A Marriott Ambassador member, who spends over 100 nights and $23,000 a year with the chain, reports returning to their room to find housekeeping there – and the cleaner brought her boyfriend.
The guest found the housekeeping cart in front of their door. The houseekeeper was in the bathroom working and told him to wait outside until she was done.
However he says he wanted to put food he’d brought back into the refrigerator in the room, so he “bypassed her to see some random man charging his phone on my charger.” The guest reported the incident to the front desk. They arranged a time for the guest to meet with the hotel’s manager. They offered 30,000 Marriott points and an upgrade the next day.
Many years ago I walked into a Ritz-Carlton room where the bed was unmade and there was a used condom in it. I assume that’s not what was happening here. The maid just gave someone who doesn’t work for the hotel access to guest rooms.
That was a dumb decision, like the housekeeper who stole jewelry from a guest room and then called someone in prison – whose phone calls are recorded – to talk over doing the crime. She left the bed half-made and left cleaning supplies behind. Maybe don’t take life advice from somebody already in prison?
There are three basic things that a hotel provides:
- a clean place to sleep
- a place to shower
- security in the space.
Here the hotel failed with this last piece. One of their employees was giving access to the room to a third party! That person was using the guest’s personal belongings!
The hotel owns that, and shouldn’t charge for something – the basics of the stay – that they didn’t provide.
Here it’s a work stay, but it was the guest (not the employer) who was harmed. The hotel should compensate the guest with the equivalent number of points to cover free nights for the duration of their stay, rather than waiving room night charges. 30,000 Marriott points doesn’t go very far, especially against this member’s 10-night stay.
Just checked into Fairfield, asked for a different room, which they switched for me. Returning at end of next day the keys didn’t work, apparently the day crew didn’t have any record of us being in that room at all – which I can only assume was discovered when they issued a key for that room to someone else.
I’ve been on the reverse of that situation as well – getting a key to a new room and opening the door to find it still occupied (fortunately by stuff, not people).
And there’s been a few times where my door has been opened without a knock and then closed again when I yell “still here”.
Moral of the story is I don’t leave anything of value in my hotel room.
Police report? That person was not authorized to access the room. There must be a crime here.
The property should be named and shamed. And was it a corporate-operated property or a franchisee?
@ Gary — Better to take your life advice from someone exempt from prison.
Jail phones: “When you come to visit me Sunday bring the tomatoes. And don’t forget the bullets for the tomatoes!”
I can top that.
In 2019 I was doing a 2-night stay at Four Points by Sheraton Anaheim. At 8 in the morning on checkout day I was halfway through a shower when all of a sudden the curtain was pulled open. It was the maid, wearing headphones attached to her iPhone, which she was holding in her hand. She shrieked and ran out.
I put on clothes and called down to the front desk telling them I wanted to meet the manager in person immediately. As a bonus, the maid left the iPhone on the bed when she ran out, so I had evidence in hand. The manager was genuinely upset and apologetic, and said the maid was brand new. I told him the experience could have shocked some people into a heart attack.
Admittedly, I didn’t have the do not disturb placard on the doorknob (lesson learned), but they comp’ed the night and gave me 30k points. I probably could have demanded they comp both nights, or demanded an apology from the maid (which would have inflicted further trauma). Instead, I chose to move on — I had a good story to share while attending the last day of the convention.
Early in my career I spent many nights in small towns that often only had limited choices for hotels. I had three people try and enter a door one night at a Knights Inn. I finally had to go to the front desk and tell them to stop. Turned out it was the night person’s first night. I woke a guy up at midnight once walking into an occupied room and flipping the lights on. It happens.
As a Marriott Ambassador member who spends over 100 nights and $23,000 a year with the chain, your report of returning to your room to find a housekeeping maid and her boyfriend using your personal property is appalling. Now you know why road warriors staying at a Marriott property, when they get screwed, use the word “Bonvoyed.” This Marriott hotel offered you insufficient compensation of 30,000 Marriott points plus an upgrade for the next day because you were Bonvoyed. As a valued Marriott Ambassador member, please remember that this Marriott property should have upgraded your room when you initially checked in. I think this hotel screws many of their esteemed guests and reserves their upgraded rooms as an employee benefit so the hotel staff and their friends can have sexual threesomes in the upgraded room they initially held back from you.
My experience of being “bonvoyed” was interesting. I got into the AC Hotel in Tampa around 10 pm, went to wash my hands before eating dinner, and noticed a handtowel out of place on the vanity counter. I turned on the light to see the towel smeared in sh*t and the toilet full of sh*t. Out of curiosity, I lifted the toilet tank lid to see…and you guessed it, an upper-decker greeted me
I grabbed my bags and went downstairs to the desk. The best the night manager could do was give me 5k points, free breakfast, and whatever drink I wanted at the bar. I ordered a quadruple pour of Blanton’s neat and returned to my room feeling it was enough.
I should note that I was given another room. I forgot to add that part.
Being invited to a spontaneous threeway is something I have turned down but still really appreciated the invite. This is really the value of status with a hotel brand!
Some things I have learned when seeing ‘bad’ things:
1) Never confuse incompetence for intent. People are stupid and make mistakes that look bad but are actually random.
2) I’m a baseball umpire: I see some weird things after having done hundred of games in the last 4 years. I also have traveled to 48 states, nearly all of Europe and the Caribbean. I have seen some weird things, but. Every. Single. Time. It was random things. Except once. OK, twice, in 500+ nights.
3) One of those times, I was assigned a room at a non profit conference (AFP ICON for those who are interested), and when I opened the door, I immediately saw someone under the covers, and the flash/blur of someone not clothed, so it happens.
4) And sometimes, bad people are out there- I was in Vegas at the Flamingo, and walking back to the elevator, heard arguing over a ‘sexual position’, and it was loud enough to make out the person complaining had a younger voice. SO I called security, and sure enough, they were still at it, and I left it in the hotels hands.
If you believe as I do, there is a way to navigate the 0.1% times there are a problem and just keep moving forward.
-Jon
People do dumb things. The maid was stupid, the boyfriend really stupid. We’re all used to that kind of thing in a hotel. Had the boyfriend just been sitting in a chair waiting for his beloved, doubt that I’d even report that. I mean, really, it’s just dumb; who cares? But using my charger for the boyfriend’s phone? Outrageous. An apology and 30K points sounds about right. If the front desk had any brains, they would have comped the room. My experience is that hotel people need to be told what your suggested solution is. Figuring it out on their own seems to be much too difficult.
I am writing this from a boutique hotel in Tirana, Albania. #1 to me is security, which is why, upon checkin, I tell reception that I decline cleaning, and I put the Do Not sign outside. Later today I am flying to Zagreb, Croatia, rinse and repeat. In 60 years of international travelling I have never encountered anyone unwanted in my room. I would insist on more than 30K pts and an upgrade.
Housekeeping should always knock. My husband was sitting in only his boxer shorts watching tv when the housekeeper walked in. They made eye contact she said so sorry and left. The hotel didn’t comp anything.
To everyone who’s been walked in on:
Sign.
Deadbolt.
Chain.
Still.. it’s happened to me too. Housekeeper at a resort in Mexico opened the door to the toilet while I was using it. Apologized and asked if I still wanted her to clean the room. I said something to effect of “when I’m done” but she went right on working on the room. I just quickly finished up and left.
At some point I think it boils down to just an eroding away of boundaries. Your job entails walking in on people’s personal space all day every day and no doubt constantly encounter explicit evidence of people’s private lives on a daily if not hourly basis, combined with necessary urgency to get started and finished as quickly as possible. At some point, walking in on someone is just an occupational hazard and while it might be shocking to the customer, it’s just another annoying delay for the housekeeper.
Maybe cleaning crews should wait until you check out before cleaning the rooms,that way there are no run ins or bad situations happening
First, you don’t spend $23k, your OPM does.
Yet another self proclaimed “road warrior” whining
Doorstops, people, doorstops. I don’t want someone opening my door, even if I have the chain on. So I travel with a $2 doorstop and jam it under the door when I’m in the room. Keeps everyone out.