high-tech hotel room frustration

The genius of Steve Jobs of Apple Computer is that he figured out how to make technology intuitive to the end user. The adventure that began with the first Macintosh in 1984 has led to leading edge products like iPhones, iPads, and iPods. You'd think everyone would get the point: intuitive is better, and if you need to read a manual to turn on the lights, or take a shower, you've hired the wrong designers. Contemporary hotel designers ... take note!

A client recently stayed at a brand new, super-sophisticated luxury hotel in Mexico City. He emailed me with a trip report. The following is based on some of of his observations, shared with permission.

How do you turn off the lights? When the controls to turn off lights, or close the blinds, are so sophisticated that even my two techie kids can't fully figure them out, it might mean a plain old light switch has its benefits.

If you need to read the manual to take a shower, something's very wrong. The fancy bathroom shower was so new and so fancy that it took us five minutes to figure out how to get the water working properly. There were three levers in the shower, just to control the shower and the hot/cold function. None were labeled. Each time you turned one lever, the other two seemed to be affected. It was like a comedy. One night my daughter finally gave up and said, “I'm taking a bath. I can't deal with this.”

Why can't you just dial “0” to phone the front desk? The hotel phone had a LCD display. This one was like a computer interface. It glowed in the dark. In orange. To call down to the porter took me five minutes to find the right button.

It shouldn't be an adventure just to take the elevator. The hotel has installed new elevator controls. They require first that the passenger push buttons for the floor to which they wish to take the elevator. The following steps are required to actually get the elevator to work:

• approach the elevator
  
• find your electronic room key card and wave in front of sensor pad
  
• push the required floor buttons
  
• follow the electronic display to your elevator (e.g., “elevator M to the left”)
  
• enter the elevator, and don't do anything — it will take you to your floor

The inside of the elevator had no buttons at all, and the process was confusing to some guests. I saw guests on two occasions enter an open elevator and look for buttons to press. Nothing happened; there are no buttons. They tried talking to the elevator, saying things like “Go ” and “Close doors.” One guest clapped his hands, thinking the elevator might be sound activated. Hilarious, unless you were the passenger who felt like a fool.


Thought you might appreciate this tale of frustration!

luxury hotel (search here on Google)

copyright (c) 2011 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
.