Hotel Plaza Mayor in Madrid Spain. I was there last April. Although this season is still relatively cool in Spain, I don't believe any hotel operator has the right to turn AC's off for the season.It is not his business if I want to use AC at that time or not. I spoke with the Manager to not avail. He said they turn AC,s off during winter and spring and don't turn them on until late May.
He also said it is because the main AC does not work when the heater for the hotel is on (even when the room has an AC unit for individual control,but it is disabled by the hotel) I feel this is one of the most ridiculous explanation I heard in my life. One thing is for sure: I never will stay again in Plaza Mayor hotel in Madrid !

You will find that it is very common for hotels and B&Bs to have a specific cut off date for a/c - and also for heat. This happens all over Europe. Not in every hotel, of course - but in probably a majority of less than 4 star places.

Janis is correct. Most of the hotels we have stayed in have that policy. Some don't even have AC. If AC is important, you must check their policy before you go. Also check if they have AC. We just stayed in a B & B in Bruges that didn't have AC at all. It didn't matter because it was cool enough at that time of the year, but I'm sure they have visitors in the heat of the summer. In fact our room was on the 3rd floor so I can imagine it gets hot up there.

HA HA! Alkazar80, AC is not a given anywhere in Europe, even if they have it! It can go on and off without rhyme or reason, no matter what the season!

If you want to know hardship, let me tell you about growing up in New Hampshire, as I did. Hardly a house has AC, because in NH it's always supposed to be cool, even in summer. Surprise, surprise. NH weather doesn't know that. It can SWELTER there on occasion. No AC to cool you off.

I try to remember the sweaty bits of my childhood when I am faced with a European AC that isn't on because it's not the "right" season. It puts this small inconvenience in another perspective, which makes it far easier for me to deal with.

Perhaps if you liked the Hotel Plaza Mayor in other respects, you could revisit them in the winter? Maybe the heat would be on!

In a word, a hotel operator probably "has a right" to do just about anything they want to do on their property short of endangering life and limb and not having A/C wouldn't qualify.
I wonder if this sort of thing ever happens in one of those "awful chain" properties?????

You have to remember that a hotel is not a house .Even buildings in NYC have the seasons change over from heat to AC. It is not just the flip of a switch . Some buildings Burn oil or generate steam to produce AC .Sounds weird but it is sent threw diffrent units heat exchangers and chilling units . Example would be a coffee maker add cold water and in seconds hot water /coffee come's out ,and reverse for AC in buildings .The hotel mananger has nothing to do with it . Thats why they have seasons for the change over. European AC is not the same degree of Cold As with the American people are a custom too.Just because you have a little box on the wall that has Ac /Heat control what ever season it is that is what will come out . So you will not get heat in the summer if you are cold .

It's not just a Hotel policy. It is a Municipal Ordinance. Such laws require that building heating be shut off on a certain date (May 1, I believe). Air Quality in Madrid improves noticeably on that date. So the main A/C doesn't work when the heating plant is in operation. That's not absurd; it's logical!

As for the Hotel disabling individual room A/C's while the heating plant is in operation, that also seems quite logical to me. Wasn't there a window you could open?

We like to travel in the Fall, so we have spent many a night in a cold room. The weather may have turned cold for a few days but why turn the heat on for just a few days. We have also been in 3 star hotels in Paris in the Spring when the weather would turn warm for a few days. The air was not turned on, because it was too early.

I stayed at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Madrid last March. I am always warm (even in January in New England!) and I wanted to turn on the a/c in my room. I was told by the front desk that the a/c is not turned on until May.

Call me an ardent capitalist, but if a person runs/owns a business, they can pretty well do what they please short of breaking the law. If the market, you in this case, disagrees, then they'll pay the price for rash or ill conceived decisions.

So why would the hotel allow you to cool the room at the same time it is being heated? A waste of resources? Stay at the Hilton if you want everything perfect! Heck, why go to Spain.