulations). In many cases a hotel is proposed in an area which has relatively high outside noise, so a compromise is usually reached where the hotel (or office, etc) is permitted as long as the windows cannot be opened as a means to try to avoid bedrooms getting noisy. I’ve always felt this is a bit silly since most people know to close the window if the noise outside is bothering them, but that’s besides the point.
Efficiency: most planning policy and building regs at this point require mechanical ventilation (ie. AC) to be the last resort as a means of cooling. So, openable windows and a passively cool design are the preferred options. However, in a case like the above where noise is likely to be an issue, the council would allow the cooling system to be fully reliant upon AC and the windows not to be openable. They’re effectively trying to avoid a situation where people are forced to open the windows to cool off and are subjected to loud noises all night long (no fun for anyone).
There could also be air quality reasons why the windows would need to be kept shut depending on the location of the hotel, so worth adding that to the mix as well.
Since reliance on mechanical cooling is largely against most policy at this point it’s unlikely that the un-openable windows are purely an efficiency measure since the council would almost certainly have pushed back on that if there weren’t other mitigating reasons they should remain closed.
In essence, it’s complicated! Welcome to the English Planning System!
Source: Town Planner and sustainable building policy specialist.
Suicide prevention
Your room had windows?!
Suicide prevention or something. I’m 40 years old and every year I have seen companies and governments come up with new ways to make people’s lives hell. Every fucking year.
There are too many fucking useless rules everywhere. Let people be free and be RESPONSIBLE for their own behavior.
Don’t want the expense-also stops intruders and jumpers
What’s worse of the hotels without Aircon and windows that won’t open.. think it’s partly a safety/security thing especially on ground floor windows.
If the window won’t open, no one can get in cos it was left open and the guest is out etc
Pavement pizzas are getting annoying.
Extra parts which require more maintenance, windows that open require repairs and maintenance. Windows that don’t just need to be cleaned.
Colleague of mine recently had a 2 night stay in a hotel room with no windows at all (London)
How is that even allowed?
It’s a split between saving money because obviously Air con and open windows waste money and suicide prevention especially on higher floors, it’s also why some windows will only open a certain distance.
At a venue I worked at we weren’t allowed to open any of the first floor windows in the restaurant just in case someone accidentally fell out.
It stops people smoking in the room
Safety reasons, too many jump out the windows
It’s to stop people jumping out of windows.
We had this in a hotel recently during the heat wave and the aircon was broken. They couldn’t get the aircon fixed until around 9pm. I was close to sleeping in the hotel reception it was so hot.
It’s also because the number of people who smoke and/or litter out of the windows (even if they only open a tiny amount) is unfortunately higher than 0.
I don’t get this either.
If I am not mistaken, typical air conditioning doesn’t take in clean oxygen rich air from outside. It just cools and dehumidifies the stale oxygen depleted plus other nasty gas air in the room. 🤢
I travel a lot and HATE this. I suspect it is for safety and/or ac reasons. I hate sleeping at night without an open window. I have noticed the more luxury hotels are more likely to have windows that open even just a little. Absolutely hate it.
I am in hotels and we built one in 2012 and there are lots of reasons why.
Plannings said we weren’t allowed to have open windows.
But the main reason for us was dust and cleaning. Open windows creates dust and the extra layer of dust on everything is factored in to cleaning time. It may take 2 minutes longer but that is approximately 10% extra agency staffing bill for a standard mid-tiered property that adds up.
Douglas Adams once again proves to be a visionary ..
Hotels pay more, breathe less.
Hotels pay more, breathe less.
health and safety presumably.
slightly related: me and my siblings almost fell through a window with no limiter on it at the fort dunlop travelodge when we were 8 or 9.
If the underpaid overworked staff aren’t allowed to throw themselves out the windows, neither are you
Suicide prevention
For Travelodges in particular, it’s to prevent people throwing themselves out of the window when they realise they have to sleep in a Travelodge.
I suspect it’s a risk thing, hotels are sadly popular destinations for suicides and windows provide an opportunity that can be removed. Also risks of falling items, things being thrown or dropped out. A quick google suggests it may reduce insurance costs
Im almost 40 years old and the only time I’ve stay at lodging that has opening windows are when I’ve been at resorts where the room has a balcony to go out on. I’ve never seen a non-balcony room with a functioning window.
Cost savings. Windows that open are much more expensive (both in manufacturing as well as maintenance) than simple glass panes. If you think about how many windows a hotel has, it adds up big time.
I thought it was to stop people trying to smoke or yeet themselves out the window
Aircon/heating is easier to balance in what is a sealed unit.
Wouldn’t having windows that don’t open being a hazard in the event of a fire?
What I’m learning from this post is that most people have absolutely no idea how filthy indoor air is, and how bad a lack of fresh air is for you. High CO2 levels are not good.
I stayed in a Premier Inn in Romford that still to this day has no aircon, so opening the window, which was on a little latch that opened it by about 15cm, was the only thing between me and roasting, I’m talking 30degree Summer temps. Tripadvisor reviews were like “Hotter than the surface of the sun”, and “If you ever wondered what happened to boil-in-the-bag…”. They built a new block behind it on some new land with great fanfare. “It’ll def have aircon and openable windows” they said. It did not. I asked why…the management response: “We wanted everyone to have the same great Premiere Inn experience.”
In summary, they have a ‘bad-sleep’ guarantee that sometimes they honour, sometimes not, but mostly they rely on Brits putting up with it and not complaining. The new ‘no-window’ nonsense is super weird, but I guess logically it stops you either jumping or catching your hand in the mini-latch. But yeah, that room aircon had better work properly, else you end up laying there with a glaze like a freshly baked bagel.
Will be a liability issue, if people fall or jump out of the windows. A security issue so people arent sneaking in through the windows. And then also a heating/air con issue.
Just makes sense for a business to cover itself unfortunately
I stayed in an Easy hotel room recently with no windows as all.
There is a very strict engineering process behind this decision.
The main reasons are acoustic, pollution, internal temperature control and energy saving.
Engineers want to implement openable windows as this is less work for everyone involved but it is not practical to do this with an air conditioning installation ie the engineer has determined that the heat gains within the space can not practically be resolved with openable window and therefore air conditioning must be installed to avoid an uninhabitable temperature during summer. You would never have both options.
There is probably an element of psychology as in theory fresh air must be supplied as per the building regulations through a mechanical ventilation system. The air being supplied into the space is fresher than that outside. It is pretty standard to go through a two stage filtration before being supplied to the room.
An acoustician will additionally have assessed the feasibility of openable windows and determined them not possible to meet the strict criteria of hotel rooms if not in a rural location.
Additionally if the building is high rise opening windows are not possible due to change in pressure. Look up the stack effect if interested.
Maximum controll of climatisation expenses.
Safety. Avoiding accidentes and suicides.