This is a fairly standard feature in Europe as well. Another nice benefit is you don't have to play the stupid game -Now where the hell did I put those keys game with this set up.

I've encountered these systems in both the US and Canada, at lower-end hotels mostly.

Very cool idea. And definitely helps preventing misplacing your room key.

Someone please tell that girl to get out more often. I've seen this arrangement on almost every hotel I've been to in the last five or more years (I don't remember in the US, but everywhere else, for sure).
BTW, you can usually bypass this by inserting almost anything that would fit in there.

Yeah, I've seen this in Prague. Mildly inconvenient, but very cool, and very clever.

The last hotel I stayed at in London had this feature, but lacked the handy iconography of how to use the system, and the key slot was behind the door.

I staggered around in the dark for an embarrassingly long time before stumbling upon the unmarked slot in the wall. While it was really nice to see, I found myself cheating the system and leaving my spare key in the wall while I ran a few short trips around town so my laptop could get some much needed juice. I've always wondered why nowhere uses a twist timer (like heat lamps in bathroom), so you could pop in and out of your room without having to give up using gadgets abroad.

Every hotel I've ever stayed at in Asia uses this system. The nice ones also helpfully provide you with a dummy key that you can leave in the slot while you're out of the room to keep the AC on all day long.

i have never even heard of this before - telling her she needs 'to get out more' isn't nice.
I stay in plenty of hotels - and my dad is in a hotel at least every other week for his job (he travels the state as a state auditor of loan companies) and he's never seen this either.

saw that in hong kong a few years ago. good stuff.

I saw this concept in Cuba.

However, check-in staff commonly gives you two cards, one you can leave in the "powerup" slot to keep your room air-conditioned while you're not around, and one to lock/unlock your door and safe.

Um... TH, I'm disappointed in you. This is nothing new. I saw this about six years ago when I spent a summer in Cuba for an academic trip. Yes, Cuba, the benign country our government loves to hate so much. They have close to nothing, but even beyond only letting you use the power when you’re in the room, they shut off the power nation-wide for an hour every evening. A siren goes off, everyone knows to save their documents on the computer, and everyone shuts off for an hour.

I recently stayed a hotel in Las Vegas that had this. I was very impressed, however that is the only hotel I've come across that has it. I travel a lot throughout the west coast and mid-west. I'd love to see more of this.

I agree, this is not new, I was surprised to see it as "news." I have traveled through China, Japan, and Europe and almost every good-size hotel had this feature.

I learned of these on the British TV show "The Real Hustle". Basically, because these are really easy to find it makes them easy to steal by faking that you are with the Hotel and just need to cut their power for a moment - switch the card when you do it and you now have full access to the room when they leave...

I like keeping mine in my pocket...

Same concept in most hotels in Indonesia, the mid-end or the high end, evry hotel has it.

um, it's pretty easy to take the room key off, and keep the a/c on while you are out. i have yet to see a case where i couldn't do this.

I had this in my hotel rooms in Italy, and I hear that it's all over Europe.

I saw this in Romania, Greece and Spain. Very cool idea, once you figure it out. It took me and my friend about a day, first time we encountered it... (we had rented an apartment in a villa, so there was no reception with someone to give us info).

Heh, agree with the others. Old news. Was quite surprised to see this, because it's so common place all around the world.

Genius. I love Thai food too, so this is hot.

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I have also seen this technology in San Francisco a few years back.

Well I have never seen this before!
Thank you treehugger!

This is all over Asia. At the Tune hotels, which are ultra budget no frills hotels, you have this on top of having a different key card for your air conditioner that you pay for by the hour!

Hello, I'm from Argentina and in my country it's the same. Almost all hotels give a card to turn on the light only when you are in the room!!

WHY IS THIS NEWS !?
Even in my "3rd world" country, Bulgaria, it is a REQUIREMENT for all new built hotels. And has been for years.
I've seen it in few US hotels but done quite badly: 1) stops all the lights as well as the refrigerator, 2) can be tricked by inserting any credit card or similar size object in it !!!

those who said they haven't seen this before or think it's a novel idea probably don't stay at hotels much?

seriously, this has been around for more than a few years - it's a pretty standard practice. though, i guess people should start implementing it more in the u.s.

you can insert anything in place of the key (it's just a clever switch) and turn lights and AC off yourself if you need to leave your gadget charging in the room.

I first saw this in January in Mexico. MEXICO! ...I did have a hard time figuring it out though. In the end, I think it's genius and I hope hotels everywhere adopt the concept.

I noticed these features in a high-end hotel in Curitiba, Brazil about five years ago. Not only did the rooms not power up until you were in them, but the halls, too, went dark if there was no movement in them. At first, it was a little disconcerting to step off of an elevator into a dark hallway, but as soon as my foot landed in the floor outside the elevator, the lights came on. I don't know why we don't use similar features here. It's a wonderful practice.

I saw this in Hong Kong and in China.

Easily defeated with a business card though.. the card did not have to be a room key.

An intelligent energy saving device. Am interested to introduce this in my community. send me information on dealers.