Blinded by the Dark

Nice room, great view, and not a single light where you actually need one

Any idea what these are for?

I am sitting in a hotel room in Montreal. It’s a nice hotel room, with a king-sized bed and a relaxing couch and two walls of windows looking out on the city.

If only it had enough light.

Oh, during the day it’s fine. The light streams in from over Mont Royal and I can sit on the couch and read. But at night, it’s dark. There’s one two-gang light switch on the wall, and the switches aren’t marked, so when we first arrived it was a guessing game as to what they were going to do.

Hotel room lighting is a pet peeve of mine. Years ago, I worked for Lutron Electronics, which makes lighting controls and switches. One of its clever ideas — one competitive with its rivals — was having labeled switches that would be placed in logical places around the room, such as at the room entrance and on the side of the bed. That way, when you were entering the room, you could turn the lights on. And when you were ready to go to sleep, you could hit the switch next to the bed and shut the lights off. There were also sensors and dimmers that could be installed in the bathroom so you didn’t have to stumble your stubbed-toe way to the facilities in the middle of the night.

The bathroom. It has a downlight — not pictured — and see that blue dot? That turns on the light around the mirror. Hope it’s reliable!

None of these things are fancy. You can buy them in Home Depot. And yet hotels, even stylish ones, haven’t figured it out.

Then there are the lights that don’t serve any good purpose.

Take this task lamp. Can you see where the switch is?

Nope, it’s not at the base.

Neither could I, especially in a darkened room. (It’s a small push button on the top of the fixture.)

That pad in the base? Not a sensor, but a wireless phone charger that doesn’t work very well.

Then there’s this light next to the bed. It has a dark shade, which means that the light it casts isn’t bright enough to actually read by. I know that I’m an outlier in that I like to read books in bed and not my phone, but would it be so hard to bump up the luminosity and use a different shade?

And that couch, a perfect place to relax and read. But there’s no old-fashioned overhead light or table lamp or even a downlight in place. At night, it’s just a spot to throw the day’s clothes and shopping bags.

Nothing above, nothing to the side. Comfortable, though.

I don't want to criticize this hotel — the location is great, the staff is attentive, the room itself is lovely. But if I had to suggest one thing, it'd be this: put light where people actually need it, and make it obvious how to turn it on. (Is that two things?)

Seems basic. It is basic.

I hope that throws a little light on the situation.