Pleasure and Pain

Improving the human experience one day at a time

Pleasure and Pain: photos by Whitney G. Hess

Photo of the day: Do Not Disturb

January 25th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Photography, Pleasure

I travel a lot and I’ve seen (and used) my fair share of Do Not Disturb signs. Most hang from the doorknob, and some are inserted into the card key slot.

But who hasn’t experienced their shortcomings? Either they fall to the floor every time you open the door, or you aren’t given one at all, or someone across the hall steals yours for their door. It’s quite a customer experience problem.

At the Seaport Hotel in Boston, they’re working hard to solve this timeless inconvenience. Their solution is rather ingenious.

Press this button inside your room…

…and a light is illuminated outside your door

Now this is the same hotel whose unfoggable mirror I wrote about last year. It’s clear that they care about creating pleasurable experiences, and are using technology to bring them to life.

But how much electricity must this expend for the whole hotel? And can the lights burn out?

Has anyone ever seen this before? What more can you tell me about it?

Related Posts:


Share this post:
  • Twitter
  • del.icio.us
  • Tumblr
  • Digg
  • StumbleUpon
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • FriendFeed
  • Posterous
  • PDF
  • email

Tags: ···

3 comments so far ↓

  • Mikey

    Very cool. Haven't ever seen this before but the lights are likely (and if not, should be) LED thus they've got a decent lifespan and their energy-consuming costs would be marginal.

  • Jared M. Spool

    This is very common in high-end hotels in Europe and China.

    As Mikey said, they are likely to be LEDs which will last 25+ years and eat virtually no energy. The mechanical button is more likely to fail (won't push in or out) before the LED fails.

  • jdebari

    I've seen something like this on a cruise ship. Instead of a light it was a card that slid up and down. It worked quite well as no one could steal them, they didn't fall off, and they didn't use electricity.
    I actually walked all over the ship curious if the cards got bent or worn out somehow, but I couldn't find any evidence of that happening.

Leave a Comment

Also on Pleasure and Pain