Can you guess where the photo above was taken? It’s an old shot from the inside door of a room at the Grand Hyatt Melbourne. It shows the metallic latch that was designed to clip onto a magnet when the door is opened. The idea is a stirling one. Many times I have entered hotel rooms, with bags and boxes in hand, only to fight with the door because its hinges just wanted to pull the door shut. So, some clever person thought to do us all a favour and install these magnetic latches. The problem is, no-one briefed the carpenter about their function or their purpose. The carpenter attached the left module and the right module, and sent the invoice. Neither the carpenter nor the hotel maintenance manager inspected the quality of the work. Oh sure, they were both attached securely and perhaps perfectly, as far as each element goes, but when they come together, they miss. They simply do not touch each other, which means that the magnet cannot hold the door open, and so the whole exercise was futile. The chipped paint on the door above shows where the magnetic wall bracket hits each time the door is opened.
Fear not, the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne spent $40 million on an upgrade. And someone, finally, fixed the problem. Now that is good news. They repositioned the clips, so that they now touch each other. Unfortunately, neither the carpenter nor the manager understood the function or the purpose, because after all that trouble, the jolly thing does not work. It was not positioned perfectly. The right-side cup needs to be precise. Otherwise, even if it is a few millimetres out, the cupping will not hug the wall magnet in a compete way. This means that the magnet will not be able to clasp the required surface area to be effective. And the result? See for yourself in the video below. The moment that I let go of the door, it wants to close again, and so we are back to square one. More futility.
For other observations about the Grand Hyatt Melbourne, click here.
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