How to keep power on in your hotel room without a keycard

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Today on Twitter I asked the question about how to fake the keycard in the power slot in hotel rooms. I’m sure you have had the same problem as me. You want to go out to get something to eat but you also want to charge some batteries. The problem is that when you take your keycard, the power in the room will go off in less than a minute. If there are two of you then you can leave one card in the power slot. But what to do if you are alone?

I got lots of suggestions that didn’t work for me. One thing I had tried before was to take the key off the card but they had soldered the ring shut at this hotel. Another suggested trick was to use a similar sized card like an ATM card, Thai driver’s license or even a folded up piece of card. But, none of these ideas worked at this hotel.

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The winning idea was from @rperrett who suggested using the power socket for the fridge as this is always on a different circuit. This idea actually worked for me today but I know for other hotels they don’t have a plug for the fridge as the wire goes straight into the wall. They obviously know all the tricks. One final tip is to buy a portable power strip like this one that I bought at Pantip Plaza. Often there aren’t enough sockets in hotel rooms and I find this invaluable.

Any more tips for hotel rooms?

8 thoughts on “How to keep power on in your hotel room without a keycard

  • June 14, 2014 at 1:19 am
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    Hey, is there extra beds in thai-hotels? There would be three grownup men coming to Thailand for 1 month and we would like to stay at different hotels and see many areas (maybe with bit of luxury), instead of renting our own apartments. In Finland extra beds are usually free so its the same cost if there stays 2 or 3 persons. How in Thailand?

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    • June 14, 2014 at 11:04 am
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      Some hotels provide an extra bed for an additional charge. But not all of them. They usually say on Agoda about this.

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  • April 14, 2014 at 2:00 pm
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    Dan says it. Modern “high tech” hotels use “electronic” cards (based on RFID I guess) and so no mechanical trick will work there.

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  • April 14, 2014 at 12:51 am
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    For my longer stays, rather than a second key card I get a second key. The market on Pattaya South makes one for 30 bant.

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    • April 14, 2014 at 9:52 am
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      That wouldn’t work when it’s the card itself that unlocks the door though (as is the card in my example of locking it in my room)

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  • April 13, 2014 at 4:30 pm
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    All you have to do is to ask for two keycards when you check into the hotel. I’ve never been refused an extra keycard, anywhere in the world.

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  • April 13, 2014 at 12:11 am
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    Sometimes the free plastic combs from other hotels work. It needs to be the free combs because they are thin enough to fit in the slot when a regular ATM card is too thin.

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  • April 12, 2014 at 10:58 pm
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    I think the best tactic is to try and obtain a second key card. I locked mine in my room recently and the receptionist just gave me another card. So I had 2 cards for the rest of my stay. “Accidentally” leaving your key card in your room could be the way to go đŸ˜‰

    Also if you need something charging, many hotels will be happy for you to leave it in reception plugged in and charging there while you go out – as long as you trust them with your valuables, this could also be a solution.

    Reply

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