Grand Hyatt DFW Rooms Have a Video Peephole Screen — Here’s Why Hotels Rarely Use Them

I’ve stayed at the Grand Hyatt DFW many times, but not since last year. It’s one of the very best airport hotels, and great elite recognition. (Other great ones include the Grand Hyatt SFO, Westin Denver airport and Westin Detroit airport, people also love hte Intercontinental at Minneapolis but I’ve never stayed there.)

The Grand Hyatt DFW was recently renovated, and a reader shares his surprise at this element of the rooms, which apparently have been there for some time and I didn’t remember it:

They have a digital camera at the peephole with a monitor. I’ve never seen that before.

This is a First View Security camera. These have actually been around for 20 years. It’s a small LCD monitor on the inside of the door with a camera on the outside, as a replacement for a peephole.

• These are easier than pressing your eye against a tiny lens
  
• It offers a wider and clearer corridor view. You can see the surrounding hallway, and that the lens works in low light.
  
• Guests with disabilities can see outside without standing or putting their face against the door
  
• This also eliminates the threat of peephole reversing.

In an episode of Seinfeld, Kramer and Newman install reverse peepholes on their apartment doors so they can see inside if anyone is lying in wait to ambush them before they enter. With an electronic peephole you don’t need to worry that anyone has installed a reverse peephole and can see you inside your room!

I don’t remember being in other hotels that have this, though they’re not uncommon it seems at MGM, Four Seasons, and others. In fact they were installed at Skylofts at MGM Grand two decades ago. These have been around at Grand Hyatt DFW for years and I don’t know why they didn’t stand out enough for me to remember them from my stays.

Thinking on it, I like the feature, but we don’t see it more because it’s more expensive, needs batteries, and creates additional need for maintenance. Hotels need to change the batteries on the peep hole every 6 – 12 months. Although standard peepholes require maintenance, too.

A basic smart peephole viewer appears to run $30– $50 wholesale ($150+ at retail) versus Home Depot or Lowe’s charging $9+ for a standard peephole.

The retrofit is easy, though – the electronic unit is designed to fit into an old peephole opening in about five minutes with no hard wiring. Still, even at $75 – $150 all in per room (double that for a premium unit) that’s meaningful cost per room when hotels are considering eliminating alarm clocks.