ELKHART, IN—Having a refrigerator in the room is a convenience that many guests enjoy—and in some cases require. Whether it’s wanting a fridge for a place to store leftover dinner or needing it to house lifesaving medication like insulin, the hotel fridge is an appealing amenity for many guests.
Dometic has just introduced two models—one with a glass door and another with a solid one—in the CL480 Series.
“We believe these models fill a niche for Dometic in the upper-midscale hotel segment,” said Joe Wine, product manager, IOT and traded products, the Americas, Dometic, noting that the fridges—which are a bit larger in size—are perfect for traveling families. “This market serves many families and guests who have a little longer stay. The larger size allows families more room for drinks, snacks and leftovers.”
These new offerings aim to improve that convenience for guests, as well as make it more efficient for staff to clean and maintain.
“We believe the glass door is an attractive piece that allows for several things,” said Wine. “You can easily see inside of the unit so it would make the services of cleaning and checking to see if someone has left something in there easier. It makes it quicker and more convenient for hotel staff to do.”
The glass-door model also has a low-light mode. “It can be on similar to a nightlight. Or, if a hotel wanted to display a couple of bottles of water in there, it would give it a more appealing aesthetic,” he said. “That is what we are trying to do—help the hotel properties design a more attractive product, making it more inviting for the guest to utilize something that they put in there.”
An adjustment on the solid-door model now makes it easier for staff to clean. “Instead of having that interior storage on the door, we have actually made that flat,” said Wine. “The reason for this is that we can still get the same volume out of the unit for storage because we have brought our glass shelving out just a little bit farther, so the storage area is still equivalent. It makes it easier to clean. We want to be able to help hotels clean these things quickly and easily—and keep it a nice, attractive product. For the hotels, it is all about the efficiency.”
But, of course, guests are looking for a different kind of efficiency. To add more convenience for guests, both models include electronic controls with features allowing guests to set the temperature of the unit.
One of the biggest complaints guests have about in-room technology and appliances can be how noisy they are—which is a big problem for hotels given that guests are primarily in the room to sleep. Recognizing this need, Dometic also enabled guests to have the ability to put the unit into silent mode.
“As all compressors get older, they sometimes can get a little noisier,” Wine explained. “They start out whisper quiet at 35 decibels, but as they get older, they may get a little noisier. We give the option to the hotel guest to be able to silence that. It actually turns that compressor off. They can actually select two, four or eight hours that they can turn the compressor off for. It gives them a little bit more control over their experience, making sure that they are comfortable.” HB