Originally Posted by
jmastron
It may be integrated in some places, but in many hotels it's another machine on the side -- as far as I can tell, the clerk punches in a room number, number of days, and swipes a blank card to hand to you.
I'm happy to be corrected and told that all of these are high security systems integrated with the reservation computer, but then it wouldn't be possible to get a key to an occupied room (unless the previous guest was falsely checked out in the system or something).
Yes, in a perfect world everything would be integrated. Unfortunately, there is a hodgepodge of electronics out there and many (unless brand spankin new) are not as integrated as they should be. But even with the most state of the art fully integrated systems the human factor enters in... and they can issue you keys for the wrong room. I can remember checking into a room, say 500... but the deskperson gave me keys and a key jacket for room 600. Also, sometimes key packages are made up in advance and mix ups can occur. In any event, this is a reminder to all to ALWAYS latch the deadbolt.
Stay safe everyone.