Here are a couple more small observations about our hotel here in Long Beach, California.

Yesterday’s post described the oddly designed shower that creates a potential impact zone for anyone 6 feet or taller using the shower here at the Marriott Long Beach Downtown hotel.

Today I’ll point out an oddity impacting short people.

Like most hotels, this Marriott has a built-in room safe where valuables can be stored when guests leave the room. Usually it’s located in a drawer, or on top of a low cabinet in a closet.

But here at the Marriott on Ocean Blvd. in Long Beach, it’s on the top shelf in the small closet, above the area provided to hang clothes. It works fine for me. But it’s simply too high to be convenient for a short person (like me wife), who would have to stand on a chair or something to reach into it. I think she could enter a code to lock or unlock it, but she can’t see inside it, and it’s too high to for her to reach and find items by feel.

While I appreciate the amenity, its placement creates difficulties for the vertically impaired.

—-

And then there is the security system in the hotel elevators, which are located in a hallway off the lobby just inside the main entrance to the hotel.

These key card readers are common features in hotels these days. To leave the public floors and reach the guest rooms, you are required to swipe your room key in order to select a floor. Although not foolproof, it restricts access to registered guests

But for some reason, this hotel has deactivated the system, removing what has become an important layer of routine hotel security.

The former Renaissance Long Beach was rebranded as a Marriott just last year after a new group of investors bought the property and undertook a major renovation. It would appear that they chose not to reactivate the system after the makeover, but whether that was just a matter of cost or some other consideration isn’t known.

From a customer’s point of new, though, it feels like investor savings at the cost of guest security.

If I’m wrong, please leave a comment and let me know.

—-

I should add that the renovation of the hotel was very nicely done. Our room, for example, appears to have had a total facelift, without the usually reno giveaways like poorly patched grout in bachrooms, shoddy caulking, etc.

The exception is the basic furniture, including the cabinet below the wall-mounted television that contains a mini refrigerator, three drawers for storage, and a storage area for glasses and a small ice bucket, along with the nightstands on either side of the king-size bed, which appear to be original. The only problem is that at least half of the original built-in electrical outlets can’t be used because anything plugged in to them just falls out. In this age of digital assistants, from phones to tablets and more, working electrical outlets are among the most important travel amenities.

But to be fair, the room is relatively large, the bed comfortable, there are two chairs for us, and the view over Long Beach Harbor more than make up for the shortcomings and oddities.