babypuwet

hi all, I just completed day one of a 4 night stay at an SPG property in a third world country for vacation with my family. After completing my tour today, we decided to go out and explore the local area only to be approached by someone trying to sell me a tour package right in front of the hotel (literally at valet car area). He told me that his friend who works at the hotel informed him that my family of 5 had arrived the previous day and of the places that I had inquired about and he named 6 of 7 places correctly. In addition, we are touring a place that had some civil unrest in the not too distance past and my family were spooked enough that they no longer have any desire to leave out of our room. While he was only trying to sell us a tour package, we were also a bit spooked by other events since we arrived in other parts of this country. Are we over-reacting?

MSPeconomist

It was improper, and perhaps even should be a fireable offense, for a hotel employee to discuss your details with a third party vendor without your permission. However, the fact that the vendor operates a for-profit outside business right on the hotel property suggests that they have connections or approval from someone in the hotel to do this. At best, it sounds tacky and even scam-ish to me.

AJLondon

Which country / hotel?

babypuwet

sorry, but i dont feel safe to disclose this information prior to checking out. I will do so when I checkout later this week.

cacic

I would schedule a meeting with the General Manager of the hotel before your check-out and put him on notice and also advise that you intend to escalate this issue. Not only is this is a violation of your privacy, it is also a security concern. The fact that this has happened in an area of civil unrest makes it even more of a risk since this may only be a small sampling of the information that may have been provided to outside vendors, hotel staff or others.

I would also escalate these concerns to the SPG corporate offices and copy the U.S. State Department. In this day and age you have take care of yourself, but also your fellow travelers who could be flagged by staff or vendors for a variety of reasons. Did you also provide your passport at check-in?

Cathay Boy

Er... before you take the in-ya-face approach I would reconsider some of the suggestions here. This is a third-world nation with civil unrests around you, meaning law-and-order is not the norm. Also, usually with hotels like this in such a nation, the owners are either in with the corrupted officials or are one themselves. If you threaten to exposed them in-ya-face style, this being the wild wild west you're describing, I would seriously consider the safety and well-being of the family first. Third world nation and civil unrest means lots of people simply "disappear", and I hate for you to be one of them.

Come home, then call SPG and tell them all about it with details. I seriously suggest you do nothing while you are there.

Plumber

It is possible that you are in one of those countries where you are watched all the time....not to cause you harm but to sell you something... Maybe they saw you arriving and then leaving for your tour. Maybe they don't know anybody at the hotel.

I was once approached by someone who said he worked at the hotel and wanted to give me directions---next thing I know he is trying to direct me to his shop...he had no connection with the hotel at all.

TerryK

It depends on your definition of "third world" countries. Some Americans still consider Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand etc as "third world".

It is inappropriate for hotel employee to tip outside salesperson off regarding your itinerary, however, I wouldn't consider it to be a security risk. It is just over zealous sales. Technically, he promoted it outside of the hotel. I would be more concerned if this were inside the hotel or if he were to follow you in.

kamel123

I wouldn't be too spooked, frankly. Assuming there is a connection with the hotel (and the vendor has not just listed the typical places that tourists visit in the area and by chance got most of them right), I would be angry, but that's it.

Still remember an incident more than 10 years ago with the Sheraton Hammamet where the "free hotel shuttle" brought us right into a carpet store. It's common for concierges also in developed countries to take commissions from restaurants, tour operators, ...

If by any chance you stay in Egypt (don't need to comment if you don't feel safe), this would not be unusual at all. The need to be constantly alert and fend off aggressive hawkers is quite annoying and has substantially reduced my appetite for visiting the region.

Yes, you can complain to the hotel (and I guess without risk of you "disappearing"), but it will not change what is probably a common practice. I would just shrug it off. If it's important to you, then complain to Starwood after leaving.

GarlicFlyer

Same thing happened to me at Hilton Nairobi.

KosherKimchee

I think the OP has zero actual (as opposed to circumstantial) proof of any wrongdoing. Few years ago I stayed at FS Marrakech and took hotel car (Range Rover) to main square with wife and son. I was wearing cargo shorts. Not 2 minutes after getting out, guy comes up and says he works "with" the FS (prob saw the hotel car) and knew I was visiting from USA (cargo shorts, pretty obvious there -- only us sloppy Americans wear em) and was looking to buy a rug (duh). Said no thanks, winked, moved on.

Not tough to guess a lot when tourists stand out in a foreign country.

superangrypenguin

He really values his privacy, can't you tell?

jabbered

Unless, they knew your name, had a picture of you, or other personal information, I wouldn't be all that worried.

Concierge service gone wrong? Rather than referring the guest to an operator, the employee refereed the operator to the guest.

dsquared37

I'm inclined to agree with this. The tout in question could well have seen you arrive the day before and how many tourist sights are in the vicinity? Any possibility they simply rattled off a tour book list and hit the mark on 60-70%?

The mention of his friend at the hotel could have been a means to make you feel confident while it actually worked in the reverse.

porciuscato

In Morocco, it's a a very common scam for touts to approach you and say in excellent English, "Hi, I work at XXX (your hotel)." They can sound very credible.

I suspect if you fall for it you will be directed to antique shops &etc. that give them kickbacks.

I am pretty sure you will not end up starring in a "The Man who Knew too Much" type drama -- or in an orange jumpsuit on a home-made video. Unless you're staying in Damascus, in which case either one is distinctly possible.

Que sera, sera......