# Hotel rooms: why no ceiling fan? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041 "2018-12-13T04:29:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/21 "2018-12-13T12:10:48Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’ve never seen any electrical device of any sort attached to a hotel ceiling. Just last year we were at the [Sunshine Suites](https://sunshinesuites.com/wp-content/uploads/sunshine-suites-room-king.jpg) on Grand Cayman. All their rooms had ceiling fans. A lot of rooms at beach destinations have them. We just came back from 10 days at the [Atlantis Palm](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=864885) in Dubai. Our room had a [light fixture](https://www.atlantisthepalm.com/hotel-rooms/club-suites/two-bedroom-family-suites) on the ceiling. I see neither at most hotels in the states. Depends where you go, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/22 "2018-12-13T12:43:07Z")
Maintenance and cleaning is a huge factor especially due to accidental damage and/or vandalism. There are a couple other logical reasons. All ceiling fans transmit vibrations through the ceiling and floor above, especially if they are not installed correctly, balanced properly, knocked out of equilibrium, or just wear out. This becomes an annoyance for the guests staying in the room above. More expensive models may eliminate most of this “noise” …but those aren’t the models hotels would be installing. Fire code regulations dictate that nothing can obstruct the spray pattern of the sprinkler heads. A ceiling fan could possibly interfere with this. Also, you don’t really want to spray water on an electric motor. Most modern hotels are built with concrete floors and ceilings. Any ceiling electrical fixtures would need to be included in the original building plans and the conduit, boxes, stubs,etc. would need to be installed before the pouring. I’m with the OP though, hotel rooms can be stuffy and air conditioner noisy. It would be nice to have something to quietly provide a little air movement so the room doesn’t feel like a tomb. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/23 "2018-12-13T13:12:31Z")
If you need white noise to sleep, couldn’t you just stream a white noise recording on your smartphone? Or tune the radio to an unused frequency between FM stations? You used to be able to get white noise by switching the TV to channel 3 or 4 (whichever was unassigned in your area), now every hotel room has a TV, but many are on cable systems that don’t have any unused channels. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/24 "2018-12-13T13:15:03Z")
> [@Sparky812](#): > > I’m with the OP though, hotel rooms can be stuffy and air conditioner noisy. It would be nice to have something to quietly provide a little air movement so the room doesn’t feel like a tomb. I don’t disagree with this, but I think the OP is mistaken about the number of people who need or want an ceiling fan and only a ceiling fan to sleep. Sure, lots of people can’t sleep if it’s too hot/stuffy and lots can’t sleep in complete silence, but I suspect air conditioning will take care of the hot/stuffy issue and either the air conditioning or the tv/radio/music on phone will take care of the silence for most of them. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/25 "2018-12-13T13:18:03Z")
The air conditioning fan will usually work for me as long as I can manually set it to always on. Having A/C always turning on and off during the night is worse for me noise-wise than nothing. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/26 "2018-12-13T13:53:18Z")
OP here. I actually hate having a fan blowing at me when I’m trying to sleep … but my boyfriend says he prefers the slight, constant breeze. A former roommate of mine was the same way, she could not sleep without a draft or breeze blowing at her. So he was bitching a little about not sleeping well and said he was looking forward to sleeping under a fan again. Made me curious, that’s all. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/27 "2018-12-13T14:23:51Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Some people like them primarily for the white noise, and the fan function of the A/C unit can accomplish that, I guess. What kind of ceiling fans do you have? Pretty much all the ones I’ve ever been around are virtually silent. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/28 "2018-12-13T14:39:26Z")
If you want want white noise in a hotel, the AC/heater will typically have a way to turn the fan on so it blows continually. The AC my cycle on and off depending on temperature, but the fan will stay on the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/29 "2018-12-13T14:56:46Z")
I haven’t really been paying attention to such things, but I vaguely recall that many hotel rooms have relatively low ceilings, which would make sticking a ceiling fan up there both less useful and more dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/30 "2018-12-13T15:00:22Z")
My guess is because white noise is an “off-label” purpose for ceiling fans (the primary purpose being heat management - not needed in most hotel rooms) that very few people “need.” Also, as a person that does appreciate white noise, ceiling fans suck for that purpose. Pedestal or box fans are vastly superior. Youtube “fan white noise,” ceiling fans don’t even come close to the top of the list (I gave up before I got to one). ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/31 "2018-12-13T15:07:10Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’ve never seen any electrical device of any sort attached to a hotel ceiling. > [@Ludovic](#): > > Also with regards to any electrical device: I rarely see sprinklers (not electric but still) in hotel rooms attached to the ceiling: they’re often attached to the side, with a label exhorting you to not hang anything on them (which would be a lot harder if they were attached to the ceiling instead!) I wonder what’s up with this reluctance to put things on the ceiling. My cousin who’s in commercial construction pointed out how they build most hotels now – a steel frame with floor/ceiling slabs poured off-site, trucked in, and dropped in place with a crane. [You can actually see the individual slabs in a lot of hotel ceilings](http://i.imgur.com/DWpQJ.jpg), they run the whole length of the room but are only maybe 8’ wide. Any hotels utilizing this construction method won’t have anything attached to the ceiling, obviously, unless via conduit. There’s no hvac, plumbing, or electric in those slabs. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/32 "2018-12-13T15:59:20Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Hotels in warm weather locations sometimes have them. I’ve had rooms in Florida and Mexico that had them, in addition to the air conditioning. Every place I’ve ever stayed in the Caribbean has had ceiling fans. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/33 "2018-12-13T17:51:04Z")
If you need the background noise of a fan to sleep, when you travel away from home, there are numerous FREE apps for your smartphone, that will play a variety of noises to help you sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/34 "2018-12-13T21:36:56Z")
In March I stayed at a Homewood Suites in Dover, NJ (~30 miles west of NYC) that had a ceiling fan in the bedroom. I actually took a picture of it and posted it to Facebook! ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/35 "2018-12-13T21:58:58Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > My cousin who’s in commercial construction pointed out how they build most hotels now – a steel frame with floor/ceiling slabs poured off-site, trucked in, and dropped in place with a crane. [You can actually see the individual slabs in a lot of hotel ceilings](http://i.imgur.com/DWpQJ.jpg), they run the whole length of the room but are only maybe 8’ wide. Any hotels utilizing this construction method won’t have anything attached to the ceiling, obviously, unless via conduit. There’s no hvac, plumbing, or electric in those slabs. Interesting. Why is that? Why are hotels build differently than apartment buildings? ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/36 "2018-12-13T23:05:17Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Interesting. Why is that? Why are hotels build differently than apartment buildings? I wonder if they are. The last condo buildings I’ve been in seem to have a higher ceiling in the living spaces with nothing on them, but a slightly lower ceiling in say the corridors or bathrooms that has enough clearance for air conditioning ducts, etc. If I recall correctly, electrical fixtures only seemed present in this lower ceiling and not the higher ceiling. I suspect the higher ceiling was this concrete slab thing … ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/37 "2018-12-14T00:37:01Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > My cousin who’s in commercial construction pointed out how they build most hotels now – a steel frame with floor/ceiling slabs poured off-site, trucked in, and dropped in place with a crane. [You can actually see the individual slabs in a lot of hotel ceilings](http://i.imgur.com/DWpQJ.jpg), they run the whole length of the room but are only maybe 8’ wide. Any hotels utilizing this construction method won’t have anything attached to the ceiling, obviously, unless via conduit. There’s no hvac, plumbing, or electric in those slabs. I’ve noticed that kind of thing before; didn’t know that’s what it was. Prefabbing as much as possible, off-site, is usually cost-effective, and if a ceiling/floor isn’t going to have any utilities going through it, why not build it this way? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/38 "2018-12-14T00:41:55Z")
As someone who – reluctantly, occasionally – stays in hotel rooms, the last thing I want is a ceiling fan. ---
**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/39 "2018-12-14T03:24:40Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Some people like them primarily for the white noise, and the fan function of the A/C unit can accomplish that, I guess. Both moving air and white noise. I leave the furnace blower going in my house 24/7 for the same reasons, but a HVAC unit in a typical hotel room accomplishes the same thing. Ceiling Fans also get dirty and many hotel ceilings are pre-stressed concrete making it difficult to run wiring. ---
**Author:** ![lingyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d2c977/32.png) [@lingyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lingyi)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041/40 "2018-12-14T04:05:23Z")
TL;DR all the posts answer: Nobody cares enough to make it worth the trouble and expense of put ceiling fans in a hotel room. In an even smaller nutshell: If it doesn’t make money, don’t do it! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-rooms-why-no-ceiling-fan/826041.md?page=3)