Brian K Inman

Last week I checked into the Westchester Marriott for a quick one night stay. I’ve never stayed in the area and business plans changed in the day causing me to check in later than I would have liked, 8:30 PM. 

I had traveled all day. Waking up at 3:30 AM to catch a 5:50 AM flight from Atlanta for a meeting 12 miles north of the Albany, NY airport. After that meeting drive just a little over two hours south down to the hotel in Tarrytown. I saw all this because I was tired by the time I checked into hotel and wasn’t paying a lot of attention. 

After having over 450 paid stays (more total that I didn’t pay but didn’t keep track since Marriott Rewards only tracks my lifetime paid stays) with Marriott I was walking on autopilot to just get to my room and crash. 

The next morning I go to the elevator bank to go down to the fitness center and noticed a tablet looking device that had number in the location of where previously accustomed up and down elevator buttons would be located.

 I hit the lower lobby button on the tablet and then wait to see if an elevator arrives. It does and I hope on. I get in the elevator and much to my surprise, no pad of floor buttons. 

This almost made me closterphobic not able to push the button from the inside. Thankfully the elevator took me to the lower lobby where I wanted. Success I have survived my first digital elevator experience. 

Tips to those of have not experienced the touchscreen elevators, make sure you look at the tablet until it displays which elevator to get in if there are more than one person selecting floors at the same time, like if your on the lobby level. My second ride was from the lobby and I wasn’t paying attention after I hit my floor number then all of a sudden three of the elevator doors opened, panic set in as to which one to get in. At the last minute I noticed the floor number that elevator is going to is displayed on that door. 

Good luck and safe elevator travels to all.