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Updated August 30, 2015.

Have you ever walked into a hotel room and had your asthma or allergies irritated almost immediately upon entering?

On a recent trip with my family we flew into a city late in the evening and supposedly had a non-smoking room reserved. When we all lugged our stuff up to the room and were ready to pass out from a long day of travel, we were faced with what seemed to be a room that smelled of stale smoke.

You felt dirty just walking in and the air even seemed unclean.

I felt my allergies acting up almost immediately from walking in. The hotel was full and all they could do for us was offer to bring up some sort of device that would filter and remove the air, but we would need to leave for 90 minutes.

In the end we just stuck it out, but this decision was not without consequences. We all woke up with allergies, coughing, and hacking in the morning.

At the end of our trip we also had quite the opposite experience with a Pure Room at the Plano Marriott at Legacy Town Center. When we walked into our pure room we had none of the apprehension or stale air at the previous hotel. Entering the room was actually a soothing experience. With the Pure Room you really felt the air was cleaner, easy to breathe and no one in my family woke up experiencing allergy symptoms. Overall it was a much more restful night of sleep. I had previously not been aware that there were companies that are marketing “allergy friendly” stays to travelers.

What Is A Pure Room

I have heard all sorts of travel war stories from patients and their families related to episodes of poor asthma control that occurred while staying in a hotel room. Triggers could range from indoor air pollutants, dust mites, mold or tobacco smoke.

A Pure Room may just help you overcome or avoid those bad breathing hotel experiences like my family experienced at the beginning of our trip. According to their website, Pure rooms remove 99% offender air pollutants from your hotel room.

Pure Room’s Process to Improve the Air You Breathe

Each Pure Room goes through a 7 point process to ensure you have an allergy and asthma free hotel stay. Steps include:

• Air Unit. The Deep Clean Air-Handling Unit cools and heats your room. The heating and cooling coils of the unit are deep cleaned and disinfected with a proprietary Pure treatment. The unit uses an enzyme-based drip-pan tablet to further decrease allergy issues.
• Tea Oil. Tea tree oil, a natural substance with antimicrobial and disinfectant properties, is placed in the air unit for cleaning and sanitation purposes.
• Carpets. Nearly all hotels have carpet, which can hide all sorts of asthma triggers. A proprietary cleaning agent is used to clean all carpets and upholstery to remove triggers and contaminants such as dirt, bacteria, and mold.
• Shock Treatment. All rooms undergo a one time advanced shock treatment that not only kills mold and bacteria, but removes odors from cigars, cigarettes, or pets. This creates a fresh crisp environment for your stay.
• Pure Shield. This bacteriostatic barrier is placed on all surfaces and decreases your exposure to bacteria and viruses.
• Air Purifier. All pure rooms have a 24 hour air purifier to further address any airborne irritants. This FDA Class II Medical Device kills 98% to 100% of bacteria and viruses. Your room will not only smell fresh and clean, but it will also be free of odors and other irritants that may worsen your asthma.
• Bedding. Just like you may want to use at home, a micro-fiber, mono-filament mattress and pillow encasements are utilized for lesser risk of allergy and asthma problems.

Hotels with Pure Rooms undergo frequent maintenance to remain allergy friendly.

The only real downside for some would be an additional cost. On searching I found Pure Rooms to be slightly more expensive than a standard hotel room---about $25 dollars on average that I saw when looking at bookings around the US. I suspect for many, however, the additional cost to be well worth improved asthma and allergy control.

Pure At Home

If you want the Pure Room experience at home, the company offers a number of different air purifiers, HEPA filters, and hypoallergenic bedding options.

Final Thoughts

Overall I was very impressed with the Pure Room. If you have experienced allergy or asthma problems staying at a hotel before you may want to give it a try. I think the small additional cost is well worth the refreshing and restful night sleep you get in return.

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