Keeping it Clean: India’s Luxury Hotels Offer Clean Air as Their Newest Differentiation

IF YOU had to zero in on just one industry where business success depends conclusively on what customers think, what would your answer be? For most of us, the instant response would be – the hospitality industry. It is one domain where customers’ experiences, expectations and safety mean everything and that’s why top hospitality businesses are constantly seen trying to pull out new rabbits out of their hats to keep their brands close to their consumers’ hearts and minds.

Every top hotel in the world usually has something exceptionally magnificent to offer which is why influential businessmen, politicians and celebrated writers and artists wax eloquent about them and continue to patronize them for years. For Hemingway, this unique alluring offering may have been the iconic ‘Singapore Sling’ at Raffles Hotel in Singapore and for Jackie Kennedy the dazzling infinity pool overlooking the Amalfi Coast in Belmond Hotel may have done the trick, but closer home things are a little different today. Sure, the luxury hotels in India have their own unique and incomparable USPs, be it a special daal preparation or an Ayurvedic massage centre in the middle of all wilderness, but there is something more than top 5-stars in India are now looking at differentiating themselves by.

Hospitality and especially luxury hospitality is all about figuring out customers’ expectations and catering to them with precision and élan. In India, and specifically in its most major metropolises of Delhi and Mumbai, this elusive customer demand is not surprising that of clean air. As the air pollution in most of the big cities of the nation reaches deplorable levels, hotel guests, especially foreign tourists and NRI visitors are particularly concerned about the perennially poor air they have to breathe while in India. So pronounced is this worry for travelers, in particular for those who travel with their families comprising older parents and young children, that not just 5-stars, but even 4 and 3 star properties are beginning to recognize the importance of offering clean air as a unique way to attract more guests and make them choose their property over others.

The Oberoi Hotel in New Delhi has been a category leader of sorts and not only because of its beautiful inventory of rooms and stellar F&B properties. It recognized the pressing need of its guests for clean air while they spend time in the artistically decorated environs of the hotel and decided to do something about it ahead of the industry. With a vision of ensuring that everyone who walks into the premises of the hotel breathes clean air, the hotel adopted a unique way of offering a healthy and luxurious breathing environment to its patrons. They displayed PM 2.5 at the main entry for the guests to know that they are safe in the rooms. Magneto is contributing to large-scale clean air delivery through its special central air cleaner, designed specifically for hotel FCU/AHU/TFA type air conditioners. The air purification systems can be applied in any room without modifying the existing air circulation or cooling systems at economical costs.

This solution found such ready acceptance amongst the doyens of the hospitality world that within a year of its being implemented, other top luxury brands in India such as Taj Hotels, The Leela, Jaypee, The Oberoi Group and many others have displayed an eagerness to adopt this proprietary technology. The solution is also built on an air cleaning process that not only removes dust but also eliminates any kind of infection-causing germs, making it even more attractive. To make this value proposition clearer and more prominent to guests, now, several hotels are also displaying real-time PM2.5 levels in their lobbies and rooms, offering a comparison between the pollutants inside and outside the hotel premises.

Top luxury hotels in India and in particular those in Delhi regularly welcome the world’s most important officials and heads of state into their premises. To offer them the most superior stay experience and give them the assurance that they’re breathing the highest quality of air possible, given the extreme outside conditions, luxury hotels are beginning to recognize the importance of investing in their clean air offering with a high degree of nimbleness. IAQ (indoor air quality) enhancement initiatives that are being taken by top players in the hospitality industry in India, to not just sustain their own brand value but also to set a global benchmark in terms of customer service and experience across the industry as a whole.

We foresee this going beyond just luxury 5-star properties. Magneto Cleantech intends to see a day when OYO Rooms and other entry point rooms offer clean air to all!