Locked out during my stay

Stayed at the 4 Queens last month. In fact going back in a few weeks. I love their Video Poker. Anyway last month got checked in and got my room card. Got to my room, slid the key card in, tiny light turned green, I'm in. Very excited since I just arrived. Just flew accross the country so hungry and bit worn out. Game plan is to go down and get a bite to eat then take a shower then start grinding at video poker. So I go down and eat and go back to my room. I slide my key card and nothing. Slide again in and out, nothing. I go down to front desk, they said its probabbly the magnetic strip on my card. They give me new card keys. I go back up to my room, slide in my card, nothing. Damm. I go back down to front desk. They apologise and said they will get me into my room. They said go back up there and security will meet me. I go back up and an old security guard shows up shortly. He asks me to try again. Hes making sure I;m putting in the card correctly instead of backwards. Still nothing. He trys his master card, nothing. He says the battery in the lock is dead. He calls maitenence. After a few minutes maitenence shows up. I figure they have some master key card conected to a computer. Nope. Instead a curved flat metal rod with a wire, somewhat like a bow. They slide this thing under the door and up trying to catch the indoor latch to pull down. They tried and tried unsuccessfully for about 10 min, over and over but it kept slipping off the inside door handle. It got to be comical. Maitenence would hook the handle saying "I got it, I got it" only to have it slip off when he tried to get it to pull the handle down. Finally they drilled the lock, I gathered my stuff and they gave me a better room.

It sounds like material for a competing hotel to use in a commercial.

Batteries in a sealed door-lock unit. Just genius.

Great story!


98 Clubs, KABA is a well-known manufacturer of such Locks, and we have them at this hotel, as well. I would say that the vast majority of hotel locks have a battery inside the Lock, but honestly, the batteries die so infrequently that I rented around 15K room nights last year and saw it happen probably less than twenty times.

I will say that the metal rod confuses me, our deadbolts can be opened with an actual physical key. It's hidden behind a cap below the door handle, and you use an allen wrench to take out this little allen screw and the cap pops off, then you can use the key. I personally don't see why the fact that there is a physical key that can open the doors is any huge secret, and I was really bored one night, so I went through and took off all the caps. I figure the guest is already mildly pissed off at that point, so there's no sense in them waiting around for someone to screw with the allen wrench.

Quote: terapined

Stayed at the 4 Queens last month. In fact going back in a few weeks. I love their Video Poker. Anyway last month got checked in and got my room card. Got to my room, slid the key card in, tiny light turned green, I'm in. Very excited since I just arrived. Just flew accross the country so hungry and bit worn out. Game plan is to go down and get a bite to eat then take a shower then start grinding at video poker. So I go down and eat and go back to my room. I slide my key card and nothing. Slide again in and out, nothing. I go down to front desk, they said its probabbly the magnetic strip on my card. They give me new card keys. I go back up to my room, slide in my card, nothing. Damm. I go back down to front desk. They apologise and said they will get me into my room. They said go back up there and security will meet me. I go back up and an old security guard shows up shortly. He asks me to try again. Hes making sure I;m putting in the card correctly instead of backwards. Still nothing. He trys his master card, nothing. He says the battery in the lock is dead. He calls maitenence. After a few minutes maitenence shows up. I figure they have some master key card conected to a computer. Nope. Instead a curved flat metal rod with a wire, somewhat like a bow. They slide this thing under the door and up trying to catch the indoor latch to pull down. They tried and tried unsuccessfully for about 10 min, over and over but it kept slipping off the inside door handle. It got to be comical. Maitenence would hook the handle saying "I got it, I got it" only to have it slip off when he tried to get it to pull the handle down. Finally they drilled the lock, I gathered my stuff and they gave me a better room.

Disappointing. After I read the tltle, I was hoping it would be a story about getting kicked out after being barred for AP or something.

Still funny though.

I had a couple of issues with maintenance at the 4 Queens last May.

The first day, the safe wouldn't open. After calling the front desk, they eventually sent maintenance and security men. They worked quickly, but took upwards of 45 minutes to get to the room (I suppose they're busy elsewhere, but stil).

A few days later the safe wouldn't close. Again the same thing. At first the engineer couldn't get it to work, but eventually it obeyed his commands (missbehaving machinery are a real pain). I even had a nice chat with the security man about weather in Mexico. But I'd rather have had a problem-free safe. I wonder if an old-fashioned system with a key would be more conveninet.

I've had a problem with the battery going out on the keycard entry to a door at a resort in Orlando. This was a condo-style unit with exterior entry doors and apparently the humidity took its toll on electronics on a regular basis, so maintenance had a supply of batteries ready to fix the problem quickly. I suppose the issue out in the desert would be more one of battery age and less of an environmental factor so they wouldn't be prepared to address it as often.

Quote: 98Clubs

Batteries in a sealed door-lock unit. Just genius.

Happened to me once. I waited in the hallway for 30 mins for maintenance to come. They had a powered master key so it could open the door even with the battery being dead. Took about 5 mins to change the lock out. Got a $30 food comp for my trouble. Wish it happened every time lol.

Lame...
Like others have said, USUALLY either the battery is on the outside (so it can be changed from the outside) or else there's a HARD KEY that opens it no matter what

The Four Queens is truly a very mediocre hotel, unless you can get a suite. I get a ton of free room credits there and they are always the last to be redeemed, if at all.

It is a mediocre hotel but I still love staying there. I've stayed at alot of cheap medicore hotels in Vegas, 4 queens, Binions, Circus Circus, Bills Gambling Hall, Imperial Palace. I'm just an average middle class joe . I'd rather stay at a cheap place and have a decent gambling bankroll. I can stay someplace nice and have a small bankroll, but I choose otherwise. Even though I got locked out, still like the place. Its nice to just go down the elavator and find great video poker, 9/6 JOB and Double Bonus 100.17 with a progressive so its actually higher then 100.17. I like stepping out onto Freemont to get fresh air take or take a short walk to other casinos. On the strip, getting fresh air sometimes means a long long walk from room or game. The Bus system is very convenient and reasonably priced. 7.00 bucks and you can ride all day and visit the strip. I used to stay on the strip and visit downtown. Now I do the opposit, stay downtown and visit the strip. Its better gambling wise. Decent gambling downtown, the strip is a ripoff when it comes to gambling. I gamble downtown and go sightseeing on the strip.
Whats funny is that I feel safer at the 4 queens after getting locked out. Now that I see how hard it is to break into a room, I feel safer for myself and my stuff.

Quote: jc2286

Happened to me once. I waited in the hallway for 30 mins for maintenance to come. They had a powered master key so it could open the door even with the battery being dead. Took about 5 mins to change the lock out. Got a $30 food comp for my trouble. Wish it happened every time lol.

This happened to me and my g/f in Disneyworld this fall. Maintenance never came after 30 minutes and g/f went back and complained, they ended up giving us the master key for the night instead...lol We moved to a less noisy room/one with a functional lock the next day. Nothing for our trouble though. Disney knows youre stuck with them. :(

Quote: tringlomane

This happened to me and my g/f in Disneyworld this fall. Maintenance never came after 30 minutes and g/f went back and complained, they ended up giving us the master key for the night instead...lol We moved to a less noisy room/one with a functional lock the next day. Nothing for our trouble though. Disney knows youre stuck with them. :(

Disney's usually good at making sure your wallet gets where it's going! You don't wait too long for transportation since you can't buy anything at the bus stop, but I guess if you're home for the night they'd rather have you hanging out in the lobby (with shops!) waiting for maintenance instead of back in your room where everything's already paid for.

I JUST got an email from WDW with a picture of my husband and daughter at Test Track, and while she's wearing clothes I packed I see she's already bought a new purse. I really don't want to see the credit card bill when they get home.

Mission...
Is this a case of rechargible batteries using the bolt as a contact to wiring inside the wall? or is it disposible batteries and an efficient circuit?

Sorry for asking but the link to the Forbes article was dead as Jacob Marley.

Was the bow device like this thingie?

Quote: teddys

The Four Queens is truly a very mediocre hotel, unless you can get a suite. I get a ton of free room credits there and they are always the last to be redeemed, if at all.

I disagree. For mediocre I'd name the IP/Quad.

At the 4 Queens everything was clean and well-maintained (except the safe), housekeeping is excellent, there are two nice, cheap restaurants (Magnolia's is really very good for the price), the elevators are fast, the gambling is above par (especially in VP) where I'm interested, and the service was reasonably quick.

And there's a coffee maker in every room. BTW, when i left notes to housekeeping about leaving more sweetener and not stocking decaf, they did just that every time.

Quote: AxiomOfChoice

Disappointing. After I read the tltle, I was hoping it would be a story about getting kicked out after being barred for AP or something.

Still funny though.

lol, me too

Quote: Nareed

I disagree. For mediocre I'd name the IP/Quad.

At the 4 Queens everything was clean and well-maintained (except the safe), housekeeping is excellent, there are two nice, cheap restaurants (Magnolia's is really very good for the price), the elevators are fast, the gambling is above par (especially in VP) where I'm interested, and the service was reasonably quick.

And there's a coffee maker in every room. BTW, when i left notes to housekeeping about leaving more sweetener and not stocking decaf, they did just that every time.

If you call IP/Quad mediocre, what is bad? And fwiw, I love the Quad. It runs a cheap mix poker game, and has the best CET video poker machine for quarters or lower. And this last trip, my g/f and I took 9 cracks at their "free slot tourney" over 3 days. We didn't get any winners, but I appreciated the value. But the hotel is not good. Not good at all. And is probably worse with the construction.

Quote: tringlomane

If you call IP/Quad mediocre, what is bad? And fwiw, I love the Quad. It runs a cheap mix poker game, and has the best CET video poker machine for quarters or lower. And this last trip, my g/f and I took 9 cracks at their "free slot tourney" over 3 days. We didn't get any winners, but I appreciated the value. But the hotel is not good. Not good at all. And is probably worse with the construction.

Coincidentally I just stayed at the Quad Tuesday through Friday, and it is terrible. I've stayed here many times over the years as the IP, and now it's below my standards. Whole place is run down, hallway carpets are wrinkled like they haven't been set against the wall properly, a roach crawled out of the dispenser at the ice maker on floor 13 tower 2 when I pushed the dispense button, construction outside makes for slow travel in narrow aisles, and check out these photos I took:

one of the elevators had lost the "15" and someone had drawn in 15 in whiteout, looks like months ago.


and on the sliding glass door in my room, someone had taken a knife and scratched out the "not" and the "d" to make a immaturely humorous alteration, but what's so pathetic is that it hasn't been replaced for months, or years:


We did have coffee maker in room. I had holes in bedsheets. Someone had pulled AC vents away from wall with a crowbar or something, and had never been replaced. Drainage in tub was awful, so at the end of my shower, I was standing in 5 inches of water. There was only one trashcan in room, my roommate and I debated whether to have it in bathroom or bedroom. There was no housekeeping Friday (our last day), so had to chase down a housekeeping cart in another tower at 6pm to get coffee replacements, and I was told to call housekeeping by the maid! "Bitch, you are housekeeping!" She finally gave me the coffee after realizing that she wouldn't have to remake the whole room if she was kind to me right now, but geeeez....really? The poker room was dark the entire time, except for the freeroll that moved over from Harrahs Wed am, since Harrahs just moved their room to the center of the casino on Wednesday. Pizza Palace restaurant on third floor had closed, but was still listed on in-room paperwork as being open. TV remote didn't work when we got there, and batteries couldn't be inspected due to a lock on back of remote...it took two calls to housekeeping and one hour to get a new remote. I was told this was due to a shift change at 4pm. Man who finally knocked on my door totally acted like I was a nuisance to his valuable time. I can't believe CET would rather spend all this money on rebranding instead of just updating these simple fixes to their rooms. What a dump.

Sounds like your story is way worse than mine. Last time I stayed there (June 2012), g/f and I had to move rooms at 6:15am on Sat. because our ceiling was leaking (penthouses were above us). Initially we failed to get a hold of the front desk. Calling back to an operator, she told us to get the **** out and go to the front desk. By the time we got our luggage out, it looked like part of the ceiling was about ready to collapse. We were upgraded to a "Luv Tub" and the rest of the stay was without incident, but it's still not a good sign. This past week we stayed at Bally's (we got it for $15/night) and probably was a good thing since my video poker spot at the Quad had a vibrating chair during the daytime hours thanks to the jackhammer outside...lol

The fact that they are renovating the casino but not the rooms just makes my jaw drop.

I had two instances where my door key wouldn't work when I went back to my room at night, when they had worked just fine when I originally checked in. I went to the front desk and they gave me a new key and when I asked why they card worked before and didn't any more they told me it was probably because I had put it against a player's card, which destroyed the magnetic strip. This made sense, but for years I've always kept my room card in the same wallet slot as my player's cards so it puzzled me as to why all of a sudden it would be problem.

The only complaint I've had with crummy rooms is the last couple of times I stayed at The Fitz in Tunica. They gave me a room on the west end of the hotel and I couldn't get any hot water. The first time I just lived with it because I was all unpacked and didn't want to bother with moving, but the second time I called maintenance to complain. They sent a couple of guys to my room, and they explained that the hotel has only one water heater for the whole place, that not only served the guest rooms but also the kitchens and the casino, and that the water heater was at the east end of the building.

The maintenance guys were polite enough and we had a nice chat about water heaters and poor building design, but it pissed me off that it took a full 30 minutes of leaving the tap running full force before I got water hot enough for a bath.

The last time I stayed at The Fitz I specifically asked for a room on the east end of the hotel.

Quote: tringlomane

If you call IP/Quad mediocre, what is bad?

Oh, things like mold in the bathroom (or the room), housekeeping that might or might not really exist, linens that were half-heartedly washed, funny-smelling water in the shower and sink, colored water in the shower and sink, leaky ceilings, no bell desk... things like that.

Interesting. IP/Quad has a 13th floor labeled as such?

Quote: tsmith

The maintenance guys were polite enough and we had a nice chat about water heaters and poor building design, but it pissed me off that it took a full 30 minutes of leaving the tap running full force before I got water hot enough for a bath.

At least they were refreshingly honest with you and didn't try any hocus pocus nonsense. At the Seminole's Hard Rock the "instant response" to digitally displayed temperature dial device was absolutely wonderful, but the shower was still an anemic drip that couldn't force alcohol from anyone's pores.

As to keys and locks...
Its often a weak battery in the lock. Try the key SEVERAL times before giving up. I recently was in a Marriot wherein the card gave me a red light several times and then finally gave me a green light.
The access port for the door lock over ride can be used by anyone with about ten dollars worth of equipment.