Hotel generator sitting under our window and the diesel smell is in the pillows — move rooms tonight or sleep with it shut?
Power cut, generator kicked in, and our ground-floor window is basically on top of it. The room smells like a fuel station. Headache started within an hour. Night desk offered to 'close the window and enjoy the AC' as if that solves fumes in the fabric. I would rather move than negotiate with a machine. Is asking for an inland or upper room tonight a normal request, or do people just endure generator nights on the coast?
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5 Answers from travellers
Ask to move tonight. Diesel in pillows is not a closed-window problem; it is a placement problem. A courtyard, inland, or upper room away from the exhaust is a normal desk request during generator hours, not a luxury upgrade speech. If they have no other room, ask for a fan room on the other side or a night in a nearby sister property — and say the smell is giving you a headache, which is enough reason. I will not invent a generator-distance rule or a compensation menu. Do not sleep with a window sucking exhaust, and do not run the AC as a perfume. If they shrug, photograph the unit under the window and keep the conversation factual at checkout.
Desk moved us inland before dinner. Headache gone. They had the room; they just needed a clear ask.
Asking for any room that does not share a wall with the generator. Closing the window is not the plan.
If they only have tonight, stuff the gap under the door, stay inland tomorrow, and do not hang clothes near that window.
Same assertiveness as a passport-for-umbrella request — name the problem, offer a simple fix, do not donate your night.
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