Choosing Electrical Equipment For Hotel Rooms

Kitting-out the bedrooms of a new hotel means starting from the beginning. The many careful decisions to be made are taken for granted in established, chain hotels. What beds should you provide, and what bed linen? What toiletries, and what towels? These hurdles, when overcome, will together set the tone for the room.

But perhaps the greatest challenge is the electrical equipment. With such a long list of appliances, many of them essentials, and with numerous safety considerations to take into account, where do you even begin? Here, we provide a guide:

Hairdryers
Although it is widely known that electrical equipment, from a legal and safety standpoint, has no place in the bathroom, it is surprising how many requests we receive for bathroom hairdryers. While this would no doubt be convenient, the law says a firm no to this idea.

A notable exception is the Valera Hotello Hairdryer, which is mounted to can be mounted and hard-wired onto the bathroom wall, keeping it a safe distance from water. This allows your guests to dry their hair to perfection in the bathroom mirror.

What separates regular hairdryers from their hotel-grade cousins is the way the switch works. While regular hairdryers can be left on indefinitely, hotel hairdryers require the user to keep a button depressed to make it work - eliminating the risk of leaving it blasting hot air into a pile of bedding, for example, while the guest is out to dinner!

Folding hairdryers can hidden away in a drawer when not in use, for space-efficient discretion. And for anti-theft anchoring, the Presidents Safety Hairdryer (with its luxurious 2000W jet) includes drawer-mountable docking, keeping it from straying very far.

Kettles
Hotel kettles are at their best when presented as part of a welcome tray set. Those with built-in kettle bases will provide protection from the freebie-hunters! To keep energy costs down, consider a 0.5 litre kettle, although a 1 litre capacity variety is ideal for larger, multiple-occupancy rooms.

For safety, all hotel kettles should be fitted with Strix controls on the base, which trigger an automatic switch-off whenever the kettle is lifted. Most hotel-grade kettles are supplied with the standard 70cm power lead for assurance of safety compliance; the only downside is that these must occasionally be replaced by an electrician, who wires these into a fused spur. But in the name of safety, semi-regular maintenance is a minor inconvenience.

Coffee Machines
For a fancier alternative to the kettle, coffee machines will bring speed and convenience to bedroom beverages. Guests love the idea of a private, self-service coffee bar, and the Dualit Café Plus Coffee Pod Machine lets them prepare a choice of drinks, including tea. All they need are a handful of Dualit or Nespresso® pods!

Irons
For safety reasons, we recommend using only dry irons in hotel rooms. If guests do prefer a steam iron, many hotels keep one or two of these available on request at reception. If security is a consideration, we recommend ironing centres, for the simple reason that it is difficult to separate the iron from its accompanying ironing board!

All irons in hotels are required by law to possess automatic switch-off functionality in the event of inactivity, eliminating the threat of overheating. As such, the switch-off capability should be tested regularly as part of your hotel’s ongoing safety checks.

Safes
The hotel market demands that a safe should, at the very least, be capacious enough to hold a small laptop. Prices for hotel room safes range from £30 to in excess of £500, but most hotels are happy for a good quality unit costing in the £75 region.

A common worry is that guests may fail to unlock the safe, but fear not – your establishment can be provided with digital and manual override keys, just in case!

Minibars & Fridges
Every good hotel room needs a minibar. The very sight of one is a source of delight and makes a guest feel welcomed as they unpack. While most hotels won’t routinely stock these fridges, most guests will be happy the facility is even provided - and may even get them thinking about ordering up a bottle or two.

As an extra complimentary gesture, guests are known to appreciate a complimentary bottle of water, chilled to tempting perfection behind the glass door.

Telephone Handsets
Although such outmoded equipment may detract from the look of a newly-decorated bedroom, analogue handsets are still generally an expected part of the hotel room configuration.

Certainly, their sole function may well be for phoning down to reception, while practically everybody carries a mobile phone these days. Nevertheless, simply making this inexpensive technology available makes guest feel safe and connected.

Clock Radio
Many guests will need to rise early, and so it is considered polite to provide them with a basic digital alarm clock. While you may offer the service for a good old-fashioned wake-up call, most guests prefer being able to schedule the early start themselves.

Some hotel-friendly clocks offer a distinctly-modern bonus: USB sockets for charging devices. While many guests travel with their chargers and plugs, they will no doubt prefer the close, convenient bedside charging of their smartphone or tablet to the find-a-socket alternative. The presence of such alarm clocks will paint the room with an up-to-the-minute feel.