Omni La Costa Resort & Spa is a 354-acre resort in Carlsbad, Calif. It provides up to 607 guest rooms, suites and villas with championship golf courses, eight resort pools, an award-winning spa and a whole host of dining options. It’s easy to say a lot goes on at the resort, and a lot of hot water is needed to keep the business running. To keep up with demand, the entire complex desperately needed a new water heating system.

The two giant boilers fulfilling the domestic and hydronic hot water for all guest rooms and restaurants needed replacement. Gonzalo Hernandez, director of engineering at the resort, and his facilities team had been experiencing hot water issues almost daily with the old boilers. Many times, guests would call complaining to the hotel’s main desk that they didn’t have hot water in their rooms. 

Omni La Costa Resort & Spa’s policy is to make sure all guests have the utmost comfort and relaxation during their stay, so the hotel would have to reimburse guests at least three to four times per week. At $400 to $500 per night, that lost revenue adds up.

Hernandez needed a fast solution. After learning more about the success of Rinnai’s condensing tankless water heater installation at Omni Hotels & Resorts’ other property — Barton Creek in Austin, Texas — the facilities team partnered with the manufacturer to change the hot water system. 

“The reliability was a big deal for me,” Hernandez says. “Once we saw [tankless technology] working well in Barton Creek, that’s when we started looking at it as an option for other properties.”

After working with tankless technology, Hernandez has been extremely pleased with several aspects, including: 

• Fast, easy installation: The resort needed tankless water heaters installed in several mechanical rooms across the entire resort. When the boilers were originally installed, they had to be lifted in via a crane, taking up a lot of time and money. 

Getting the tankless units installed took a lot less time due to their compact size and lower weight. The units can be wheeled into a room three at a time, making installation easy and quick. After transportation, installers hang the units up, connect them and they’re good to go.  

• Efficient hot water delivery: Each mechanical room at the resort serves hot water. When last tested, it took a little under 10 seconds to get 120-degree hot water to the farthest room, which is about a quarter of a mile away — something that can’t be beaten when providing the best comfort for guests. 

• Cost savings: When comparing 2019 to 2022, which were comparable from an occupancy perspective, Omni La Costa saved 120,000 therms after the installation of tankless water heaters in 2022. At a cost of $1.11 per therm, it resulted in savings of about $135,000. After a jump to $5.11 per therm in January 2023, the resort could save much more with the condensing tankless units.

• Technology reliability: With the continuous hot water issues faced in the past, Hernandez wanted reliable technology that would always work and provide much-needed hot water. He got what he was looking for and more. 

“The tankless units check so many of my boxes,” he notes.

Most of the units are pretty much hands-off, a time-saver for Hernandez’s team. They only need to perform the occasional maintenance requirements, such as cleaning out the unit’s strainer or flushing the tankless water heater when descaling is required, which only occurs about once a year and where hard water is used. 

Hernandez adds that the retrofit team executed the job well with Rinnai’s designs. La Costa Resort & Spa demonstrates that switching to an efficient condensing tankless water heater system can save buildings money and provide reliable hot water service when needed most — even in high water-demand buildings.

David Federico is Senior Director of Marketing at Rinnai America Corp.