Last Thursday night I was staying a single night at a 4-star hotel (major global brand) in a large US city. Not necessarily Hilton. It was quite luxurious, a really nice hotel in a nice part of the city.

I had just hung up my towel after a shower, I'm standing in the middle of the room completely naked, and another guest opens the door suddenly (he had been checked in improperly, and the front desk had given him an access card to my room). I'm shocked and I freeze. I suppose I was deciding whether to fight or hide. This man spends about 30 seconds holding the door open with his foot, glaring at me and repeating "What the hell are you doing in my room?" in-between narrating what he is seeing while pointing his camera phone at me. After about 10 seconds of shock, I literally say "Can you please close the door and leave— I am fully naked." The man keeps narrating the scene with his camera phone aimed at me, and so I repeat my request once again, verbatim, this time as I back up and squat behind the bed to hide while keeping track of him visually. Shortly after this second request, the man closes the door. I assume this man was surprised and reflexively fired up his phone (already in his hand when he opened the door, but originally lowered) to document the experience. Even still, I think his behaviour was unusual.

I complained to the front desk over the phone, left the room ASAP to settle my nerves at the rooftop bar for an hour or so, and came back to find my access card was no longer working. I was worried someone else was in my room looting my luggage, so I went down to the crowded lobby and had to explain what had happened to the staff (who were visibly struggling to contain their laughter along with all the other guests overhearing my story and frantic requests to get back into my room to protect my luggage). Other than the [understandable and awkward but nonetheless embarrassing] laughter, they were quite polite. They issued me a new key and apologised. I requested a new room and they said they would try to arrange this.

I left the hotel immediately, feeling uncomfortable being there. It was about 7pm at this point. I stayed away as long as possible, wandering from restaurant to restaurant, diner to diner and finally camped at a bar until closing, ultimately returning to the hotel at 3am. I explained the situation to the night staff again, and they offered me a new room as requested. The deadbolt in this new room was non-functioning, so I asked for another room. The next new room had a malfunctioning deadbolt, too, but the maintenance team resolved that issue such that even though it was malfunctioning, it seemed to be locking okay. By this time, it was after 5am. I did not sleep, and checked out at noon.

As I was checking out, I had to describe the issue again in a crowded lobby, where the general manager arrived to speak with me. The GM has apologised profusely both in person and via email. He was very polite and empathetic. At various stages of my interactions with the hotel staff, I was offered a $50 voucher for their restaurants/bars, then another $100 voucher, then another $50 voucher. I was also offered a global membership to some hotel club and credits for a free night at any of their venues. I didn't use the vouchers and told the GM that I couldn't even think about whether I wanted to accept his offer of hotel credits, because I was entirely fixated on minimising the risk that any intimate footage which may have been captured or streamed would be disseminated more broadly. I'm still regularly Googling relevant keywords to check if there is footage of me going viral or uploaded to some voyeurism porn site.

I have asked the GM to secure written confirmation from the guest firstly that they understand I did not consent to any intimate footage being captured/streamed, and that I do not consent to any such footage being retained or disseminated at any time in the future; and secondly that they understand specifically that disseminating any such footage without my explicit consent would entail serious state and federal offences under law. The GM has indicated that this request was made in an email sent on Friday morning, but the guest has not responded. It is now Monday evening.

Nothing described here is in dispute, the details have all been documented in back and forth emails with the GM, including that the guest himself confirmed to hotel staff that he was filming me for an extended time— the only element of uncertainty is what the guest did with this media, and whether he has or will retain and/or disseminate it.

My questions: Am I acting reasonably here? What other actions should I be taking?

Thank you!

P.S. Earlier today I made a similar post on TripAdvisor, and several unkind comments came back suggesting this is a voyeuristic fiction. I assure everyone reading now that it is not. I am genuinely seeking advice from communities experienced in dealing with hotels.