Room Keys & LIght Switches

Summary: Always hang onto your hotel key card
Cost; Free


In most hotels in Europe and Asia there is a little card pocket near the door that you put your room key in to activate all the lights - and when you leave you simply remove it on your way out to automatically shut off the lights, lower the thermostat, and let the maids know they can clean up the room.

It saves money and electricity, it is convenient for the hotel staff, and generally a good invention - except if you have ADD. What it means for ADD is that after an exhausting day of business meetings or pleasure travel - and you lug all your packages up to your room, that you then go through a furtive search through all your pockets or bag for your room key, schlep all your stuff back down to the front desk, wait in line, get a duplicate key, drag your stuff back up to your room and open the door to see your old room key smiling at you from the switch.

The hotel room was forcing me to violate the rule of home base.

My previous coping strategy had been to just get two room keys, put one in the wallet and one in my pocket - and if I left the key in the room no worries. A friend let me know that the pocket isn't a sensor at all - you can just drop a business card in there and put your key back in your pocket. Either system works great - as long as you keep your key on your person or at home base.