Don't know how many others have encountered this, but on our trip to New England a couple of weeks ago, we had booked a room at the Sheraton FourPoints in Aberdeen,MD for an overnight rest. We were given one of their "pet rooms" as we had the dog with us. When we walked into the room, the citrus *fragrance* was so overpowering, it almost took your breath away. My DH pointed out the mildew on one of the walls, and felt they were trying to cover that smell up, as well. The room looked clean otherwise, but that smell, combined with the fact that the outdoor pool was dismal and dirty sent us scurrying back out the door to another hotel!

I stay in Residence Inns, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Comfort Inns, La Quinta, with the dog .... but I have never experienced what I assume is a pet-deodorizer that strong! Anyone else? BTW, I expected more from a Sheraton property; had never stayed in one of their FourPoints before.

I was recently in a Sheraton in Baltimore, but they didn't use such a spray. However, last weekend I stayed at a Doubletree in Santa Barbara and our room smelled strongly of oranges after the maids cleaned it. It wasn't obnoxious, but strong enough that we noticed it right away. It did dissipate rather quickly, and I don't think they were covering any offensive smells. Maybe it wasn't even a spray, but a cleaning product.

One man's passion is another's poison! Some of them smell terrific...to me. Others...gag (to me). In your case Bonnie, there may have been more than met the nose had that room deodorizer not been there and been so strong!

One of my friends gave me some Bulgari perfume. I know it's expensive stuff, but OMG it is soooo icky. If smells were weights, this one would weigh about 10 tons. I cannot use it. I tried to give it to my housekeeper...but she didn't want it either! LOL Same theory with room deodorizers...one size sure doesn't fit all!

You had a pet and they put you in a pet room??

Seems to me that the spray was to cover up pet smells.

OO, I feel that way about perfume in general ... just can't wear it. My *fragrance* is shower gel! (OO, hope your sweet grandbaby is doing great now! )

As for this deodorizer, I've never smelled one so strong and pungent. I just can't imagine a hotel expecting people to sleep in a room that reeked like that!

Dick, I knew the deodorizer was to disguise pet (and probably mildew) smells. Heaven only knows what the room smelled like without it ...

The best method that I have seen for odor removal is an ozone generator...it really works.

We first saw one in action in a small hotel in Palm Springs. The room we had reserved smelled of cigar smoke. The hotel owner insisted that the room would not smell if we came back in 2 hours.
Two hours later the room hhad absolutely no trace of cigar smoke. The ozone generator worked so well that we bought a small version for ourselves.

You are right Dick. They are pretty amazing and most hotels at a certain level have them. You can't be in the room while they operate but they will clear out cigarette and cigar smoke pronto. I wonder if even they could knock out some pet odors though. Cat pee will set your eyes spinning in their sockets. I wonder if it'd work? I will not volunteer our cat or our carpet for a test. LOL

Grandbaby is doing much better thank you Bonnie. Tough first day out of the hospital but after that he's been happy, cooing and smiling...better than new!

I'd rather have a slight citrus smell than a cherry 'urinal cake' smell.

Emucon, "slight" would have been wonderful! This wasn't anywhere near "slight," sorry to say!

OO, wonderful about the baby. I know you're thrilled with being a Granny ...

OO, there is NOTHING worse than cat pee, is there? We stayed at a condo at Emerald Isle last year that had obviously had a feline resident before us ... NEVER again! We should have declined it, BUT ... (long story, other people involved!)

There is that orange oil cleaner on the market--put out by the same people that make Oxy-clean. It's a natural (i.e., no chemical) cleanser, so maybe that's what you are smelling????

There are a number of orange industrial cleaners that smell like citrus. We use them at the University in common rooms/public restrooms etc.

The best is NO smell. I do not want to smell perfumes. Don't they just kill you on the airplane!

The aroma issue would be a primary one,IMHO, in asking for another room.

I didn't know that about the ozone generator. They should have them everywhere if they work well.

I second JJ5 -- I get cluster headaches (like migraines) from most industrial fragrances and freshners like Febreze, and lately hotels have ramped up heavy use of these things. There's a line in "Miss Saigon" about learning (from the French) to cover up a stench with perfume -- and it seems hotels and motels are doing more of that. Sometimes it's gaggingly heavy, yet you can still smell cigars or dogs or feet! ;-)

However, ozone generators have their own problems -- it's really not healthy to breathe in ozone in any quantities, can be a problem for oxygenation of blood, etc., as I understand it. Would be a particular problem for the cleaning staff over time but not great for guests either.