PDILLM

If I hear of someone coming in my room in the middle of the night I'm giving a verbal warning and then I'm "scared for my life". If someone gets hurt because a hotel screwed up I imagine there will be a lawsuit against the hotel from both sides......

AndrewTravels

A fire alarm is a disruption aimed at saving people's lives...where as a stranger walking into my room is not necessary and provides no benefit. It is a mistake made by the hotel. Had I not woken up, the person could very well have stolen from me or worse.

To bring up another point of discussion...How would you feel if you were changing in your room and someone walked in on you...

AlxStevens

This has happened to me (undressed, though not naked) and the person in question immediately backed out of the room clearly shocked that it wasn't their room.

There was clearly no bad intent on anyone's part, and no harm no foul.

If you had suffered any real harm of any kind I'd be more inclined to agree, but you didn't.

more4less

This has happened to me twice, and both times in Mexico City.

1st time at the Sheraton Centro Historico(now a Hilton hotel). Only a few minutes after I checked in, so I had not even started unpacking.

The 2nd time at the Sheraton Maria Isabel, when I was about to enter in the shower with no clothes!

At night I always put down the lock but during the day I forget it most of the times.

They did not offer any compensation and I did not ask for it, but a few SPG points would be quite logical, even more if it happens in the middle of the night, as to the OP.

adamak

This is a safety issue and not just about disrupting OP's sleeps. Even if a strange walks into my room during daylight, I'd still be very concerned. I wouldn't expect compensation, but a real, serious apology is needed. And that's for both parties. I wouldn't want to walk into someone else's room in the middle of the night either.

morphius909

Never had the full on uninvited guest, but many times get the door jiggle at midnight...drunk patron I assume!

belynch

Agreed. I just set-up a strawman because you stated that you felt the sleep disruption was why you deserved compensation, which I found bizarre.

True. Although there is some personal responsibility for taking reasonable measures for protecting yourself. Dead bolts, they're not just for keeping the door propped open while you get ice.

That's a rather open ended question and very much on a sliding scale, although the net result would almost always be "joke's on them."

Out of my Element

Here's a recent thread about a similar incident.

We all are responsible for our own safety. If you don't throw the deadbolt, then you're not being responsible

platbrownguy

Welcome to FT, AndrewTravels. It's unfortunate that someone got the key to the wrong room, but like everyone else has mentioned, it would have been entirely avoided if your deadbolt was locked.

The problem with getting a full night's compensation is that if the hotel ends up internalizing these sorts of costs, people who do lock their doors end up paying for those who don't. This argument may be a bit oversimplified, but I think it's a valid point.

This would only be a security if there were no deadbolt, or if (as is the case at some W hotels, for instance) the secondary locking mechanism has been constructed in a way that prizes form over function and whose use is not self-explanatory, resulting in non-use.

Mrgolfer21

I'm not sure how the card readers work at the front desk these days, but I used to work at a hotel at the front desk and obviously gave out many keys during my years. The key readers back then (10 years ago) allowed you to put in the room number and then enter the amount of days you wanted the keys good for. The keys would automatically deactivate at noon on the last day (checkout time). If, at any time, you tried to create a key for a room that already had a key active for it, it would beep at you. The reason for this is if you are making a new key, it would disable the other keys in the system. Or, you can select copy and not disable the other keys and give them a new key (for when they left their keys in the room or just need another key for somebody).

I am probably not telling a whole lot of people on here any new information, but I can tell you from my experience at the front desk, when I created a new key for a room and it beeped at me, I always did a double take to make sure I had the right room and that I was not creating a key to the wrong room or checking somebody into a room that was already occupied (and thus, disabling the current guest's keys). Basically, if they are anything like they were (and i've watched them make the keys when i've been at hotels and it seems like they are), checking somebody into a room that is already occupied involves some pretty big missteps on the part of the hotel staff. There is the occasional computer glitch that may mess up checking somebody into the room, but again, I would think the rep would be able to see the room checked in and who is staying there (it was always the last screen i saw before i went to make keys).

But as others have stated, when it comes to your safety and peace of mind, rely on yourself and put the locks on.

Recreation

Yes, you should bolt the door. However, just having a stranger attempt to enter my room in the middle of the night, even WITH the door bolted, would be enough to scare the wits out of me.

AND it's no minor point that you cannot deadbolt your door when you leave. That leaves your things vulnerable to theft, or worse. Once someone is in your room, he could just wait for you to return.

Sorry, but there is no excuse for these types of security lapses. I'm a woman, and exercise precautions that some of you never have to think about -- like parking in a well-lit spot close to the door. Even so, I would never blame the hotel if I was mugged or assaulted in their parking lot. Controlling the world's population is not within their scope of duty. But having systems in place to ensure that they don't hand a perfect stranger the key to my room? Yes, that is DEFINITELY within their scope of duty. And if they can't master something so basic, then they should get out of the hotel business.

So, yeah, from my POV, even these "minor" lapses in security should result in severe consequences, in order to drive home the point that these mistakes are not acceptable. Because the difference between a minor breach and a major breach is simply how nice the guy is who you just mistakenly handed the keys to.

samwkchan

I haven't had such poor experiences, but a similar one which is not the fault of the hotel. A seemingly drunk guy knocked at my door in the midnight and wanted to enter. I was woken up by him and opened the door narrowly to see what's happening. He claimed that it was his room and wanted to come in. Slightly frightened by the guy, I called the room service and asked for security guards. Eventually, it was found that the guy was staying in the room just above us, but he left the elevator too early.

From that day onwards, I know the importance of locking the door properly.

justspg

Most hotels use saflok which is a program used to make keys. you can make a key via the PMS system or via the program in the computer itself. If you check in someone and the room is occupied, then the computer will pop up saying room is occupied, etc. The only way I can think of where this was messed up was a room was preblocked and keys were made in advance of the arrival. Sometimes rooms are changed throughout the day and someone forgot to change the room number on the key packet and make new keys. It happens, especially for elite members where keys are made and rooms preblocked prior to arrival. If it happens to others, then a complete screw up occurred.

jason8612

Happened a few times to me, but I was entering a occupied room. I was checked in and given a room which the key worked, but I guess the front desk agent earlier did not check the guests correctly into their room.

belynch

Not discounting anything you say here, but I think a much more likely scenario is someone breaks into your house while you're out of town. The reality is that if someone intends to commit a crime, they are going to try and commit a crime.

Assuming the dupe key assignment was nothing more than an unintentional error with the front desk, the person who entered the room (assuming no one was in there) would have quickly turned around upon realizing someone was occupying the room they were given access to. Maybe I haven't completely lost faith in humanity that the average person wouldn't see a crime of opportunity if they go into my room on accident, see my iPad sitting on the desk, and swiping it before going back down to the front desk and getting a key to a new room. And most people know that key card data is traceable, so it's far from a perfect crime.

Basic personal safety precautions should always be followed when traveling. Again, that's not to say that the hotel doesn't have culpability (or liability) if they gave someone unauthorized access to your room, but we should all be smart enough as frequent travelers to understand that this risk exists whenever we travel.

Sometimes the person committing the crime is a hotel employee, a fellow guest, an opportunistic person, and sometimes it's the people serving in a capacity designed to enforce safety and security ().

(And a mod should really consider moving this thread to the travel safety and security forum as it isn't unique to Starwood).