Women Travelers - Just a reminder to be careful

A female business traveler staying at the Hyatt Embarcadero in San Francisco was convinced the man at her door was an employee and let him in yesterday. After four hours of abuse - rape, etc. - he departed her room. I know we're all pretty careful, but when things like this happen it reminds me to be that much more vigilant.

Edited because I can't spell in any language.

[This message has been edited by letiole (edited 05-06-2003).]

I'll pray for her. Did she report it to the police? Did the hotel do anything?

Thanks for posting this letiole.

I have to say that I am not as careful as I should be. I will be much more vigilant in the future.

lala

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/05/06/BA283468.DTL

I was just about to post this (I did on the Hyatt board) - its my first visit to the Women Travelers board. Please be careful.

Viajera: The hotel says it's beefing up security a lot and police say they consider it an isolated incident. Let's hope they can identify the guy from the security cameras.

There's an update from police now saying this "business woman" was actually a call girl and the attacker was armed, did not claim to be a hotel employee and "only" assaulted her for one hour.

Thanks for the update.
Here's a link to the updated story.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/05/07/BArape.TMP

[This message has been edited by letiole (edited 05-07-2003).]

Anyway, this serves as a reminder that we should ask for an id or even better call the front desk to verify the identity of the person if we are unsure about it.

Very scary - a sad reminder to be cautious. Hope she's okay.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by littleleaguemom:
There's an update from police now saying this "business woman" was actually a call girl and the attacker was armed, did not claim to be a hotel employee and "only" assaulted her for one hour.</font>

Gosh, I feel so much better now. Ugh. Anyway, even if this story gets relegated to the "she asked for it" file, the issue of rape in hotels is a real one. My very good friend, who is a very frequent and fearless world traveler, was raped in a motel in Louisiana (I can't recall where exactly) by a man that broke into her room while she was asleep. It was one of those places where the rooms all open to the outside. The police never caught the guy, and my friend ended up suing the motel company for negligence (no cameras, poor locks/doors, etc.). I confess to being somewhat cavalier myself about this sort of danger, but every so often I remember my friend's experience and try to shake off my complacency.

Go rent the movie One Hour Photo (http://us.imdb.com/Title?0265459) if you need a reminder of why EVERYONE should think twice (or three times) before opening a hotel door to ANYONE...

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by travelmad478:
It was one of those places where the rooms all open to the outside. </font>

My first business trip when I was just out of school was to a hotel with the outside doors -- nothing happened but it just wasn't a comfy or safe feeling. I now refuse to stay in any hotel that has doors to the outside. Doesn't matter if its a nicer hotel or better brand - I just don't care for the setup.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by GoingAway:
I now refuse to stay in any hotel that has doors to the outside. Doesn't matter if its a nicer hotel or better brand - I just don't care for the setup.</font>

I feel the same way. Also automatically put on the chain and deadbolt in my room even if I'm only going to be in the room for 10 mins freshening up for supper. No matter the quality of the hotel. Just a good habit I guess

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