Why didn't you have your door bolted / chained? They couldn't have walked in accidentally with a normal key had you done that? (But emergency services, perhaps assisted by the front desk, still could have.)

Anyway, I've been on the other end of this several times over the past decade (in different hotel programs, because it has nothing to do with any specific hotel program), where I've been issued keys to already-occupied rooms. That's with about 170 nights (and 100+ stays) in hotels each year.

Since I do bolt & secure the chain always (unless once in a whille I forget), I can't tell you how many times I might have been on the receiving end had I not done that. I've definitely at least once been on the almost-receiving end when someone was trying to get in my door but couldn't because of my deadbolt, and it turned out that they had been issued a key to the room I was already in. (I heard them trying to get in my door, and opened it to ask what was going on.)

Yes, it has also happened to me (both ways).

The big question (to me) is why does this continue to occur? Shouldn't there be technology in place to prevent this? Do we have to resort to the "squeaky wheel" method? Maybe everyone who experiences this should vow that we will report it - every time.

Having worked in the industry before, if there is a true emergency that requires immediate entrance to a locked room, certain managers on every property have a special master key encoded that can override the deadbolt lock. Also, a lot of hotels are getting rid of the chains for the magnetic L shape latch. While they are good to prevent you from accidentally keeping your room door unlocked and open to anyone, there is actually a way to undo those (we had those magically flip when the doors would close and the room was vacant).

Using a door stop like that, while may be a safety thing, isn't a smart idea in case of an emergency. Better to use that on connecting doors, but those are hard for someone to tamper with.

As long as you use your deadbolt properly, the only person who can override that deadbolt when activated is normally the GM of the property.

It happens occasionally. Humans make mistakes.

I had a room assigned a couple of days ago where the front desk initially told me 307, then, no, it's 304. Of course the key opened 307 not 304, so I called the desk, but also put a note on the door stating it was occupied as well as hanging the DND door sign.

And of course you lock the door.

I've walked in on and been walked in on once. Not great times for either occurrence.

I always flip the deadbolt and secondary lock when I enter a room for more than 5 minutes. I know there's ways to get the bars/chains/etc open, because it's happened to me on the other end when nobody was in the room. (check youtube, it's quite easy).

FCO Courtyard 2008. 10 PM Check-in after a long day of driving from northern Italy. Enter first room: Occupied. Back to front desk for new room assignment after saying YES to the question: "Are you sure it was occupied?" Enter second room: Occupied. Back to front desk to repeat the first conversation and to get another new room assignment. We insist that a manager check the third room before it's assigned to us. Third time was a charm.

From Marriott on site: Some "oops" statements but nothing more. We were glad finally to get a room ready for us and then headed to bar.

About two decades ago, arriving and checking in late, I opened the door to my room and walked in wearing a coat and tie on a heavy metal hair band hanging out. Obviously, front desk gave me the wrong key, so I apologized and left. I am sure I should have known who they were, but I didn't. I thought it was funny, but the band was pretty ticked off at the hotel.

I haven't worked in hotel operations in some time, so I'll defer to anyone with more recent working knowledge. In absence of that, here's my understanding of the issue.

Door locks are dumb. Each lock has a sequence of codes that will open the door. When a key is inserted (or sent via RFID), it looks to see if the key matches the current code and whether the "valid through" date/time has been reached. If both of those checks fail, the lock will look to see if the key matches one of the next codes in the sequence.

If guests never departed early, switched rooms, or lost keys, this problem would largely disappear, as the lock would simply fail to open until that "valid through" date/time was reached. As that's not reality, the only option is for the lock to open as long as the next code in the sequence is correct.

There are going to be times when someone makes a mistake. A Front Desk employee might a mistake. Or, perhaps a guest tells the Front Desk she is checking out a day early but decides to stay. If her keys still works, she might think that she doesn't need to tell anyone that she's staying. There are plenty of other scenarios.

The only way I know to completely stop the problem would be to connect every door lock to the key system. One option would be wi-fi. Obviously, that's a horrible idea because it's prone to hacking. The second option would be to hard-wire every door lock. For some hotels, doing that would require miles of wiring. It would be a very big expense to solve the problem.

Without question, report this every time it happens. It's possible that someone working at the hotel is skipping a step or hasn't been properly trained. But, sometimes hotels can do everything perfectly and the problem will still happen. Hotels know this is a problem...it's just not big enough to warrant spending large sums of cash to fix.

My advice: Always engage the deadbolt.

Ok, it has to be asked... Did the person walking in stick around for a show or turn around & run screaming from the room? :p :D

Cheers.

I ran!!! still not completely over it as I somtimes get these mental blocks............................................ .................................................. ..........................................what was i saying?

A couple of thoughts ... First as a Lifetime Platinum you have obviously stayed in allot of Hotels over a lot of years (even if you are only 29). It doesn't make it okay but this does happen !! I guess this is a learning experience that confirms the lock/latch really works and in this case would have prevented your unwanted visitor ...

No need. Marriott has keys that will by-pass deadbolts. Anyone's shoulder can bypass the chain.

Happened to me as well at a certain hotel owned by a US presidential candidate. Was on the reservation with my father who has the same name and had checked in before me. I come to check in and get my key. When I walked in the room, nobody was there, but there was luggage that didn't look my father's, and a laptop that definitely wasn't his. I walked down to the front desk and it turns out there is another guest with the same name as me and my father and I got a key to that person's room.

I've walked in at least 3 times or more on people in a room. One time was with a nice lady who had just gotten out of the shower. Needless to say she was not pleased. I've never had anyone walk in, but have had people hit the deadbolt. I routinely lock the deadbolt and chain the door just for this sort of thing.

I'm curious as to how you figured that out?:)