A UK Hilton has police raid my room, says I was running a brothel
#31
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That's happened before, as the police in the UK do make mistakes. This, however, doesn't seem to be a mistake of that nature (i.e. of "wrong room" but right property at the right time).
It happens. In one rather posh residential building in London, the police turned up wanting a word with a newly-moved in resident because the neighbor had been considered to be a prostitute.
It happens. In one rather posh residential building in London, the police turned up wanting a word with a newly-moved in resident because the neighbor had been considered to be a prostitute.
#32
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#33
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Blimey, that is awful. No matter what, the somebody from hotel management must have known this and would have known that police would be in attendance. I can't imagine that they really would not be there or contactable to see the outcome of the police arrival.
Definitely escalate to Hilton Corporate now. (Even the Twitter team will pick this up and respond very quickly for you.)
For me, this isn't a compensation issue, more the principle of Hilton picking this up with the hotel management and getting a proper response and an apology about it. I'm sure more will follow that, but to go in to hiding certainly merits your description of the management.
Sometimes there are more to these things than an OP cares to mention, but I'm relatively confident that you are not running a mobile knocking shop on your Hilton travels.
It will definitely be good to know the hotel eventually at a point you feel appropriate. I'd like to give it a wide berth on my UK travels as a result.
Definitely escalate to Hilton Corporate now. (Even the Twitter team will pick this up and respond very quickly for you.)
For me, this isn't a compensation issue, more the principle of Hilton picking this up with the hotel management and getting a proper response and an apology about it. I'm sure more will follow that, but to go in to hiding certainly merits your description of the management.
Sometimes there are more to these things than an OP cares to mention, but I'm relatively confident that you are not running a mobile knocking shop on your Hilton travels.
It will definitely be good to know the hotel eventually at a point you feel appropriate. I'd like to give it a wide berth on my UK travels as a result.
Blimey....PM me here if you want me to help you get this to corporate hilton offices. I DO know that they recently relocated thieir corp offices to McLean, VA, near where I live.
#36
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Without going into any bit of whether the hotel was correct in their assumptions or how they arrived at them (they obviously weren't). I don't think that they have any choice but to call the police directly, w/o consulting with the guest (at least in the US, and I can't imagine the response can be any different in the UK). Human trafficking is an extremely serious thing; once the prospect is raised, there really isn't anything the hotel can do besides call the police, step back, and let them handle it.
Step back and consider the reverse of everything which happened here -- a poster on FT saying that there was a pimp/trafficker running an obvious operation out of the room next door. The poster informed the hotel, which took the step of checking with their guest before contacting the police. The poster would then rightly be upset because the hotel had warned the guilty parties, who were long-gone by the time the police had arrived, thus losing a real chance at stopping one of these things.
That said, given the seriousness and complexity of the situation, an upper-level hotel manager should have been on-site and ready to explain and defuse the situation once the police left. I presume that if that had been the case, we wouldn't be reading about it here. I think that is where the hotel failed the OP.
Just my 2 cents...
Step back and consider the reverse of everything which happened here -- a poster on FT saying that there was a pimp/trafficker running an obvious operation out of the room next door. The poster informed the hotel, which took the step of checking with their guest before contacting the police. The poster would then rightly be upset because the hotel had warned the guilty parties, who were long-gone by the time the police had arrived, thus losing a real chance at stopping one of these things.
That said, given the seriousness and complexity of the situation, an upper-level hotel manager should have been on-site and ready to explain and defuse the situation once the police left. I presume that if that had been the case, we wouldn't be reading about it here. I think that is where the hotel failed the OP.
Just my 2 cents...
#37
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My money is also on the Hilton Wembley Park ..heck last time I stayed it appeared to be staffed by people of said profession
OK jokes aside - I've dealt with Metropolitan Police's finest on many occasions not in a hotel but in a student residence and they have always talked to site management first before being taken to a room and explained the situation for their attendance so can't find it hard to that no hotel staff were aware in this case about the circumstances of the visit.
I hope the Police treated you well in the circumstances and if it was me I'd be reaching for Twitter,USA Today et al about this...someone somewhere made a very poor judgement call....
OK jokes aside - I've dealt with Metropolitan Police's finest on many occasions not in a hotel but in a student residence and they have always talked to site management first before being taken to a room and explained the situation for their attendance so can't find it hard to that no hotel staff were aware in this case about the circumstances of the visit.
I hope the Police treated you well in the circumstances and if it was me I'd be reaching for Twitter,USA Today et al about this...someone somewhere made a very poor judgement call....
#38
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I just don't see the need to be coy about it. Something was going on; not knowing what makes it impossible to judge who, if anyone, was wronged here.
#39
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Well that's my point. Maybe this isn't the time to judge. Let the situation develop, let the OP report back and then you can pronounce your judgement in the 'court of FT'.
#40
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How can we conclude this in the absence of the full facts?
It may have been an incorrect judgement but we can't say if it was a fair conclusion in the absence of all the facts. I wouldn't think it likely we will get those here somehow, because however innocent the protagonist may be, he cannot be impartial and thus any discussion of the potential cause and effect is going to be tinged with his own very partial perspective?
It may have been an incorrect judgement but we can't say if it was a fair conclusion in the absence of all the facts. I wouldn't think it likely we will get those here somehow, because however innocent the protagonist may be, he cannot be impartial and thus any discussion of the potential cause and effect is going to be tinged with his own very partial perspective?
#41
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:Grabs popcorn:
I hope she/he/they gave you a refund after their visit was cut short :P
Looking forward to hearing the real and complete story...albeit likely from only one side :-:
Then again, the "other side" has been known to show their face on many accounts on FT ^
I hope she/he/they gave you a refund after their visit was cut short :P
Looking forward to hearing the real and complete story...albeit likely from only one side :-:
Then again, the "other side" has been known to show their face on many accounts on FT ^
#42
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How can we conclude this in the absence of the full facts?
It may have been an incorrect judgement but we can't say if it was a fair conclusion in the absence of all the facts. I wouldn't think it likely we will get those here somehow, because however innocent the protagonist may be, he cannot be impartial and thus any discussion of the potential cause and effect is going to be tinged with his own very partial perspective?
It may have been an incorrect judgement but we can't say if it was a fair conclusion in the absence of all the facts. I wouldn't think it likely we will get those here somehow, because however innocent the protagonist may be, he cannot be impartial and thus any discussion of the potential cause and effect is going to be tinged with his own very partial perspective?
Dying to know which hotel ....still
#43
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Without going into any bit of whether the hotel was correct in their assumptions or how they arrived at them (they obviously weren't). I don't think that they have any choice but to call the police directly, w/o consulting with the guest (at least in the US, and I can't imagine the response can be any different in the UK). Human trafficking is an extremely serious thing; once the prospect is raised, there really isn't anything the hotel can do besides call the police, step back, and let them handle it.
Step back and consider the reverse of everything which happened here -- a poster on FT saying that there was a pimp/trafficker running an obvious operation out of the room next door. The poster informed the hotel, which took the step of checking with their guest before contacting the police. The poster would then rightly be upset because the hotel had warned the guilty parties, who were long-gone by the time the police had arrived, thus losing a real chance at stopping one of these things.
That said, given the seriousness and complexity of the situation, an upper-level hotel manager should have been on-site and ready to explain and defuse the situation once the police left. I presume that if that had been the case, we wouldn't be reading about it here. I think that is where the hotel failed the OP.
Just my 2 cents...
Step back and consider the reverse of everything which happened here -- a poster on FT saying that there was a pimp/trafficker running an obvious operation out of the room next door. The poster informed the hotel, which took the step of checking with their guest before contacting the police. The poster would then rightly be upset because the hotel had warned the guilty parties, who were long-gone by the time the police had arrived, thus losing a real chance at stopping one of these things.
That said, given the seriousness and complexity of the situation, an upper-level hotel manager should have been on-site and ready to explain and defuse the situation once the police left. I presume that if that had been the case, we wouldn't be reading about it here. I think that is where the hotel failed the OP.
Just my 2 cents...
The GM not being available is absolutely crazy. You should be demanding a full refund for the entire stay (I would have already disputed it on my credit card by now) plus a written apology from Hilton Corporate.
#44
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#45
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Actually, the UK has significantly stricter laws about this kind of thing that the US does, iirc.
stimpy, sorry you had this abominably bad luck and ridiculousness from management. IMO, you should get a comp certificate for an equivalent stay in at least at equivalent level of property; that would be the right thing, and I am not imagining you will necessarily want to get a free stay at this property.
BTW, Dominique Strauss-Kahn would like you to PM him...
stimpy, sorry you had this abominably bad luck and ridiculousness from management. IMO, you should get a comp certificate for an equivalent stay in at least at equivalent level of property; that would be the right thing, and I am not imagining you will necessarily want to get a free stay at this property.
BTW, Dominique Strauss-Kahn would like you to PM him...
Last edited by JDiver; Mar 27, 2012 at 3:45 pm Reason: quivalent period in at least an equivalent property.