Awareness
On-Demand

While on our honeymoon, my husband and I arrived at our hotel very late. We were exhausted but still excited about this special trip. We checked in, but when we tried to open the door to our room, it wouldn't budge. We tried but couldn't get it open.

As it turned out, the resistance we felt was a flight attendant who had been given the room before we arrived. Fearing for her life, she was just trying to keep out an unwelcomed intruder ...us.

After a brief disscussion, we understood the hotel had made a mistake. They were kind enough to upgrade our room, but still. It was a terrible way to start our romantic adventure.

A couple of years ago, I traveled to Los Angeles for a convention. I checked in to a nice 5-star hotel late in the evening. Everything went smoothly until I opened the door of my room. To my surprise, out came someone from the bathroom, in his pajamas, with a toothbrush in his mouth. Even more surprised, he was a friend of mine in town for the same convention.

We both went down to the front desk and told them there had been a mistake. The hotel staff were great. They were very embarrassed and apologized by giving us both complimentary stays and upgraded each of us to their presidential suites. But still the awkwardness of the occurrence stuck in my mind. I thought, if this could happen here, it could happen anywhere. It was an extraordinary experience that could have been a lot worse if we had not known each other.

My husband travels a lot on business. And I often travel with him. After being out for the day, he met us with me and our daughter for dinner. As we returned to the hotel, upon opening the door to our room we were shocked to find that the latch was engaged. And a strange woman inside wearing only a towel. She appeared to be somewhat drunk, confused and began arguing with us. When we demanded to know why she was in our room, she replied, "This is my room." But she has no key. We asked how she got inside? She answered, "I asked housekeeping to open the door." Of course, she was in the wrong room. It was an over-the-top, awkward and unnerving experience for all of us.

While staying in Denver, I decided to work from my room one day. In a bit, housekeeping came by. She was very nice and asked if I wanted my room cleaned? As she cleaned, we struck up a conversation. I asked if she enjoyed her job. She replied, "Oh yes!" And "This is a great hotel to be with." I asked again, how she felt when people were in the room as she cleaned. Her answer surprised me more than just a little.

She said, "If there is a woman in the room, I feel fine. But if there's only a guy, I feel really uneasy. You know? At the hotel, we have certain protocols to follow in that case. She continued, "It's for our safety." I asked her, if there was a way to know when guests were in their room, would that help? Would you feel better? She replied, "Oh yes! That would be a great help. Anything so that I don't feel so isolated during the day." She lit up! "That would change everything. It would be great for all of us!"

I travel frequently for my job. Typically, I am rushing around from the moment I leave my house. From airport to job site to hotel. Then collapsing in my room until the next day, when I do it all again. One perk is that I stay in really nice hotels. However, on two occasions, I have found someone's luggage already in my room. It's unnerving. You assume you're safe but then it happens. You become exposed. Or worse, you expose someone else who think they are in the safety of their room. Being vulnerable is a terrible feeling. Fortunately, on both occasions, no one was in the room at the time. So I was able to back out and leave without incident.

Realizing now that I cannot assume my hotel room to be as safe as my home has caused me to think twice before opening the door. That thought never goes away. And makes me extremely uncomfortable knowing someone else could make this same entry into my room when I'm out for the day.

When my kids were young, we took a 5-day vacation. We were having a great time. On the last day, we decided to extend our stay. I spoke to the front desk and told her we wanted to remain in our room an additional five days. Tehn the kids and I went on another outting. However, when we returned, we found two hotel employees, how should I say, enjoying a private moment, together, in our room. This was not the way I wanted my kids to learn about the firds and the bees. A little late for a do-over I'd say. Those things you can't get back.