Six separate crises at six different hotels, just a random sample of the underside of what happens when you’re not at home. Don’t be complacent!
- Two women found naked, murdered at MGM hotel in Macau
- Guests keep getting legionnaires disease at a Hilton hotel in Hawaii
- Man accused of secretly recording two women inside MGM’s Vdara in Las Vegas
- One person rescued after hazmat situation at a Hilton property unanswered is what problem exactly they were trying to treat in the ice maker using chemicals…
- Two guests murdered at an Embassy Suites by Hilton
- 3 guests died at a Sandals in the Bahamas
Many of the crimes here just happened to occur at hotels, or happened because of the specific things guests chose to do while at hotels. As long as you don’t engage in exceptionally risky behavior, they probably won’t happen to you.
Legionnaires disease, of course, is another story entirely. And always sweep your room for hidden cameras if you’re someone that’ll mind being videotaped naked.
These things do happen and guest need to come prepared. Even at rental properties such as Airbnb, VRBO and simple guesthouses and BNBs.
Personally, I carry a portable carbon monoxide detector and a carbon dioxide detector. Either way one will go off if the air quality is bad.
I always bring two door/window alarms and two door stoppers.
Keep all the locks on my door locked when I’m there and keep the DND sign on my entire stay.
I’ve experienced a few sketchy situations. A guy tried to bash in the door even though he knew I was on the other side. He actually had a key card that he used to open the door. That cheap top lock stopped him including all my weight. I contacted the front desk immediately and they never found the guy. I believe it was a robbery attempt because that’s how they go. That was in a Hilton.
The other happened in a boutique hotel,. An unknown woman tried to break into my room while I was there. She thought I had left the room because my DND sign was not on the door that one day because I wanted some supplies and was going to wait for housekeeping to come. The woman was fiddling with the door which took a regular key not a key card. The entire time I was looking at her through the peep hole. I figured I could beat her down so I opened the door abruptly and the woman ran.
So crap does happen contrary to what people may believe. And these scum bags get away and do the same thing to other guests.
Has me concerned about my upcoming weekend when I will be traveling by myself.
I too could find 6 random unrelated stories on the internet, kluge them together in an “article”, and post them with a dramatic clickbait headline, and call it ‘thought leadership.”
But I choose not to.
@Julie
I have always traveled prepared and you should too. I’m in a hotel room right now. Even after all my miscellaneous crazy events I still travel. But, I always travel smart. Also, do not trust your important belongings inside a room safe that all the hotel staff have access to the master code. Use the safe in the lobby or bring your own. Or check out YouTube videos of your hotel room in advance and see how the closet is set up. Some, like the one where I’m staying now has handles. Those are excellent…. because you just carry a cable and an Abus lock (the ones that are almost pick proof), which I lock up all my stuff when I leave my room. Otherwise I use a pacsafe safe and attach it to the shower handle bar and put a towel over it if the closet rod is removable.
“Numeracy reminds us that “what we see on television” is utterly unrepresentative.
Every day, the media show us the ugliest stories they can find on a planet with 7.5 billion people! No matter how wondrous our world becomes, the news will always horrify us.” Unknown
10pm in an uncrowded lobby of a Marriott property in San Francisco’s Union Square. A disheveled guy with an “I don’t belong here” look and a distinct smell of urine follows my wife and I to an elevator. We all get in. He does not use a card key to activate selecting a floor and does not select a floor. Which means that our floor is his floor. Quickly recognizing what the situation might have been, my wife and I exited the elevator. While he might have been a guest, I doubt it. Where was security? And, our floor continually smelled of weed.
Well that does it. I’m never leaving my bedroom again.
All around us!!!! All of these incidents are good to know ..all travelers should remain vigilant but once again the Title of a Viewfromthwing article misleads you. There is no widespread crisis nor should you be afraid. Awful reporting at its finest .
If you must barricade yourself inside your hotel room, try this if trouble is coming.
A lot of hotel rooms have an auto-close setup for the door that usually involves a “scissor-like” apparatus mounted on top (and inside) of the hotel room door.
If you wrap a leather belt or leather purse strings (thicker is better) around the scissors/triangle, that will help to resist the door from opening. Somewhat.
An NFL linebacker or SWAT team will get through that eventually, but it might buy you some time to call for help. Barricading the door may help delay the intruders also.
Be safe and smart out there.
Definitely anecdotal bad-news bias here. Ok, sometimes things happen, but I guess it doesn’t make much of a story to say that last night, like every night, 5 million people stayed in hotels in the U.S. without incident. The headline is way over the top fear-mongering.
Happy victory day.
Z