There is an emergency keycard — kept in a sealed envelope in a very secure, undisclosed location, because it can open any room in the hotel — that someone at the management level (or an employee acting under telephoned instructions by management) can bring up to that room and use to pop that deadbolt open, electronically.
(Yes, that electronic mechanism can operate the deadbolt, too. At least, with my keycard, it can. Yours can't open it, and neither can the master keycards issued to housekeepers or other employees. This one's what they call a 'grandmaster' key. My button is bigger.)
If I bring it up, or give the order that it be taken out and brought up, you might want to be dressed and ready to move quickly, because I'm also bringing (or sending) along a couple of cops and maybe some EMTs, depending on what I've been told the situation is. Bringing up the rear of the group will be a maintenance guy with a pair of bolt cutters, in case a fastened door chain or safety latch is also a problem: I'd rather suck the $10.95 cost of replacing that than to leave the mess or repair the damage that kicking in the door can do.
That's the seriousness of the only conceivable kinds of emergencies — a guest is in danger, a guest is a danger to others, or someone is barricaded in the room who should not be occupying it at all — that would justify accessing or using that 'E-key'.
If I go into a hotel and do an inspection, I'm going to look for that keycard every time, and I expect it to be exactly where it's supposed to be, and untouched since the last time I saw it. If the seal on either the envelope or the locked cabinet containing that key is broken, I'm going to want to know when and why — and even if the explanation is respectable, someone is still getting written up and getting some days off because I wasn't informed, personally, within a few hours after that key was accessed. That's the one key in the entire hotel that you do not want to have lost, misplaced, duplicated, unaccounted for, not accessible or not working in a situation when and where you do need it, or misused.
I'm not a nice guy about E-keys or master keys gone missing or used for any improper purpose. An unaccounted for E-key is a threat to the life, safety and property of every guest in the hotel until it's either recovered, or every single guestroom door lock in that hotel has been manually re-keyed; because you can never know who has that keycard, or what they're going to try and do with it.
Originally appeared on Quora
(Yes, that electronic mechanism can operate the deadbolt, too. At least, with my keycard, it can. Yours can't open it, and neither can the master keycards issued to housekeepers or other employees. This one's what they call a 'grandmaster' key. My button is bigger.)
If I bring it up, or give the order that it be taken out and brought up, you might want to be dressed and ready to move quickly, because I'm also bringing (or sending) along a couple of cops and maybe some EMTs, depending on what I've been told the situation is. Bringing up the rear of the group will be a maintenance guy with a pair of bolt cutters, in case a fastened door chain or safety latch is also a problem: I'd rather suck the $10.95 cost of replacing that than to leave the mess or repair the damage that kicking in the door can do.
That's the seriousness of the only conceivable kinds of emergencies — a guest is in danger, a guest is a danger to others, or someone is barricaded in the room who should not be occupying it at all — that would justify accessing or using that 'E-key'.
If I go into a hotel and do an inspection, I'm going to look for that keycard every time, and I expect it to be exactly where it's supposed to be, and untouched since the last time I saw it. If the seal on either the envelope or the locked cabinet containing that key is broken, I'm going to want to know when and why — and even if the explanation is respectable, someone is still getting written up and getting some days off because I wasn't informed, personally, within a few hours after that key was accessed. That's the one key in the entire hotel that you do not want to have lost, misplaced, duplicated, unaccounted for, not accessible or not working in a situation when and where you do need it, or misused.
I'm not a nice guy about E-keys or master keys gone missing or used for any improper purpose. An unaccounted for E-key is a threat to the life, safety and property of every guest in the hotel until it's either recovered, or every single guestroom door lock in that hotel has been manually re-keyed; because you can never know who has that keycard, or what they're going to try and do with it.
Originally appeared on Quora
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