A UK Hilton has police raid my room, says I was running a brothel
Mar 27, 2012, 3:49 pm
#46
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We're you sharing a room with Motley Crue? How the heck do you accidentally give the impression you're pimping or hooking in your hotel room??
Mar 27, 2012, 3:49 pm
#47
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The original post seemed to be soliciting some judgement, but perhaps I misconstrued.
I'd certainly like to know whether this was a case of some zealous English 'jobsworth' overreaching or a genuine misunderstanding under the circumstances. That has to be established (reasonably) before I can reach any conclusion. Or perhaps I (we) are not supposed to come to a conclusion and the post is merely for entertainment purposes.
I'd certainly like to know whether this was a case of some zealous English 'jobsworth' overreaching or a genuine misunderstanding under the circumstances. That has to be established (reasonably) before I can reach any conclusion. Or perhaps I (we) are not supposed to come to a conclusion and the post is merely for entertainment purposes.
Mar 27, 2012, 4:10 pm
#48
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As entertaining as this thread is its kind of pointless until we are in receipt of the full facts.
Also the police would have liaised with someone at the hotel prior to entry and would have to have been fairly convinced of some illegal activity or they would not have come to your room. Especially as it was CID that were called out.
Mar 27, 2012, 4:32 pm
#49
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BTW, I know stimpy personally and can guess at some of the details. My guess is that the hotel made a stupid, stupid assumption or two or three. And the fact that the GM was not personally involved to apologize for and rectify their stupid assumption(s) is inexcusable.
To answer your question, stimpy, I would escalate it as far as need be until you feel an appropriate apology has been offered. Too bad Conrad is dead, because that's who I would expect to call me in your shoes.
Mar 27, 2012, 4:58 pm
#50
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..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.
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Just my 2 cents...
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Just my 2 cents...
Even if the OP had a string of people flowing through the room, a direct contact would have stopped it. Bad press is something that will stick with the property a lot longer than being a good community citizen. They blew it plain and simple.
Mar 27, 2012, 5:02 pm
#51
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Surely hotels must see all manner of "odd" things on a regular basis. However wrong they may have been the staff must have had a well founded belief they were redoing the right thing? Otherwise the police would be in constant attendance at many London properties 
Whilst they have clearly got it wrong here, to pillory the staff for trying to do the right thing seems a bit extreme unless there was no possible reason they could reach the conclusions they did except maliciously?
Whilst they have clearly got it wrong here, to pillory the staff for trying to do the right thing seems a bit extreme unless there was no possible reason they could reach the conclusions they did except maliciously?
Mar 27, 2012, 5:28 pm
#52
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Mar 27, 2012, 5:48 pm
#53
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This would be great as a lead in to a Dos Equis most interesting man in the world commercial:
“When Stimp stays at a hotel the police drop by because the noise and seismic disturbance makes it seem like there are twenty women in the room; he is…the most interesting man in the world.
So, Stimpy, for pity’s sake don’t tell the true story, I’d rather stick with the pictures in my head, if it’s all the same to you.
And JD, you will burn in Hell….
“When Stimp stays at a hotel the police drop by because the noise and seismic disturbance makes it seem like there are twenty women in the room; he is…the most interesting man in the world.
So, Stimpy, for pity’s sake don’t tell the true story, I’d rather stick with the pictures in my head, if it’s all the same to you.
And JD, you will burn in Hell….
Mar 27, 2012, 5:55 pm
#56
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??? The goal of contacting the front desk would be to stop the noise next door. If running the perp off accomplishes that then fine. If the guest was looking for their 15 minutes of fame then a direct call to the police (after contacting the local press) would be the thing to do.
(I'm thinking about the trafficking angle here; I could care less about whether somebody is a prostitute or not)
The main point I was trying to make is once a hotel has some reason to suspect this sort of thing is going on, their hands are somewhat tied (no pun intended). I don't see what else they can reasonably do. Remember also that while we're visitors in a hotel, the hotel and its staff are a part of the local community. and so would likely perceive these things differently.
Once again, I'm speaking entirely in hypotheticals, w/o any knowledge or implication regarding the details of stimpy's situation. As I've said, I think that Hilton's (fairly enormous) failure was after the police visit.
Mar 27, 2012, 5:58 pm
#57
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Name The Hotel
In 15 years of travel at over 1000 hotels, this was a first for me. A sharp knock on the door and 3 serious looking CID police asking to speak to us. I invited them in and they asked us a bunch of questions. It became clear that they were told that we were running a prostitution ring or something like that. They quickly could see that we weren't running a brothel or doing anything illegal. They took down our passport details and apologized. When I asked how could they possibly have chosen our room to raid, they said the hotel strongly believed I was running prostitutes and trafficking women. I asked why the hotel didn't say anything to me about this, and police said maybe they were afraid. I was of course stunned by this and after the police left I went down to the front desk and asked for a manager. This was after 5pm on Friday and of course the weasel management had disappeared. The night manager said she knew nothing and could not (I didn't believe this lie at all) call the GM, nor the operations manager til Monday. Thus I feel correct in labeling the management as weasels.
So I got zero apology from the hotel. No reduction on the bill for all the trouble they caused, nor any consideration whatsoever. I'm Hilton Diamond for what that is worth, but still the hotel didn't give a hoot about their terrible error.
My question to the forum is should I contact Hilton corporate about this? Would they do anything? Or is Hilton the type of business that doesn't care?
I don't want to name the hotel just yet. We'll see what happens.
So I got zero apology from the hotel. No reduction on the bill for all the trouble they caused, nor any consideration whatsoever. I'm Hilton Diamond for what that is worth, but still the hotel didn't give a hoot about their terrible error.
My question to the forum is should I contact Hilton corporate about this? Would they do anything? Or is Hilton the type of business that doesn't care?
I don't want to name the hotel just yet. We'll see what happens.
Mar 27, 2012, 5:59 pm
#58
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I'm not completely sure about this. Would the police talk to the hotel management prior to going straight to the room if they'd received a call from someone other than the hotel management? Would be interested to know from someone who knows standard operating procedures in situations like this.
If the management were not informed then I don't think there's anything further to be done and the absence of management at the front desk was probably just unlucky.
If the management did know then they absolutely should have been prepared to man-up and discuss it with the guest and I'd recommend a follow up with Hilton corporate. All the management would have to say was that "this is our policy in these situations, sorry it was a false alarm but we need to act responsibly in all situations to protect all our guests".
The key is whether the hotel management knew or not. Are you pretty confident they knew stimpy?
If the management were not informed then I don't think there's anything further to be done and the absence of management at the front desk was probably just unlucky.
If the management did know then they absolutely should have been prepared to man-up and discuss it with the guest and I'd recommend a follow up with Hilton corporate. All the management would have to say was that "this is our policy in these situations, sorry it was a false alarm but we need to act responsibly in all situations to protect all our guests".
The key is whether the hotel management knew or not. Are you pretty confident they knew stimpy?
You were there. Police visit is documentable.
Damn the torpedoes , full steam ahead to Hilton HQ.
Last edited by HMPS; Mar 27, 2012 at 6:00 pm Reason: Spl
Mar 27, 2012, 6:06 pm
#59
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You have a HHonors Diamond member who has stayed at the property on multiple occasions in the past. He has given glowing reviews of the property. The GM has phoned him on his cell phone. We're not talking about a one-off person unknown to Hilton or the property. At least some courtesy should be extended.
To not at least make himself available during/after such an event is extremely shameful. To make up a story and have the night manager repeat it, only to find flaws it later, well that in itself should be grounds for formal counseling.
Are UK properties corporate owned or franchises?
Mar 27, 2012, 6:06 pm
#60
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Why not take the OP's word at face value when he started the thread ?
Indeed why are you accepting his word NOW ?
Stimpy, it is time to stump these idiots .