The Latest Luxury Hotel Perk in China Is Filtered Air

The newly opened luxury hotel Cordis Shanghai, Hongqiao in China is trying a new tactic to lure guests: It's offering filtered air.

In February, Shanghai reported a nine percent year-over-year increase in measurements of PM2.5, a tiny particle that can get trapped in the lungs and bloodstream. The city now regularly exceeds the Chinese capital of Beijing in terms of air pollution.

And entering a building provides no relief from the polluted air. PM2.5-laden air can still enter buildings and, when combined with formaldehyde, carbon dioxide, or gases from paint and building materials, can become even more toxic to breathe.

The Cordis Shanghai, Hongqiao, however, claims that its air is generally about 10 times cleaner than what’s outside.

All the air in the building passes through two levels of filtration. And, to keep the good air inside, the double-glazed windows remain closed at all times.

TV screens in the room display information about the air quality and PM2.5 levels both inside and out.

“I think back to the days when everyone used to charge for the internet,” John O’Shea, managing director of Cordis Shanghai, Hongqiao, told The Guardian. “Now the internet’s like hot water – if you don’t have high speed, fast, easy-access internet for free, then it’s over. The indoor air quality is going to be like that too – if you can’t guarantee your customers much better air quality than the competitors, it’s going to be a fait accompli. It’s already getting that kind of importance.”

In 2016, the China World Hotel in Beijing also advertised the installation of its new PM2.5 air-filtration technology, saying that clean air inside would “enhance our guests’ experience during holidays, business trips and meetings in Beijing to make them a lot more enjoyable.”