Surviving the Smart Hotel Room By Carol Orsborn l Travel

I remember the old days of checking into a hotel when you got a metal key from the front desk, flipped on the lights and turned on the TV. It had been awhile since I’d travelled on business, but a recent trip to both coasts introduced me to a new generation of top-notch hotels. Having survived the experience, I’m here to tell you that there is nothing intuitive about “smart” hotel rooms. They may be technologically hard wired to make our lives easier, but I know for a fact that they leave more than a few travel veterans literally out in the cold.

Carol Orsborn, Ph.D. is Founder of FierceWithAge, the Digest of Boomer Wisdom, Inspiration and Spirituality. Dr. Orsborn is the best-selling author of 21 books including her newest book: Fierce with Age: Chasing God and Squirrels in Brooklyn.

The Shower

I mean showers- all in the same glass cubicle, but one rained straight down like a summer storm and another simultaneously protruded from the wall at an angle designed for maximum lateral saturation. Turning each on full blast - a no brainer: one lever for each. But how to simultaneous turn them from boiling hot (the storm) or freezing cold (the wall spigot) to “just right” - not intuitive. No H or C to point the way, and no discernable means to adjust the temperature, at any rate. Then I remembered “just stroke” and gave it a try. This time, it wasn’t an up and down movement, it was about twisting and turning everything I could get my hands on and voila: an invisible temperature control ring finally gave way. Turning the shower(s) back off at the end and departing without being frozen or scalded was no less than an act of faith.