Points Scrounger

By deadbolt, I think of the doohickey (to use a scientific term) that works as a chain, so that the housekeeper is faced with a jammed door entry after her key successfully unlocks the mechanism. Formerly, it was an actual chain; now they have a piece on the door that slides into a piece on the frame.

RogerD408

There is a tool to allow them to undo the flip lock as well. I hope that is only available to security or management and not given to all housekeepers. The idea of the housekeepers being able to bypass the deadbolts bothers me and I hope people are reporting those and posting in reviews so others know what to expect. I like putting a chair in front of the door so the "surprises" are kept to a minimum. I've been tempted to get a door screamer to hang on the door. They won't bust through too many times when that goes off!

Points Scrounger

Agreed that would be for an actual emergency, rather than breaking down the door.

Richmond_Surrey

More great plans to invade my privacy and I will stop travelling soon, at least to N. America. I put DND first thing after I check in, because I learned hard way what can happen if I don't do this. I do not need unexpected company in my room. I checked out of hotel once when I caught owner in my room going through my things. I hope Hiltons outside of USA won't bother with this policy.

Amelorn

Ah yes, one incident (albeit a big one) on one night. There are 5 million hotel rooms in the US....multiplied by 365 days per year....do the math.

The "solution" (less 'your safety' and more 'our liability') is to deputize thinly stretched minimum wage workers, mostly women, to discover anything possibly untoward.

dmarge18

I understand their concern, but the invasion of privacy is repulsive. Why should I have to pack up my things and lock my bags every day when I leave? I tend to keep my room as sterile as can be when I'm checked in, and don't need other people tracking things (dirt/bugs/germs, etc.) in, poking around, or heaven forbid rooting through anything. I often have proprietary or official work things in my room, or a passport, or school materials, not to mention personal electronics that are none of their business. What if someone is traveling with a gun, and can't have it on them for a portion of time they are out of the room? Even if it's secured, is there an issue now with 'declaring' it to the hotel to avoid a huge kerfuffle and questioning (another violation of privacy)? The property may own the room, but if I've paid for it I expect privacy when requested. Privacy is protected in the Constitution, the hotel's desire for a false sense of security isn't.

ROCAT

This is being done purely as a "security" measure as a major news outlet was saying that if the hotel was more vigilant then it wouldn't have happened. The policy will not increase safety and it is only theater to make people feel safer and to answer the media.

jtav559

I concealed carry daily to/from work, out in public, at the grocery, and when possible while traveling (quite easy on a road trip, other times not so much). The law, at least in my locality, is rather clear that a rented hotel room is my private domicile while I occupy it. The same laws apply in my hotel room as they do in my living room at home as far as legal possession of a firearm. Ie: you can have it on you, next to you, around you as long as you aren't a felon, drinking, or causing a disturbance. The times I have carried while on the road, but have had to secure my firearm when I could not carry during my day-to-day activities, I have either utilized my car's trunk or the safe in my hotel room. Due to recent law changes, the car option is not as viable as before, so more safe securing will take place in my travels as needed. But while I am in the room, it resides on my desk next to my wallet or on the nightstand.

Now, the hypothetical situation of being at the hotel in the evening, stepping out of the room for some ice or to grab a sandwich, but leaving the firearm in the room but not in the safe (on the desk, in a bag, nightstand, etc) and then housekeeping entering is what concerns me. While still perfectly legal and within the bounds of the law to do the aforementioned, and somewhat of a real possibility, this opens up the guest, the employees, and the hotel to mounds of liability. Or if a housekeeper/maintenance opened a locked safe mistakenly thinking the room was no longer occupied. The onus should not be on the guest to have to go above and beyond the laws and regulations prescribed by the state re: private domiciles and hotel rooms, in an effort to keep a hotel from scrutinizing a guest/causing a seen/creating a potentially dangerous situation. A "man with a gun" call could turn out very badly for all parties involved if a housekeeper called it in without the full context.

All that said, I have placed my firearm in a hotel safe before and the safe malfunctioned. Maintenance had to come unlock it and I am 100% sure he saw what was inside, yet he didn't say 1 word about it to me. I guess I didn't give off a vibe of "I am here to cause trouble."

I understand this is a bunch of pontification and hypotheticals, but stranger things have happened at hotels and I would hate to find myself in a similar situation. It looks like I might be modifying my carrying habits when it comes to stays at Hiltons. Bummer I just qualified as a Diamond too!

storewanderer

They can keep hassling people who travel and people who travel will just get more and more fed up with the whole thing. I stopped letting housekeeping into my room at any hotel after my items were all rearranged in the bathroom and a toothbrush was thrown away (probably better off). I let the owner of that hotel (this was a Choice Hotel) have it and she told me point blank we will inspect every room every day due to the high drug problems in this area (this was a property in rural northeastern California), we do not allow drugs at this property, if you have a problem, you can leave. I told her I have no problem if they inspect my room but I have a problem with them rearranging or arbitrarily disposing of my belongings. She denied that anything was rearranged or disposed but did agree to do the visual inspection of my room when I was there for the following two mornings.

Many properties are pretty thinly staffed and it will cost some labor to have housekeeping enter every room every 24 hours.

Many problems to a reactionary policy such as this but most people will accept it and move on. It will allow the hotels cover for if something goes wrong saying well we have all these precautions but it still went wrong (of course it did). It will cost the hotels more money in labor which will ultimately mean higher prices to all.

NDDomer86

In the case of the Renaissance Baton Rouge (yes, a Marriott property not Hilton), housekeeping used the master key to override the lock/deadbolt several times [even before checkout time] despite a DND sign on the door. Several angry calls to the front desk promised that it wouldn't happen again. Despite the promises, an hour later not only did housekeeping show back up, they were escorted by security who used a tool to pop the security latch open to allow them access to my suite. No, I was not in default with the hotel and no, I had done nothing to cause the hotel to want me out. The doorman already knew who I was when I checked out because he had heard the front desk frantically calling housekeeping to tell them to stop immediately after my previous calls that morning. Needless to say, the stay was comped and I won't be back to this property...

TuxTom

If you're really concerned about your privacy, you should probably turn your computer off, lock your door, put blankets up over all the windows, and never leave your house. Now, if you're a normal functioning human being that's not afraid of their own shadow, you'll see this a just another 'cover your a**' policy so Hilton can limit their liability should something like the Vegas shooting happen at one of their properties. Don't be a sketchy weirdo and you won't have an issue. Being friendly and courteous to the staff goes a long way, and if you're gone all day during a multi day stay you can always tell them you don't want service. They usually appreciate knowing this ahead of time anyway.

365RoadWarrior

Putting terrorism aside, this goes back to my earliest traveling days - 30+ years ago. Hotels used to refer to it as a "welfare check" - checking to make sure no one had died or become incapacitated in the room. It wasn't universal. I experienced it almost randomly across 155 countries. Some places (countries, municipalities) claimed it was some sort of law or regulation. For me, it was an ongoing concern. I frequently traveled with a box of confidential materials that I was legally bound to protect from disclosure, so they went everywhere with me: the gym, restaurants... Today, I'm thankfully paperless.

Voodoo Daddy

"Don't be a sketchy weirdo?" Kind of a crass thing to call people who don't like strangers going through their things, isn't it? It's been well documented that hotel staff in many cases overstep their bounds and invade guests' privacy. I personally have decided to just accept it and move on, but I wouldn't insult someone who values their privacy more than I do.

sdsearch

A couple thoughts:

1. If I only have DND on the door during normal housekeeping hours, but not on the door outside of normal housekeeping hours, will they wait to enter until once I've removed the DND? (After all, i didn't have it on the door for 24 hours. But are they going to assume I did because they didn't check several times during the 24 hours? )

2. If they're going to have a policy such as this, can they please give us separate signs for "do not disturb" vs "housekeeping not needed today"? I have to use the former at Hilton properties because they don't provide the latter. (Some, though far from all, Marriott properties do provide the latter, and in fact give bonus points for using it.)

TuxTom

Bad hotel staff have always been and always will be an issue and this new policy won't change that. The majority of hotel staff, at least across the major chains in the US, are responsible and respectful so if you don't do anything to raise their suspicion, they're not going to bother you.