Hotel rooms should have internal lock?

TheNavygravy · 2025-06-16T15:12:17+00:00

My newly turned 18 year old has just went to Rome with her best friend for a holiday. When they arrived they were greeted by a male Asian receptionist who had very little English or Italian. They checked in and discovered their bathroom was dirty (used soap, towels etc). On highlighting this 5 male cleaners arrived to clean the room. Then they discovered the internal lock to the hotel door doesn’t work (just turns around without engaging the bolt). The receptionist/manager is insisting there is no problem as you can only enter with an electronic key. They don’t feel safe but finding somewhere else will be expensive. They are exhausted and planning to stay at least tonight but my spidey senses aren’t happy. They have seen no female staff and no other guests. Am I unreasonable for thinking all hotel rooms should have working internal locks/deadbolts/chain? Should I interfere in their first solo trip and bite the bullet with paying over the odds for new last minute accommodation?

Boreded · 06/07/2025 19:19

TicklishMintDuck · 05/07/2025 17:11

“Sweetheart”? You have to be seriously thick. There are obviously different types of Asian skin, just like there are different types of white skin, espèce d’idiot.

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You are still missing the point. Some Asians are white…some are black, and some are brown.

You claimed that the original post mentioned skin colour, quoting ‘Asian’. If you read back I said ‘she didn’t mention skin colour’ and your response was:

Try reading the OP again. ‘Asian’

So I repeat and stand what I said, that Asian is not a skin colour. So I think you need to reevaluate who you are calling thick…just saying

TicklishMintDuck · 05/07/2025 17:11

Boreded · 26/06/2025 01:57

Oh sweetheart…you know Asian isn’t a colour right?

Take the Koreans, dark hair and extremely white skin…they literally are seen as more beautiful the less tan they have.
Compare that to Indians with their beautiful brown hair and skin.
Oh but wait, there’s the Russians…they’re super white too, but this time they have light hair.

THERE IS A WHOLE RAINBOW OF SKIN TONES IN ASIA - how on earth have you taken ‘Asian’ as indicative of colour? CRAZY!

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“Sweetheart”? You have to be seriously thick. There are obviously different types of Asian skin, just like there are different types of white skin, espèce d’idiot.

Boreded · 26/06/2025 01:57

TicklishMintDuck · 21/06/2025 19:18

Try reading the OP again. ‘Asian’

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Oh sweetheart…you know Asian isn’t a colour right?

Take the Koreans, dark hair and extremely white skin…they literally are seen as more beautiful the less tan they have.
Compare that to Indians with their beautiful brown hair and skin.
Oh but wait, there’s the Russians…they’re super white too, but this time they have light hair.

THERE IS A WHOLE RAINBOW OF SKIN TONES IN ASIA - how on earth have you taken ‘Asian’ as indicative of colour? CRAZY!

TicklishMintDuck · 21/06/2025 19:18

Boreded · 17/06/2025 23:32

She didn’t mention his skin colour

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Try reading the OP again. ‘Asian’

Cosyblankets · 19/06/2025 21:31

tuvamoodyson · 19/06/2025 18:22

Maybe not as a first language, but they can speak it.

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That was exactly my point thank you for agreeing. How on earth do they do business? The laundry service? The booking service? The clients? How do they communicate?

tuvamoodyson · 19/06/2025 18:22

RaspberryPavlovaPlease · 18/06/2025 08:32

Really? There are many hotels in London where none of the staff has English as their first language.

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Maybe not as a first language, but they can speak it.

Poynsettia · 19/06/2025 06:52

I mean, I think you didn’t need to say he was Asian you could have said he didn’t speak English nor Italian so added language bar……

This language policing is ridiculous- you can see what happened in Rotherham being an extension of this - if you are in Italy and the person doesn’t speak English or Italian I would assume maybe Eastern European so prob knows a little English or maybe Spanish and the girls know a few words.
But Asian -well the girls are unlikely to speak Indonesian, Hindi, Malaysian etc - so quite rightly OP mentions it as an issue.

BeWittyRobin · 19/06/2025 05:32

I mean, I think you didn’t need to say he was Asian you could have said he didn’t speak English nor Italian so added language barrier 🤷🏻‍♀️.

As for the door lock being a keycard only, I have only stayed at hotels with a keycard also when I went to Rome it was keycard only. Like someone else has said if you are that concerned and the girls don’t feel safe book them somewhere else to stay. Failing that, chair against the door for added peace of mind etc. this is something I do when I’ve stayed in any hotel on my own.

Original poster

TheNavygravy · 18/06/2025 22:07

jeaux90 · 18/06/2025 06:55

Fucking hell people, males commit 98% of sexual assaults. The DD was right to be concerned when hotel staff have access to master room cards. She’s not over reacting, she is being smart. OP I hope you get this sorted.

I have travelled the work for work solo for years, and having no lock on the inside would be an immediate and hard nope from me.

Thank you. This is what I (and my daughter) thought, you should really be able to secure from the inside. While they took precautions with a rolled towel and chair the first night they weren’t comfortable so cut this part of the trip short and moved on. Hopefully they’ll have a better trip to Rome in the future.

I honestly don’t know why I’ve had to defend myself so vigorously in a group of women over a post where I was so worried about the safety of my daughter on her first trip without us. Mentioning ethnicity was a mistake, I was rushing and it seemed, at the time, the obvious way to explain the language barrier and I’m unaware if there’s a way to change the post.

I’ve been told I’m racist, insinuating I’ve made it up (why would I?), of my daughter being too immature to travel, of lying because no hotel doors lock from the inside, of being too overprotective and not protective enough because she should move immediately. So much for women being concerned about each other’s safety. The biggest thing I’ve learned is never to come to Mumsnet for advice.

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Original poster

TheNavygravy · 18/06/2025 21:28

Cosyblankets · 18/06/2025 21:25

And nothing about the language?
I wonder how these people who rated it 7 something communicated with them

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Perhaps it has recently changed hands or maybe the receptionist who usually works there does have good Italian/English. This was literally one interaction.

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BarBellBarbie · 18/06/2025 21:27

LettingyougoMovingOn · 16/06/2025 16:14

Yes i agree about the lock
but I'm not sure why you said he was Asian

This

Cosyblankets · 18/06/2025 21:25

TheNavygravy · 18/06/2025 21:20

I’ve already stated, there were no security concerns raised in the reviews we read.

They checked out early as they weren’t happy and have moved on - to a hotel with an internal lock thankfully.

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And nothing about the language?
I wonder how these people who rated it 7 something communicated with them

Original poster

TheNavygravy · 18/06/2025 21:25

MauriceTheMussel · 18/06/2025 21:09

Why can’t you just own it instead of digging the hole? Just retract and say “yeah, sorry. I should have just said there was a language barrier” - after all, you yourself have said in protest that “the issue is he didn’t speak Italian or English”. So focus on the issue. Doneso.

Edited

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Yes, I should have explained it better without mentioning ethnicity. I was kinda preoccupied with the issue at hand and was not thinking properly of the best way to word it without offending anyone.

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Original poster

TheNavygravy · 18/06/2025 21:20

Cosyblankets · 18/06/2025 21:13

What did the reviews say? Not just the score? The written ones?

I’ve already stated, there were no security concerns raised in the reviews we read.

They checked out early as they weren’t happy and have moved on - to a hotel with an internal lock thankfully.

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Original poster

TheNavygravy · 18/06/2025 21:15

springtimemagic · 18/06/2025 20:44

She’s racist but won’t acknowledge it

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Maybe you should spend more time tackling the real blatant racism all over social media instead of picking on mothers who were in the moment worried about their child (and quickly bashed out an explanation that might not have been grammatically or politically correct).

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Cosyblankets · 18/06/2025 21:13

What did the reviews say? Not just the score? The written ones?

MauriceTheMussel · 18/06/2025 21:09

TheNavygravy · 18/06/2025 21:07

FFS, it was a quick way of explaining that there was a significant communication issue due to a language barrier. I should have said there was a ‘person’ (so not to be misogynistic) that they could not explain the perceived issue to because despite being in Italy and speaking Italian the person was not Italian so had no Italian and nor did they speak any English - apart from the sentence “no problem.”

Why can’t you just own it instead of digging the hole? Just retract and say “yeah, sorry. I should have just said there was a language barrier” - after all, you yourself have said in protest that “the issue is he didn’t speak Italian or English”. So focus on the issue. Doneso.

MauriceTheMussel · 18/06/2025 21:07

Katemax82 · 17/06/2025 21:48

That's not the issue ffs

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Everyday racism IS an issue for me and many others, thx.

Original poster

TheNavygravy · 18/06/2025 21:07

FFS, it was a quick way of explaining that there was a significant communication issue due to a language barrier. I should have said there was a ‘person’ (so not to be misogynistic) that they could not explain the perceived issue to because despite being in Italy and speaking Italian the person was not Italian so had no Italian and nor did they speak any English - apart from the sentence “no problem.”

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Tandora · 18/06/2025 21:01

I’d pay for another room but I also don’t understand why you thought to include the man was Asian.

Original poster

TheNavygravy · 18/06/2025 20:58

LadyLucyWells · 18/06/2025 20:47

This is the truth (ex hotel worker, many years).

The electronic key card system can always gain entry to rooms. There is usually also a manual key that can be inserted into the door lock system to override in the event of the key card not working/batteries flat.

The only staff issued with master key cards would be very senior and night managers. Master override keys would be secured in a safe.

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They can’t override the deadbolts or chains though (that many hotels have). She is used to staying in Premier Inns (due to trips to London and for sporting competitions) which all have a physical internal lock. She’s definitely learned not all hotels are the same and to be more prepared.

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Original poster

TheNavygravy · 18/06/2025 20:52

ohcmon · 18/06/2025 05:11

Don't want to kick anyone when they're down but if 5 Asian male cleaners and 1 Asian male receptionist are enough to make her cry, maybe she should start small travelling to London first or something?! See if she can cope there with an overnight stay first.

I know it was the fact that there was no extra door lock (which again is the situation in many nice hotels as well), but most people especially with another local Italian friend would try to think of a solution first.

I'm not at all from the "tough love, toughen up" school of thinking, but at 18 travelling with a friend I cannot imagine calling up my mummy to cry because of some cleaners who had done me no harm at all (calling my mum to ask for advice maybe). I know teens who call their mum crying because they've lost their phone/wallet/etc abroad which makes more sense. Anyway I know it's not my place to say what your DD should or shouldn't cry about but yeah...

Since several people have said they would not stay there and I should move her she was probably right to be concerned. She was obviously phoning for advice but became upset on the phone as it’s her first time away (and they were overtired from travelling through the night).

She is well travelled just not independently and is about to move to London so this year will be a fast growing up experience. She also cries easily, some people wear their heart on their sleeves and there’s nothing wrong with that.

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LadyLucyWells · 18/06/2025 20:47

CatamaranViper · 16/06/2025 19:47

When I worked in hotels (big, well known chain) the doors didn't have additional locks or chains, just the keycard. The reason was in case of an emergency, staff need to be able to open the door. Imagine you're in there and you have a medical emergency but you've double locked the door. That's what we were always told to say to guests who asked

This is the truth (ex hotel worker, many years).

The electronic key card system can always gain entry to rooms. There is usually also a manual key that can be inserted into the door lock system to override in the event of the key card not working/batteries flat.

The only staff issued with master key cards would be very senior and night managers. Master override keys would be secured in a safe.

springtimemagic · 18/06/2025 20:44

MauriceTheMussel · 18/06/2025 20:37

Asian people might also be Italian-born and native, y’know. An ethnicity is not a synonym for nationality.

She’s racist but won’t acknowledge it

MauriceTheMussel · 18/06/2025 20:37

Asian people might also be Italian-born and native, y’know. An ethnicity is not a synonym for nationality.