AIBU to expect air conditioning in August without extra room charges?

I holiday in Greece a lot and would expect to pay for aircon - but we do prefer little, family-run hotels. It does seem a bit expensive, though, so a clear heads up for you would have been good.

Hope you enjoy your holiday anyway - maybe next year, if you need 4 rooms, you could consider a villa? Works out much cheaper than multiple hotel rooms!

This is a 450 square meter property in Eastern Algarve (Serra do Caldeirão area, north of the road between Tavira and São Brás de Alportel) with which I'm very familiar because we sold the land to the Dutch owners and they've been neighbours and good friends for years. Because of the PROTAL zoning restrictions the property had to be built on the footprint of the existing ruin so it has a long south-west facing elevation, is only one room deep, and goes three stories up.

The living/dining room is double height and its south-west facing wall is entirely glass, as is the west elevation on the ground floor. The kitchen is a mezzanine at the back of this area and dumps all the heat into the lounge/diner, and the stairwell is a triple-height glass wall. All the glass was intended to be electrically shuttered but they ran out of money before it was finished and had to start renting it out to finish it and pay off the debts they ran up. Not all of the bill is for air-con: there's an infinity pool, which isn't great on electricity, and the borehole pump is more than 200m down.

Our 230m2 quinta is directly behind it and in the sun for longer. Our bill never really comes to more than €300 a month, and we sell €160 or so back to EdP during the summer anyway. I quoted 2009 prices; you'll know they've actually come down in Portugal since then and this was pre PV days. I've seen the bill with my own eyes, not least because I ended up lending them some money to pay it. It's real!

Oh, I’m sorry, OP. But I wouldn’t have booked that in a million years. I hope you manage to have a good holiday regardless 🙁

I was referring to my five bedroom two storey villa for this year and last year situated in Porches (Lagoa council) with pool (no pool heating). I have had this villa since 2015 and have never seen a bill of 1000 a month, let alone a week, even when I was renting it as a holiday property. However, if you have other electricity requirements that are happening whether or not the property is rented out, then that makes the difference. I've have lived here and owed properties in this area of Portugal since 2006 (and work in real estate - plus I have several properties of my own) and have never seen a bill of that proportion equation to over 4000 euros a month.

I think villas are different to hotels. I would expect air con in a decent hotel. I also wouldn’t book if it wasn’t available. In the OP’s situation she would have booked elsewhere if she’d have known it was another £350 for air con.

For private villas I get that people can be wasteful and it eats massively in to your profit so I understand a charge or restrictions there.

Never come across this in hotels in France, Italy or Spain, I always check hotel has aircon, wouldn’t book one without, and have never paid an extra charge for it.

My interpretation of "available between May and October" is that it's included in those months, then it's turned off between November and April.

Extra cost items such as unlimited WIFI need to be clearly indicated. If it's at worst ambiguous or at best only implied, then it'll be down to interpretation.

YANBU @NoAircon

I think the fact it isn't ticked and has an "available" rather than included as standard, would make me investigate on reviews and maybe an email to the hotel.
I'd be annoyed that it wasn't clearly explained in advance but equally, I don't think they've massively miss led you, I think it's one of those "lie by ommission" situations. It's also annoying they choose the hours because I think if you could put it on at bedtime that's probably all that's needed but if it's a random 3 hours in the day then that's useless.

I would say it’s ambiguous. I would have assumed it was but I guess theoretically it depends what they mean by ‘available’. It’s certainly a bit disingenuous.

I would have concluded that AirCon was available May through October.

There's no way I would have deduced from that sentence that it was available. But only for 3hrs a day after which it would be £10 per room each day.

It should have been clearly stated. But it wasn't. Because they're taking the piss.

maybe strange, but we had this in all places in the med so far. aircon on timer on in the morning and evening hours and you could pay for more if needed. why do you need aircon in a room you are not in for most of ghe day?

At 38+ degrees, it doesn't cool down enough to sleep, especially in a large building like a hotel.
I was in London during the recent heatwave and I definitely needed it on all night in order to sleep.

I would expect it to be charged in the same way that I would expect heating to be charged in winter. Unless you pay as you use it, there is always the risk that some visitors will simply leave it running all the time, thus incurring huge bills.

@m00rfarm

Yeah, their baseload is much higher than ours in the summer and to be fair the house was built primarily as a winter bolt-hole, not as a summer let. Nevertheless, they were flabbergasted when the electricity bill the first month was more than they'd taken in rent. After the first season they took meter readings on changeover days for billing, and usage does vary hugely between tenants when all other things remain equal. Some simply leave everything switched on 24/7. I would also add that being up in the hills can often mean 4/5 or more degrees hotter than at sea level, and without the sea breezes you get in the barlavento.

Just be glad you're not trying to heat any of the 900m2 marble-floored 1970's mansions in Colinas Verdes in winter.

I can see how you made the error, but I do think it's pretty clear. Available suggests not included, as does the fact it's not in the 'tick' section like other things and your previous hotel.

I don't think complaining has legs. One to take on the chin.

This! It’s very clear to me it’s not part of the package!

Yeah me too.. jaysus like you'd need more than 3 hours & the fact they're choosing the hours too 👀

I had to pay for aircon in Mexico a million years ago but it was a weekly charge of about $30

That's really shit @NoAircon but hopefully you'll be out & about most of the time

I think YABU. Aircon is expensive and a drain on electricity. It will be in the listing, you’ve just not read it properly.

We generally holiday in Greece or Caribbean.
I have only ever once had ac included in the cost.
We always add it on as an extra. There are usually 3 things to pay upon arrival

1. SAFE/Safety Deposit box
2. Tourist taxes
3. Air Con usually around 10Euros a day

We surprised ourselves 3 weeks ago in Skiathos and only used a fan (at 2euros a night) and we're fine but that's a first in July.

Private rentals tend to include it as standard in my experience but few packages do.

Ive worked n travel for years so maybe have a skewed experience but packages rarely include it as standard. That picture of the room description for me reads its available but as its separate from the rest of the list...not included.
That said MOST package providers use asterisks then have a sub note saying something like "local charges may apply"**.

Back in the 80s when I was on YTS as a travel agent I can recall a hotel in Spain charging extra for a sunbed around the pool!! Lots of people came in the shop to complain at the end of thier holiday! One can wonder with all the TikToks we see these days of hotel sunbed wars whether that charge may make a comeback!!!

I've known several hotels in Greece, Turkey and Cyprus that you have to pay an addition fee for air con in June-September.

@Chubbychubber
Oh yeah that's a good idea, @NoAircon would a fan be an option for night time?

Edit to quote CC

Air con doesn't need to be expensive - it's about time all these holiday resorts invested in solar panels so they could run the air con for free!

I am guessing your user name comes from living in Portugal ... 😂