You might not think you need a travel tip to remind you to get off the elevator at the right floor, but I know plenty of people who’d disagree. Just recently, my wife, my mother-in-law and I (and a stranger) got off on the wrong floor in a Las Vegas hotel after the four of us had been headed to the same floor. The elevator stopped and opened, and with nobody on the other side, we all assumed in a split-second that we were at our floor and stepped out.
This sort of thing usually happens when you’re taking the elevator up, but it can happen on the way down, too. Often, the problem is that a guest or staff member has pressed the elevator call button and then taken off down the stairs or elsewhere after becoming sick of waiting, realizing they’ve forgotten something, etc. When the elevator then stops on that floor, the doors open to reveal no one there, so it’s almost natural to get off if you’re expecting your floor to be the next stop. And worse: By the time you’ve figured out you’re on the wrong floor, your elevator has already left, leaving you to wait for another one. The fact that we’re living in a time when everyone spends so much time staring at their smartphones makes this mistake all the more common.
So always look at the floor number before getting off the elevator to avoid wasting time and the embarrassment (especially if you’re at a conference or work event).
Related: On an Unfamiliar Elevator, Look for the Star
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In there US it is a federal requirement that the floor number is posted on both jambs (i.e
the sides of the door openings) at 60″ high and are 2″ high. Also the ground floor jamb marking is required to have a five-pointed star in addition to the floor number. This makes it easy if you know where to look.
I had it too, but never knew how exactly it happen, I thought it was elevator problem. Thanks for post Johnny, much Useful !