Dim Me Right
What's with the barely-there lighting at desks in hotel rooms? I mean, did the idea that a guest might actually want to do work at a desk -- in my case, read and annotate the tiny little print in a scientific study that Gregg printed out for me -- cross anyone's minds?
We're at the annual alt weeklies conference at the Book Cadillac, aka the downtown Detroit Westin (in an old gem of a building which, unfortunately, has not just been renovated but Westin-ized). I'm trying to write my column and prep for my radio show. The light at the desk is perfect if you want to hit on some hottie who happens to wander into your hotel room; not so great if you actually want to, you know, do the stuff most people mostly do on desks without a major flashlight, six candelabras, or enormous eye strain.
I was visiting in NYC a few months ago and stayed in a hotel on Long Island. The entire room was so dimly lit I had to go downstairs to the lobby to read.
Andrew Hall at June 10, 2012 2:37 AM
Hotels tend to base their decorating decisions on rooms being double occupancy (i.e., at least two people in the room). Thus, desk lighting is a compromise: not bright enough to make the person working there happy, but not bright enough to make the second person trying to sleep unhappy, either.
Robert Evans at June 10, 2012 2:52 AM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/06/10/dim_me_right.html#comment-3226463">comment from Robert EvansThe second person, presumably, would be unhappy if you had to go to the lobby to read. I did some of my reading in the lobby, on a couch-like bench. This reading I'm doing is challenging enough without the added challenged of straining to make out the words.
Amy Alkon
at June 10, 2012 3:05 AM
It's not just the desks. The last few hotels I was in used CFLs. They were quality, but very dim; as though 40 watt bulbs were in the sockets.
Joe at June 10, 2012 6:25 PM
Amy Alkon
http://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/06/10/dim_me_right.html#comment-3227398">comment from JoeThis hotel uses CFLs. Irritating as hell. I have beautiful, light-emitting incandescents at home. Just changed one, using a bulb from my stash (I bought 120 regular-sized bulbs and 20 big ones at a deep discount when the government was mandating CFLs...just $34 dollars for all, I think).
Amy Alkon
at June 10, 2012 7:23 PM
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