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Spending Shabbos at a Hotel 

Due to the widespread use of technology, there are quite a number of issues that have to be addressed prior to spending Shabbos at a hotel. All the doors we go through have to be manual, not electronic; if we must use an electronic door, we should wait until a non-Jew walks through the door, and then walk through together with them. If the door to our hotel room is equipped with an electronic key, we may not open the door, nor may we handle the keys, as they’re considered to be muktzeh. However, it’s permissible to ask a non-Jew, perhaps a member of the staff, to unlock the door for us. Some doors to hotel rooms are equipped with sensors, and each time we walk through the door, a light is activated, as well as possibly the air conditioning; even the flushometer in the bathroom might be activated by a sensor. In some hotels, opening the door to the balcony might affect the air conditioning in a direct manner. Therefore, we must neutralize all of these sensors before Shabbos. The refrigerator in the room will light up every time its door is opened unless the light is disabled; sometimes the refrigerator also has a lighted display that needs to be deactivated; taking items stocked by the hotel out of the refrigerator causes the computer to track which items were removed. All of these matters should be addressed before Shabbos in order to avoid shailos (halachic issues). Walking past security cameras is permitted if there is no alternative. Many are lenient to carry in the hotel hallways on Shabbos, even in areas where there is no eruv. If it’s a non-Jewish hotel, and there are other Jews residing at the hotel, there is room to be stringent not to carry unless a sechiras reshus and/or eruv chatzeiros (without a brachah) has been arranged. Nonetheless, there is strong support for the lenient position. #321^?1