# $250 hotel incidental charge for "unauthorized" tampering with HVAC controls
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [July 15, 2025, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863 "2025-07-15T03:53:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 7
### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/121 "2025-07-16T13:00:32Z")
> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> Did you even try contacting the front desk and requesting them to cool your room more effectively?
Yeah, like this is what a reasonable person would have done. My first instinct would not have been to bypass the locked setting of the thermostat and adjusting the thermostat in a way a customer clearly was not intended to adjust it. (Though, to be honest, I like a good puzzle, so maybe there’s a chance I’d get bored and try it one day just for funsies, but I wouldn’t be bitching about it if I got slapped on the wrist for doing so. I’ve picked through a number of locks in my day – combination, pin-tumbler, warded – just for funsies, never taken anything just relocked it, but if I had been caught, I would have understood if someone was angry at me.)
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### Author:  [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/122 "2025-07-16T13:11:33Z")
Perhaps it’s worth noting, regarding the people arguing this will damage the unit, many of the most common hotel thermostats have a “VIP Mode” as a documented feature that allows the temperature to be set lower than normal mode. So it’s kinda hard to argue this is damaging or ill advised. Let’s be honest- this is about the hotel trying to save money on energy, not about some impending doom from setting it too low.
And while for certain, setting AC too low can cause problems at the evaporator, I find it hard to believe that a modern unit will allow itself to go that low. I have heat pumps that absolutely manage all this through sensors and programming.
Finally, I’ll just say that as someone who spends way too much time in hotels, I’ve had plenty of experiences where the lowest setting of 68 was still unbearably hot, especially for sleeping. Sometimes this is because (and I have experienced this numerous times) a vent is blowing straight at the thermostat.
As a guest at a hotel, you’re paying to be comfortable. And if a hotel is not letting you set the room at a comfortable temperature then I haven’t much sympathy for the hotel’s rules. Legality of it aside, I’m speaking from a moral perspective here.
I keep the heat pump in the bedroom set at 61. It won’t actually get the room that low, but we like it COLD when we sleep. In the winter we often keep a window open, even when it’s in the 30s outside (while sleeping). And I know plenty of people who feel the same, so the OP isn’t way off the reservation here.
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### Author:  [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/123 "2025-07-16T13:24:03Z")
The OP comes across as entitled.
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### Author:  [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/124 "2025-07-16T13:28:07Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#):
>
> It is in my best interest not to get a handpay there.
Seems to me that it’s in your best interest to just stay out of the place.
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### Author:  [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/125 "2025-07-16T13:33:11Z")
I’m staying in a hotel tonight. Think I’ll take a dump on the floor. I mean, if they didn’t want me to, they should have said so.
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### Author:  [@MindsEye\_Watering](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MindsEye_Watering)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/126 "2025-07-16T14:04:06Z")
When I used to do a lot of business travel, I would encounter hotel showers that were miserably weak. I used to carry a small adjustable wrench in my luggage to unscrew the shower head and remove the flow restrictor in there. I would usually put it back before check out.
To the OP: I wouldn’t hesitate to jigger a thermostat as long as I knew that the mod was undetectable during use and I could put it back to its previous state before leaving.
A hotel charging a guest for this is more likely to be driven by the hotel’s cost saving measures (especially if a tech must be hired to fix the mod) than possible damage to the equipment.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/127 "2025-07-16T14:13:23Z")
Frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if word wasn’t passed along to other hotels in the area as a courtesy that he thinks he is entitled to futz around with their very expensive equipment.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/128 "2025-07-16T14:27:42Z")
I highly doubt they have the time, energy, or incentive to do that.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/129 "2025-07-16T14:29:15Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#):
>
> When I used to do a lot of business travel, I would encounter hotel showers that were miserably weak. I used to carry a small adjustable wrench in my luggage to unscrew the shower head and remove the flow restrictor in there. I would usually put it back before check out.
Yeah, please don’t fuck with the plumbing. If one of our tenants did that, I’d be pissed. Not that it likely will cause a problem, but I don’t want them touching anything plumbing, gas, or electrical related. As a hotel proprietor, I would feel the same way.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/130 "2025-07-16T14:31:27Z")
And I highly doubt they don’t already have a set up like that for troublesome guests.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/131 "2025-07-16T14:34:37Z")
Yeah, if the guy is literally trashing the room and starting fights continuously in the hotel bar, or something. I highly, highly doubt jiggering a thermostat non-destructively is going to send out an APB to all the lodging in the area, but I suppose we’ll find out at some point.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/132 "2025-07-16T14:45:19Z")
We don’t know if there was destruction or not, but I’m pretty sure the rule isn’t “It’s o.k. as long as you get away with it.” Common courtesy _is_ a thing in Las Vegas, by the way. A friend of My Beloved’s (Hi, Lisa!) who works in a hotel there says they have no problem talking to other hotels about problem guests…and they don’t wait until a guest trashes a room before it escalates to that point.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/133 "2025-07-16T14:54:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#):
>
> We don’t know if there was destruction or not,
It’s a sequence of keypresses, much like going into a diagnostic or advanced settings mode of whatever device you’re working on. See the video linked-to upthread. Think of it as the Konami code for thermostats.
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### Author:  [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/134 "2025-07-16T14:57:29Z")
> [@MindsEye\_Watering](#):
>
> When I used to do a lot of business travel, I would encounter hotel showers that were miserably weak. I used to carry a small adjustable wrench in my luggage to unscrew the shower head and remove the flow restrictor in there. I would usually put it back before check out.
I used to do a ton of business travel all over the US and the world. Maybe we have different shower expectations but I don’t recall ever having a shower too weak to be satisfactory let alone having it happen enough to require me bringing along a special tool.
There were a small few times that I unplugged a noisy refrigerator. Once I fixed a broken toilet. That’s about it.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/135 "2025-07-16T15:01:46Z")
Think of online games that kick you out even though your cheating “doesn’t harm anybody”. This “cheat code” culture seems to be getting worse and worse.
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### Author:  [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/136 "2025-07-16T15:03:26Z")
Nah, it’s always been there, just as bad. The ratio of legally owned games to pirated ones back in the 80s in my neighborhood was, without exaggeration, at least 1:100. We cheated plenty back then, too.
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### Author:  [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/137 "2025-07-16T15:08:22Z")
> [@hajario](#):
>
> I used to do a ton of business travel all over the US and the world. Maybe we have different shower expectations but I don’t recall ever having a shower too weak to be satisfactory let alone having it happen enough to require me bringing along a special tool.
My issue with hotel showers is being able to use them at all; sometimes the showerhead is at my eye level (I’m 6’ 2"). That was probably either a Super 8 or a Red Roof Inn.
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### Author:  [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/138 "2025-07-16T15:12:59Z")
When asked if you looked over the agreement with that hotel, you replied,
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#):
>
> Yes. I researched that hotel’s brand before I did it.
That hotel’s _brand_? Do you mean like Hyatt, Wynn, Hilton etc.? Their general rules covering all their hotels, instead of inquiring as to what the rules are for thermostats in the actual hotel you were staying at? Did you happen to make a phone call about you wanted to do before (or after) you did it?
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### Author:  [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/139 "2025-07-16T16:58:08Z")
> [@MW\_Degen\_Gamblr](#):
>
> It is usually standard procedure to make people sign something formally before being trespassed. Some casinos may actually send the documents to your house via certified mail. If you show up on their property after being formally excluded a “suit” (usually state police) will handcuff you and take you to the “backroom” and then the muni police will pick you up. But apparently some people in authority like to create rules out of thin air. What would stop that casino from calling the police on me eventhough I had not signed any formal papers? My license is in their system.
>
> When someone wins over $1199 at one time (instead of multiple wins adding up to $1200+), the slot locks up and a slot tech and security guard is automatically paged. Management and suit(s) will be paged if the win is 5K and over. The slot tech runs everyone’s license after every handpay. It is in my best interest not to get a handpay there. Hell, it’s not unheard of for people to hit the jackpot and then hit the door because they are in the system and don’t want to be charged for trespassing. 😃 Or they might even have a warrant unrelated to the casinos.
Dear Mr. Gamblr:
Thank you for your submitted story pitch for a streaming series adaptation of the 1995 Marty Scorsese film _Casino_. While the details of your pitch illustrate the realities of the modern casino industry and degenerate gamblers who patronize it, our story analysts feel that it lacks the ‘punch’ of the original film, and especially the delivery of [“cheater’s justice”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGp3PrC1CKI). Even when prompting scenes using our proprietary generative AI overlaid with a rendition of “Sympathy for the Devil” with a simulated Taylor Swift it failed to produce enthusiasm with reviewers. We are therefore sorry to inform you that your show pitch will not be picked up at this time. However, please continue to generate submissions that we can feed into our algorithm.
Thanks,
The Netflix Streaming Enshittification Team
---
### Author:  [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)
#### Post date: [July 16, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/250-hotel-incidental-charge-for-unauthorized-tampering-with-hvac-controls/1020863/140 "2025-07-16T19:00:15Z")
In regards to OP, here’s why I don’t get: Why not just play dumb? “Yeah, I turned the thermostat down to 64, it didn’t stop me. If someone hacked it, it must have been someone in the room before me.”
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