There was always a certain amount of joy when you turned your QE2 key and heard the clunk of the lock.
These days with modern keycards you dont get the same effect sadly. Where l work we have a pretty old vingcard system which gives a very light card encoding onto the generic blank cards. the card also acts as a master switch for the room, pop your key into the slot in the room and it turns on the main electrics, a great money saving system, when the guests goes out for the day the lights, certain sockets all are switched off, which is all very well unless your charging a mobile phone. It also allows me to use generally any keycard/ loyality card to be used to swipe as a master card allowing access all areas. Our system has the three light system when you insert the card into the lock, red light indicates card expired/not read, green you are good to enter and yellow, the lock batteries are very weak.
The light encoding also means they dont like Iphones and put the card in the same pocket as your phone and its usually wiped. l jokingly tend to advise keep them 6ft apart.
The Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego, a beautiful victorian hotel changed to the keycards and out went the lovely keys and key fobs and in came the cards, insert the card in your room lock and the motors gently whirr and your allowed into your room. Last year they doubled as luggage tags, which when l recieved my room cards and plastic strips in their beautiful folder l was advised they can be used after departure as luggage tags, well my eyes lit up,Two Hotel Del luggage tags. Fast forward the next day lm engaging in banter with one of the Guest Experience Managers and lm telling her the Del is causing me great anxiety when l decided to leave, that fact that even leaving will cause me anxiety, leaving such a beautiful resort, but this time when l leave l have to decide at some point which cases are to be blessed with these beautiful luggage tags, not only that but when the times comes to head back to the mother land l have six suitcases, my cabin bag and shoulder bag , so far from the new luggage tags making life very easy, for me l have to decide which two cases get the Del Treatment, she knows me from previous visits and enjoys the interaction, l know she enjoys the interaction, l resist throwing myself onthe floor for effect. we part company . Later that night l find in my room a set of ten of the individual room cards and tags also a few sets of the new range of in room toiletries (but thats really a whole new subject)
Its always interesting to see how the various hotels present these cards (well it is for me anyway ) some hotels go over the top and present them in beautiful folders (rather like the Hotel Queen Mary ) and some places just give them out folded in a bit of paper.
On last years trip l took a chinese tour upto Frisco. On day two and after a very long drive and meal we were taken to our hotel,in what seemed the middle of nowhere, we were told stay on the coach the guide will get the room cards and drive us to our rooms...we were driven to our rooms a block of rooms at the outer reaches of the resort, we disembark, get our cases and find our rooms, it becomes very apparent our cards dont work, none of the cards work, the guide is confused and starts trying the cards, they still dont work, Its eventually sorted that the guide goes back to reception by bus, collects new cards and comes back, it transpires our cards hadnt been encoded and at 1am we settle into our rooms with calls preset for 6am...
I always as a rule tend to keep the room cards for the hotels, they make nice souvenirs. But l do still prefer the old keys and key fob.
Its also much easier to know who is in and who isnt in.
