Should Carbon Monoxide Detectors Be Required in Hotel Rooms?

In addition to sprinkler systems and fire alarms, carbon monoxide detectors seem to be ubiquitous as safety equipment in rooms at hotel and resort properties — but believe it or not, no federal law currently exists in the United States that requires lodging establishments to be equipped with carbon monoxide detectors in hotel rooms…

Should Carbon Monoxide Detectors Be Required in Hotel Rooms?

…but that could change, as the Stay Safe Act of 2025 — which is also known as House of Representatives Bill 3755 — would amend the Federal Fire Prevention and Control Act of 1974 to update the fire prevention and control guidelines to require the mandatory installation of carbon monoxide alarms in all places of public accommodation that would include hotel properties, motel properties, resort properties, and short-term rental rooms in the United States; and for other purposes.

905 guests of hotel, motel, and resort properties were injured or poisoned in 115 identified incidents — which include 22 fatalities — from Saturday, January 1, 2005 to Monday, December 31, 2018.

As one example back in 2013, three guests died in the same room within three months at a hotel property in Boone, North Carolina as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning — which led to the charging of the business executive managing the hotel property with involuntary manslaughter; and prompting the family of two of those people to file a lawsuit against Best Western International in February of 2015.

The typical source of carbon monoxide in hotel properties is from a heating unit — whether it is in the form of a boiler or a device used to heat up a swimming pool. A malfunction of such units — not always obvious or easily detected upon initial inspection — can cause levels of carbon monoxide to increase, which means that the risk of you becoming sick is greater.

Carbon monoxide from the swimming pool water heater — which purportedly had not been inspected since 2000, when the Best Western Blue Ridge Plaza hotel property in Boone was built — allegedly seeped up from a corroded exhaust pipe into room 225, killing an elderly couple and a boy eleven years of age. The deaths occurred within three months of each other.

The hotel property has since changed brands, and is now known as the Quality Inn & Suites University.

In a more recent case, John Heathco and Abby Lutz — who were 28 years old and 41 years old respectively — died of carbon monoxide poisoning at what was known then as the Rancho Pescadero – The Unbound Collection by Hyatt luxury resort property in Cabo San Lucas in Baja California in Mexico in 2023.

The couple — who was from Newport Beach in California — were found unresponsive when paramedics entered their room on the night of Tuesday, June 13, 2023.

The resort property closed on Sunday, June 18, 2023

Carbon Monoxide Detectors are Required By Law in Some States…

Carbon monoxide detectors are required in private dwellings in 30 states — some of them via state statute; while other states require carbon monoxide detectors in private dwellings through regulation of the adoption of the International Residential Code or via an amendment to their state’s building code, according to this article of the National Conference of State Legislators.

However, only a total of 16 states require installation of carbon monoxide detectors in hotel and motel properties…

…and only six states require carbon monoxide detectors in school buildings.

Symptoms of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning — and How to Protect Yourself

According to the Mayo Clinic, carbon monoxide poisoning affects the brain and heart the most. Exposure over time might lead to symptoms that can be mistaken for those of the flu without the fever. Clearer symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning can include:

• Headache
• Weakness
• Dizziness
• Nausea or vomiting
• Sleepiness
• Loss of muscle control
• Loss of consciousness

As carbon monoxide builds up in your blood, symptoms get worse and may include:

• Confusion
• Drowsiness
• Shortness of breath, which can include fast breathing, fast heartbeat, or chest pain
• Blurred vision and other vision problems
• Seizures

Symptoms related to the nervous system and brain can come on after recovery from carbon monoxide poisoning. The risk of these symptoms is higher in both older people and people who lost consciousness from breathing carbon monoxide. Symptoms might include:

• Memory loss
• Personality changes
• Movement problems

If you have symptoms that you believe could be caused by carbon monoxide poisoning:

1. Leave the area right away — in this case, your hotel room — and
2. Call 911 or go to the emergency room at the nearest hospital

If you keep breathing the fumes, you may pass out and die. The problem is that carbon monoxide is also known as the “silent killer”, as you cannot see, smell, or taste carbon monoxide — which means you will most likely not realize that you are even breathing it inside of you. This accentuates the importance of recognizing the symptoms listed above as soon as possible, as saving even precious seconds can mean the difference between life and death.

Carbon monoxide poisoning can occur suddenly; or it can occur over an extended period of time, depending on the amount of carbon monoxide which may be present in the area. Breathing low levels of carbon monoxide over a long period can cause severe heart problems and brain damage. You are advised by the Mayo Clinic to immediately seek fresh air and see a doctor if:

• You often are short of breath and have mild nausea and headaches when you are indoors
• You feel better when you leave the building and worse when you return
• Other people you work or live with have the same symptoms you do

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning in Hotel Properties: What are Your Chances?

This leads to the questions: what are your chances of becoming ill — or even dying — from carbon monoxide poisoning in your hotel room; and should carbon monoxide detectors be required in hotel rooms?

At least 30 reports of high levels of carbon monoxide in hotel properties occurred between 2010 and 2013 — resulting in eight deaths — as well as the evacuation of greater than 1,300 people from hotel properties, according to this article written by Gary Stoller and published in USA TODAY…

…and those statistics are only what has been reported, as it is obviously unclear how many times hotel guests who may have suffered the effects caused by high levels of carbon monoxide but not realized the source of the perceived illness. People who suffer the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning can mistake the symptoms for another malady — such as the flu, for example.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission of the United States, greater than 200 people die each year in the United States from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning associated with consumer products — including faulty, improperly-used or incorrectly-vented fuel-burning appliances such as furnaces, stoves, water heaters and fireplaces — and unrelated to fire as the cause. At least 100 of those deaths are linked to portable generators.

Exactly how many of those 200 people died while staying at a hotel property is unknown.

In other words, this is not exactly a problem of epidemic proportions — especially when considering the number of hotel rooms located within the United States alone is estimated to be approximately 5.7 million in greater than 64,000 lodging establishments — meaning that the chances of you being sickened or killed by carbon monoxide poisoning are minimal at best…

…but not completely impossible, either. However, that is of no comfort or solace to the families of the victims of carbon monoxide poisoning in the aforementioned case at the hotel property in Boone.

Final Boarding Call

Up for debate is why smoke detectors are mandatory equipment in hotel rooms across the United States — but carbon monoxide detectors are not required in 34 of those states?

You may have already guessed the answer: money. Installation of carbon monoxide smoke detectors could cost the lodging industry as much as $250 million — an exorbitant cost to minimize a risk which is already considered minimal at best. whether or not you believe that hotel properties should be required to install carbon monoxide detectors in hotel rooms for the added safety of guests despite the cost.

Meanwhile, if you are concerned — despite the low risk of being affected by carbon monoxide while you are in a hotel room — you may also want to consider carrying a portable device which is capable of detecting carbon monoxide for peace of mind whenever you travel, in addition to following the advice offered by the Mayo Clinic. Portable devices which are capable of detecting carbon monoxide can vary greatly in cost, size, and weight; and they can obviously be used in places other than hotel rooms.

Just as I do not carry a fire extinguisher or smoke detector with me in the unlikely event of a fire, I personally do not believe that I need to carry a portable carbon monoxide detector with me whenever I travel and stay in a hotel room — but if you feel you need to do so for greater peace of mind, you may want to refer to this discussion on FlyerTalk pertaining to traveling with carbon monoxide detectors, as I do not have a recommendation…

…and if the aforementioned bill known as the Stay Safe Act of 2025 is voted into law, a welcome additional level of protection for guests of lodging companies will be provided.

All photographs ©2015, ©2020, and ©2022 by Brian Cohen.