An American Airlines passenger was stuck overnight in Charlotte, and booked a room at the Charlotte Marriott City Center since he was a Bonvoy Titanium member.
He went to bed. It turns out that the self-closing door wasn’t working quite right, and didn’t close all the way. It wasn’t locked.
So the man – a U.S. Air Force Major – woke up to find another man in his bed, performing oral sex on him. He “howled in terror and lashed out to punch” the man. They fought, and the intruder took off with the major’s wallet, cell phone, a shirt, and a pair of his pants.
The victim relays that hotel staff told him they “know who he is” and it appears that he “had previously trespassed at the hotel and was known to burgle or assault guests.” The Major is suing Marriott for $160 million.
I’ve written many times to always double lock your door. Even triple lock it.
- Make sure your door is closed.
- If there’s a bolt as well, use it.
- And use the security chain or latch, attached to the door frame, which hooks onto a track on the door.
Fail to do this and you may find yourself with an extra check-in amenity for your status. Here a break-in attempt of a woman’s room at an airport Holiday Inn was caught on camera. It seems like this happens a lot at Hiltons, though?
- A 15 year old girl scared off a man trying to break into her room at the Hilton Ocean City Oceanfront Suites.
- A Hilton employee walked in on a guest getting out of the shower with a fake story about a fire alarm.
- A guest at Hilton’s Doubletree Los Angeles – Norwalk woke up to find a hotel employee standing at the foot of her bed.
- A manager at the Hilton Nashville Downtown was arrested for breaking into a room and sucking on a guest’s toes.
Maybe Hilton stories just happen to be the ones that have bubbled up most frequently. But they are certainly hotel stories. They are outliers, but they happen enough that you should be vigilant.
(HT: @bags)
160m for getting a BJ? Come on!
Hotels are transient place. While this story seems more wild than others, I am sure individual hotel franchisees get sued regularly. This is America, lawsuit happen all the time. Suing for $160M, doesnt mean collecting $160M.
Why not sue for 160 billion instead while he’s going for absolutely ridiculous amounts?
Two things:
1. This has nothing to do with American Airlines. (And don’t say.. “well of his flight didn’t cancel this wouldn’t have happened”!
2. If he was an avid traveler and a titanium member, he should have know better then to trust a door would lock behind him. Ensure the door is locked, turn the deadbolt and latch the latch. SMH.
Below average journalism!
I hope he gives some to the guy for his services!!
How do people sleep thru the sound of a hotel door opening? Hotel doors seem the be the loudest to open and close
This was definitely a premium service.
I call BS on this. If anything guy was “drunk” and hooked up with somebody and was robbed by his Grindr date.
FunTraveler might be right. Cover story for the wife who saw the bite marks.
“I call BS on this. If anything guy was “drunk” and hooked up with somebody and was robbed by his Grindr date.”
+1000. People who steal don’t perform oral sex on other guys for no reason.
Yet the number of Grindr hookups who have swiped something when given the chance is a little more common. When it looks and quacks.
He was known to “burgle and assault guests”? How would Marriott explain away a threat that they knew about? Looks to me like the major might have a case.
I once checked in late at night and was given a room key. This was about 15 years ago. When I went to open the door I was having trouble (remember this was late at night, it was dark and I was tired). I tried a few more times and realized there was someone in the room and they used the latch which was preventing me from opening the door fully.
Thankfully the person used the interior lock otherwise I could have walked in on them and they could have thought I was going to assault them and if they were armed I could have been serious injured or killed.
When I went downstairs to complain the lady asked who was in the room. Uh, that wasn’t the point. You gave me a key to an occupied room. Geez.
This story does sound a bit questionable but nowadays could easily be true.
I’m sorry, but a Major who can’t be relied on to secure a hotel room door isn’t someone worthy of that rank and national security responsibility.
He didn’t lock his door which puts him at partial fault. Since the hotel knew about this man trespassing on the property before, it could be argued the hotel should be partially liable for failing to provide security. However, it’s impossible for any regular institution that’s not locked down to prevent someone from sneaking in. The evildoer is the one who committed the crime. It is unfair to penalize a hotel for something it can’t control.
The man should lose the lawsuit because of the ridiculous amount. Juries should start holding people accountable for their ridiculous demands that are unfair and grotesque by voting for the defendant even if they think the plaintiff’s case had merit. It only makes a mockery of the legal system. Since judges are lawyers who benefit from a corrupted system, they usually play along. There is no future for us in the court or legal system.
Hopefully they have video recordings of the hallways. It would be interesting to see who went into what room when and with whom….
I think this story brings a new meaning to “getting Bonvoy’d”
Yes doctor, that is exactly how it happened, I slipped and landed ass first on the cola bottle……..
🙂
Hopefully the Major will get that whacko Judge Edergon in the Trump case, I’m sure he’d award this guy at least 62 trillion dollars.
Wait, what?
I call BS. Who doesn’t check their door and ensure all locks. Unless, they were impaired by alcohol? Or expecting someone?
There are door stoppers with built-in alarms that can be slid in to jam the door at the hotels and elsewhere and provide a very loud alert if someone tries to force their way in. I have found them sold even at the local equivalent of Radio Shack stores at some malls in Europe too.
Agree with Schip, especially after you read the article. The victim noted a sizeable homeless population upon arriving at the hotel; was panhandled as he walked into the hotel? And yet, didn’t check to see if his room door closed fully?
I’ve been in many hotel rooms where the self-closing doors did not function correctly—I would think a Bonvoy Titanium has been in a lot more than me. I always check my hotel doors, and latch them before I sleep (and jam a doorstop under the door, if I am in a poor security area like this hotel).
I call BS. I think the Major solicited the interaction, got caught or got blackmailed, and now this concocted story of a self closing door not being locked.
Hotels in higher crime areas and elsewhere have increasingly migrated to requiring a key swipe to use the elevators in the hotel. I would assume a Titanium member is more likely to get a high floor room.
For what it’s worth, a lot of frequent hotel guests seem to assume the hotel room doors shut and lock themselves without needing a final confirming push or pull to shut them completely and trigger the automatic lock. Add in the possibility of alcohol and/or being tired, and then it shouldn’t be surprising that a person fails to shut the door fully and confirm that it’s locked. Especially late at night when trying to be quiet.
There really is nothing new with government/military employees in the security fields landing themselves in trouble due to negligence while traveling.
It wouldn’t surprise me if this major already knew his career had stalled and so it was time to move on and thus decided to sue the hotel and make the incident a public matter.
Dang. Had three guys enter my Marriott room using a maintenance pass key (they dropped it) . Big kerfuffle. I never considered suing them though.
And what did those three guys do when they entered your room? And under what circumstances and why did they leave the room when they did?
Being allegedly sexually assaulted — different than having remorse over a consensual sexual encounter — in a hotel room is different than maintenance guys coming into a hotel room to do maintenance work in the room.
I’ve had a few stays at Marriott, woken up in the middle of the night, getting a BJ. But it’s the opposite sex and only costs a couple of C notes.
Seriously, people STILL don’t deadbolt/safety chain/whatever their hotel room doors? What part about ‘unlocking your door with your phone’ do they not understand? Your door is being unlocked by ‘signals flying through the air’ from a phone, any phone. Therefore, your room may be easily accessible to damn near anyone. I did like the part he threw in about oral sex’ while he was asleep … makes for a much more titillating story.
@Guwonder
It was the afternoon of a conference I developed a migraine, returned to a dark cool room. I had room as well secured as possible. No knock, they were inside in seconds. They didn’t notice me and were going through bath and hall stuff. I was in my underwear. I scared them. Maid was in hall & got security. Apparently this crew had previously robbed and assaulted a maid. Housekeeping was appreciative. At first front desk didn’t believe me & maid. Then I found the key and they had video. I guess i am still freaked that the hotel knew about the previous incident. Once that was established they cancelled all charges to room. I was just glad to leave.
Some of the comments may just be tongue in cheek in an effort to be funny, but if people would actually read the linked article, they’d know the assailant was well known to Marriott staff, was arrested and charged, and made off with the victim’s money and phone when discovered.
Yes, always secure the door physically.
1. I’m so old-fashioned low-tech, that I don’t know what a “self-closing door” is. I always close the door, use the attached deadbolt and chain, and then put furniture or other anti-invasion devices at the door. I thought everyone did.
2. national security responsibility: our all-voluntary military and recruiting is a bad joke on the American taxpayer.
If this occurred at his house, his wife would have divorced him because he was gay. She would take 50% of the assets 50% of his pension and kicked him out of the house but now he wants to Sue because he Caught this is what happens when closeted homosexuals don’t come out of the closet
This happen to a senator at an airport with foot tapping in the men’s bathroom, and he got caught
Marriott claimed that was an elite night benefit. You either get the creepy BJ or free breakfast
Maryland,
Disconcerting incident indeed.
A doorstop used to jam the doorshut and a built-in alarm in the doorstop would help. Also, some can use one of those electronic barking dog noise emitters that go off when someone approaches the door; but then you might get hit with a pet fee or a visit for the non-existent pet in the room.
As bad as American Airlines is, including their name in the article is “below the belt journalism”. Nevertheless, I call BS on this story, too.
Utter BS. Hotel knew this paid professional was a regular going and in and out of random guestrooms, and never thought to stop him? At least in Russia they make the hookers pay a little juice for unfettered guest access in the hotels. This is just cheap and tacky. And a Titanium Loyalty Oral Pleasure traveller no less? Does he get Club access with that?
Gotta realize that a “Major” is much up the ladder from a PFC level. He might be in command of the bathroom cleaning detail at the base, but not holding any keys or commands about the missles they use to protect the U.S..
meant “IS NOT much up”