GUWonder

According to police and other authorities involved in such matters, the early bird special goes to prostiutes who show up early and/or frequently on a given afternoon/evening/night and have to pay their own cover fee to be allowed to be available at "houses of ill repute" for the given sub-24 hour period. Do most of these places open only at or around 7:30pm? I suspect they open way earlier, like closer to 3-5pm, to cater to locals just after work.

PointWeasel

Personally, I would not accept this answer that was sent to you obviously directly from the property after Starwood Corporate opened the file. Call Corporate back and advise them that this response is both unclear an unacceptable. Language barrier notwithstanding, this is a annoying response.

It reminds me of a the nonsense replies I got from the Marriott Reforma in Mexico City and after 3 at bats with Mr Marriotts office lending a helping hand, the property was reprimanded and the policy was adjusted accordingly.

For those of us that travel internationally, you have likely stayed at some Starwood properties where the franchisee is still doing things the old way or making up bizarre policies on the fly. Only when Starwood Corporate gets involved do things change.

jphripjah

So do you think they should let any local male walk in, watch a guest enter an elevator, then enter that elevator, ride up the elevator with the guest, and follow the guest as he/she exits the elevator and walks toward his/her room?

Fancy hotels in developing countries often don't let locals who aren't guests hang out in the common areas or come into the hotel unless they have a reason. That's for the security of the guests, who may be paying more for three nights in the hotel than some locals make in a year. Your colleague was a local who wasn't a guest. They stopped him and asked him his business in the hotel, he told them, he was allowed to stay. It seems they handled the situation perfectly.

GUWonder

It happens daily without incident at a huge number of properties, whether it should or not.

Of all the "fancy hotels" visited by me in many developing countries, they all rely upon locals for business even when not residing at the hotel. The F&B revenue per local in the hotel tends to far exceed the spending of the average registered hotel guest in the same when it comes to these markets.

GUWonder

The interesting finds of news alerts.

Apparently (former) "overnight managers" at least at some Starwood hotels do pay attention to who is registering at night and then sharing the details:

http://www.etonline.com/news/134741_...shian_Cheated/

.... apparently they aren't all just watching out for prostitution on premises.

clublounger

CLEARLY they ARE !!!

Dr. HFH

Nor would I guess is she likely to be working in the hospitality industry again anytime soon.