Hotel Elevator Magically Awaits Guests

Going down?

USA Today: Often, it's those small details in a hotel that make you say, "Nice!," and prompt you to tell your friends.

Well, last week I found a great example of this in the Windy City. (If you've seen this elsewhere, please tell us where it in the comments section below). Here goes:

During our stay at the 10-year-old Park Hyatt hotel in downtown Chicago across from the historic Water Tower building, I noticed that every time we'd leave our 5th-floor room and head to the guest-only elevator to return, the elevator was there waiting each and every time - without fail.

Now, the hotel's not giant, but it's not tiny, either. It's housed in a tower that has about 200 hotel rooms, in addition to luxury residential units. I automatically prepared to wait for our elevator - even if just 30 seconds.

The first two times the elevator was there waiting as we approached, I figured it was a coincidence. The next few times, I started looking around me. Was there someone making this happen? Didn't seem like it. When I looked across the lobby toward the front-desk, no one returned my searching glance. The clerks seemed to be going on about their business.

At check-out time, I finally asked the two front-desk clerks, "How does that elevator...?" And even before I finished my question, they told me that there is in fact an elevator button behind their desk that they press when they see guests start to walk from the hotel's main entrance toward the lobby, where the elevator's located.