Loren Pechtel

Somebody sufficiently travel-wise, certainly. I think this is an idiot vlogger who didn't realize what had happened.

Where's the crime?

Safety at risk? Until the hotel systems implement room allocation securely (which will require a substantial change to the software--I know how to write it but it's a royal pain to do) it's sometimes going to happen.

As for more towels--it doesn't sound like a lack of towels caused the problem. She appears to have been walking around naked. I've done it more than once--I wasn't going out, I saw no reason to get dressed again.

Why would you expect something to be at hand?

But by his view it's his room, nobody else has a right to privacy in it.

This. It's someone not travel-wise that didn't know double-booked rooms happen and thus didn't realize the situation. It's never happened to me, outside this board I've never heard of it. (I'm not a road warrior like many of you. I found this place in looking for more information on what travel we do.)

GUWonder

I think the police report interest is based in priming the ground for potential civil litigation in case the OP ends up discovering that their naked images from the room were making the rounds on the internet, via messaging groups or otherwise.

PUCCI GALORE

What about her clothes? or were those too out of reach? The bedspread? pillows?

Whilst we're about it - where is the OP since this sensational thread saw the light of day?

Does it sound reasonable if you have had someone come into your room whilst you are disporting yourself naked - and the seems reasonable to me - someone enters your room telephone in camera mode in hand and instead of ordering him out (most people would have fled I suspect) you then come on Flyertalk to ask what best to do about it? I'd know exactly what to do and it would not be to come on the internet to discuss what to do. If it was a genuine error and the person had left tout de suite, I'd warn the Front Desk and that would be that. What is alleged here is much more serious, and I would have had the police come to this unnamed hotel in this unnamed city.

GUWonder

People seek advice or share experiences in different ways and for different reasons. That the OP did here shouldn’t be a surprise. That’s FlyerTalk since the beginning.

The OP was advised that it may not be wise to say too much more here too, as it can complicate the legal picture if needing to sue the other parties said to be involved in the situation. For better or for worse, life includes the sensational.

About the clothes, towels, sheets, and bedspread use, I think watching too much Hollywood, Bollywood or whatever may be the European equivalents gives people ideas that are better suited for the TV and device screens and theaters than real life. A person who feels physically vulnerable during an intrusion should be preparing to defend themselves with firm objects that don’t minimize PSI force when landing on the body of a potential assailant. Clothes/towels and sheets/bedspread — the latter of which may take more time to pull off and use than it’s worth — don’t qualify for that (since they blunt blunt force), even as at times they may be used for some limited defensive purposes. Keeping the hands busy with a towel or trying to put on an underwear would be the last thing I’d be doing if I was concerned an assault against me or another was possible. And the sheet/bedspread idea is the worst of the lot. It restricts mobility, and mobility is essential in a fight or flee situation.

I don’t know in which city this incident happened, but it’s not unusual everywhere for the police to have more urgent things to do than rush to a situation where they don’t perceive an imminent intervention is required to protect a person from bodily harm and when no physical harm is reported to have taken place or been attempted.

“You mean the hotel messed up and checked someone else into the same room as you while you were in the room and the unwitting intruder left without harming or threatening you? Talk to the hotel.” — Isn’t that the kind of thing that could be said if calling 911 or 112 or whatever emergency services line?

anonymousquestioner

Exactly this. My towel was hanging on the wall within arm's reach of where the intruder was standing, as was the shelf/closet where most of my clothes and belongings were stored. I was standing in a sort of corridor formed by the wide king bed and a wide desk/drawer. My options were to step forward, toward the intruder, or backward toward the window (vanity curtain in place, but still flooding this room with light). Within reach, there was a tightly fitted bed (nothing to grab), a remote control, and a pod coffee machine. I was shocked. I didn't know if I was going to have to fight this man. Ultimately, after realising he was probably just going to continue recording rather than necessarily move further into the room, I backed away and crouched behind the bed while continuing to ask him to leave. I truly don't know why this is reaction so hard for some people to imagine or understand.

The hotel told me "you don't need to contact the police". I was feeling very disturbed and I was embarrassed to be feeling so upset. It seemed like everyone in the building was looking at me (of course this was probably mostly my imagination), and every time I saw someone vaguely matching the appearance of the intruding guest (they had been wearing a baseball cap, their camera phone was blocking most of their face for most of the time, and I was fixated on their posture and their camera phone rather than their face), I was trying to get a sense of whether they were looking at me, or sharing their phone with other people, laughing, or otherwise talking about me. So at the time, I just wanted to be out of the room/hotel, and I wasn't sure that this was something I could or should bring to the police. Again, I'm not American but I have to travel to the US often for conferences, work visits, etc., and so that gave me extra pause for thought— if the hotel was saying calling the police wasn't necessary, what if I get flagged for wasting police time or something? In hindsight, I may have made different choices. But, again, I was feeling humiliated and very upset at the time and I made the best choices I could think to make. I just wanted to leave.

I have subsequently reported this incident to the police, and they are now declining to investigate on the basis that the hotel gave implicit consent for the man to enter my private space (against my consent— I repeatedly asked him to leave) and to film me naked (also without my consent) when they gave him an access card and directed him to enter my room. They will only investigate if the intimate footage (non-consensual pornography) is found to have been disseminated, which could have already occurred or may occur at any time in the future. So that's great. Thanks </Major Global Hotel Brand/>.

Some people on this thread have offered helpful suggestions and some kind words. Thank you! Others, not so much. Oh well.

PUCCI GALORE

Has this actually happened to you? It has to me and ,trust me, he left faster than he came in. It was some years ago but that was Nigeria. Lagos to be exact. No one was filming anything but this person demanded to know what I was doing I was more angry than terrified and got him out. I do not intend to upstage this tale with my own, as the OP has already put this into the public domain. So with respect, I am speaking from experience thank you very much.

Anyhow this is all pure speculation, let us wait and see what the OP comes back and tells us.

enviroian

If your a frequent traveler like most of us on here it's going to happen to you at least once over your years on the road. It's happened to me--both sides. The first time I walked in on someone who was obviously startled and I immediately and instinctively (like I would have thought most people do) say "oh my goodness sorry" and shut the door instantly and went back to the desk to get it sorted out.

The other time someone walked in on me but I was at my hotel room desk. He also said instinctively "sorry!" and closed the door. I didn't bat an eye and just went on my business.

oh well. Looks like the OP heeded the advice here and stopped yakking on social media.

GUWonder

While most accidental/unintended intruders would just leave right away, some do not. Different people respond in different ways when surprised — whether the intruded upon or the intruder.

See above, OP returned.

Great that you didn’t feel as terrified and vulnerable as angry. For those of us who have been in vulnerable situations and/or felt threatened with an intrusion or attempted intrusion during our travels, rushing for the towel, sheets and underwear is more a cultural product than a practical product for self-defense. I am speaking from experience too.

I did write that I use an on-the-floor door-stopper at hotels. People don’t start doing such things for no reason.

GUWonder

Experience teaches that intrusions can be very disturbing — even when no physical scars are the product — and lead to a change in comfort level or even behavior. I hope this incident doesn’t turn you off from traveling, whether on personal or business travel. Some revisions in habits may be able to up the comfort level in future travels and reduce the odds of such intrusions happening: use the deadbolt, use door stopper wedges, etc. to make the door harder to open; book the room with an additional guest and maybe even children listed in the room count and provide an uncommon name for that additional adult guest who is neither on the trip nor otherwise coming around; try to otherwise avoid coming off as being an easy target (whether it’s by carrying too much luggage by one’s self or other things); and be careful about the conditions under which the room door is opened for others; checking the room on arrival for signs of whether another guest has recently used the room (perhaps to quickly use the toilet before leaving the room to get their stuff or go out for the day).

While the chances of a hotel guest becoming a target for intentional bodily harm from a stranger is extremely low in most major brand hotels, things can happen. Fortunately most people are socialized to be good people and a loud commotion usually gets help. The most susceptible targets to violence and harassment in the hotels are probably the hotel staff themselves — more so the housekeepers — and yet it seems like most hotel workers don’t encounter worse than some angry customers who are just huffing and puffing but won’t do worse there.

I hope you get the trail you need in case something makes the rounds that you would rather not have see any light of day and need to pursue the matter via court action. The hotel really should try to inform the guy with the phone in hand about the potential risks of having any unauthorized recording of you that may have taken place.

Hotels generally try to get hotel guests to avoid bringing in the police more than they perceive as in their business interests. [They also may not want to have a track of incidents that show a pattern of problems that can come up as being a sign of a pattern of negligence or other problems.] Hotels also try to button up when told about potential litigation coming from a customer. So don’t be surprised if your complaints don’t get much of a response from the hotel unless and until a lawyer is involved.

Loren Pechtel

This. Hollywood lets the damsel shield herself, reality often does not. And seconded about the sheets--worse than useless. I've walked around hotel rooms naked a decent number of times, typically in areas devoid of cover-up materials. (You walk in open spaces--and open spaces don't have much in the way of convenient modesty-protectors.)

Yup, 911 if he refuses to leave, but after the fact there's no imminent hazard.

My thought, also--this is a civil issue between you and the hotel. At present no crime has been committed.

DenverBrian

Why are you protecting this </Major Global Hotel Brand/>?!? One of the primary purposes for FT is information dissemination. Let fellow FTers know which hotel this is so we can all avoid it.

GUWonder

I assume it’s a Hilton-affiliated property.

For the purposes of civil liability, my advice to myself if in such a situation and considering litigation: the details should be protected and provided only to a party that will pursue matters on my behalf and only on my own behalf without piling on trouble for me. But that’s just me.

I’ve been walked in on by and walked in on other guests at various hotels. It has happened at various hotels and hotel brands. In some part, I think room upgrades and pre-arrival room assignments can be a factor in at least some of the frequency of this happening. I think employee or hotel sloppiness can definitely be a part of this kind of stuff, so I understand why this kind of information too would be appreciated. And yet ….. back to the above paragraph.

DenverBrian

By that logic, millions of people posting on Google and TripAdvisor are being sued by hotel companies. Except...they're not.

GUWonder

Indeed they’re not.

The lawsuit of concern about which I’m talking would not have the hotel as plaintiff. It would be with the intruded-upon hotel guest as plaintiff while the hotel and/or other hotel guest would be the defendants.

Even in the absence of litigation concerns, people who feel at risk of being intruded upon may have their own privacy concerns with sharing too much information here. There are people — including on FT — who use info posted online to do things that the potential providers of additional info may not want to facilitate or welcome. For good reason FT has long had a policy where badgering members for additional personal info is against the rules and where members should be respected for having their own boundaries about what to share and not share.

Eastbay1K

This is not a "who is right or wrong" post. The hotel actually gave the man explicit consent to enter what he expected to be his private space. He might have had an immediate reaction to expect that you might be the intruder. Now, why he decided to pick up the phone and record, that's another story. But still, he had an expectation that this was his private space.

I've both walked in on someone else, and have had someone else walk in on me. I'm not female, nor was naked. It probably happens the same way that airlines assign a duplicate seat. The infallible computer. I'd say that was the only way, but many many years ago, a reputable chain hotel gave me a key (remember those) and I entered to find a man jumping out of bed and scrambling to find cover.

So, I'm not discounting what you experienced, but to this unintelligent poster, it appears to be a civil matter between you and the hotel. And the hotel should make right by you.