Videos Filmed May 2017 (Before) and March 2019 (After).
You might remember these elevators!!! These are the elevators at the DeSoto Hotel for those who don't know, and this place was a Hilton at the time I filmed the before video, and the elevators were Originally Otis Touch, but received a slap on mod and cab makeover by Otis in the Late 90s or Early 2000s with Green Series 2 fixtures and "clicky" Amber Series 2 Call stations and EPCO Lanterns, but still retained their Original Relay Logic Controllers, Motors, Generators, and Classic Otis "humming" door operators, as well as the Original Otis Autotronic Panel in the lobby intact and functioning!!!! So even though they were modded already, the mod was VERY tasteful, and these still featured plenty of original character!!!
Well, that was the case until just recently. In Early 2018, Hilton sold the property to an independent company, and since then, the place has been TOTALLY Renovated, and since Fall of 2018, they've been modernizing the elevators AGAIN!!! The cabs still remain the same as before aside from new handrails, but the motors, door operators, lanterns, controllers have been totally replaced and the fixtures and call stations are now Otis Red Series M2. At the time this was taken, all of the elevators were modded with the exception of the 3rd elevator in the bank which they had just started on. Also, the Otis Autotronic panel is now no longer in use, and several components from it are missing now, making me think it will likely be taken out and replaced with an ugly, generic modern annunciator, or just taken out totally.
Overall, this new mod is fairly decent, but all of the Old Otis character that was still remaining with the previous mod is now all gone, and the ride quality and controller behavior and noises are just a lot quieter, however, as a result, more generic and boring. I'm glad that physically they didn't change how they look too much, but still nonetheless a very sad mod as all of the character these had is now all gone, and I still prefer to look of the Green Series 2 fixtures.
That all being said, enjoy video of this nice elevator system, before and after modernization