After a long busy day on holiday relaxing in your hotel room for a few hours is needed but first, you’ve got to get inside and sometimes that’s harder than it sounds
We’ve all been there. After a long pool day, the whole family is covered in sand and in desperate need of air con and a fresh shower – what’s the worst thing that could happen? Bingo, your room key won’t let you enter your room.
Seems trivial but for families it’s far from ideal – especially if you find your room far from reception and hotel staff, and with children who like to add tech including smartphones and airpods to the beach bag.
A TikTok has recently gone viral showing someone on holiday in this exact predicament and the reason is something that we’re all guilty of – and what’s more, it’s avoidable if you’re armed with the correct knowledge in the first place.
Most holidaymakers don’t know that there are numerous things that can stop y our key from working – and they’re all very common problems. In the TikTok the person left their room key in the same pocket as their smartphone, causing it to demagnetise and deactivate.
With nearly two million views and over 190,000 likes, people rushed to the comments to discuss their shared experience.
One said: “This is the most annoying technological inconvenience ever, why is there no solution?” and hotel staff shared their knowledge from the other side, saying, “I work in a hotel and it happens so many times”. Others shared solutions, like choosing hotels with waterproof keycard bracelets.
Families will be happy to know though that Club Med are already ahead of the game, offering digital bracelets which eliminate the frustrations and inconvenience caused by traditional key cards with the hotel experts explaining the cause of this common frustration and what not to do to ensure a seamless and secure hotel experience.
Nicolas Bresch, Managing Director at Club Med, commented: “Hotel key cards store room information on a magnetic strip, which can become deactivated if exposed to strong magnetic fields. A card gets demagnetised when a magnetic field disrupts the alignment of the data on the strip, effectively erasing the stored information and leaving it unable to be used to enter your room.
“This can happen through direct contact with a magnet, such as those found in smartphones, as seen in the case of this unlucky TikToker.”
Watch out for these things too…
If your key card or bracelet stops working, hotel reception staff are always happy to help and can replace it quickly. However, there are ways to avoid interference and annoyance in the first place. Alongside smartphones, these are other things to avoid:
Debit cards
Avoid placing your hotel key next to credit or debit cards, as the magnetic interference between them disrupts the magnetic strips, causing them to demagnetise and stop working.
Magnetic items
Magnetic items in general can cause interference, which deactivates or damages room key cards. Many everyday items, like the clasps on purses, phone cases, or even airpod cases contain magnets, so to avoid deactivating your card, avoid placing it directly next to these items.
Moisture or spillages
Key cards might be plastic, but excessive moisture, such as water activities or accidental spillages, can damage the magnetic strip. With this in mind, if you are heading to the pool or beach with your room key, avoid placing your room key in the same bag as damp towels and the pockets of swimwear.
Excessive heat
Similarly, leaving your key card in direct sunlight, near a heater, or inside a hot car can cause the plastic to expand or warp, which can weaken its structure. The heat can make the card brittle, cause it to lose flexibility, or even crack, which can interfere with the functioning of the internal chip or magnetic strip. This can lead to problems when trying to unlock your room, as the electronic lock may struggle to read the card. To avoid any issues, it’s best to keep your key card in a cool, dry place and avoid leaving it in environments with extreme temperatures.
Damage and wear
Frequent swiping or excessive friction inside your wallet or pocket can gradually wear down the magnetic strip of your key card. Scratches, dirt build-up, and even fine sand, especially if you’ve been to the beach, can make it harder for the reader to recognise the card.
