To not sleep in a room I can't lock with 20mo?

[guild]

On holiday with 20mo. Just me and her in a room. Room has a sliding door balcony and the door won't lock (lock is broken). It's not a single balcony, it's one long balcony that connects all the rooms on this floor (maybe 10 or 12).

In theory, anyone from another room could come in in the night. I've contacted the emergency number but they don't see it as an emergency and won't change us to a room where the door locks. It's a budget hotel and there's no reception during the night. I cannot sleep knowing anyone could come into the room and harm us or take DD without me knowing.

Would you sleep under these conditions?

After being in a hotel room many years ago where the doors were left unlocked somehow and someone came into the room via the patio doors and accessed the safes (all set up) I really don’t think you are being unreasonable.
The people stole next doors safe contents and tried our door, but I was up being sick so scared them off.
We were on the second floor, they must have climbed up outside.
I would not be happy at all if I was you!

I would be more concerned about the risk of your child falling from the balcony - is it safe?

Have you contacted Reception and requested a change of room?

Whatever you do, be sure to leave an extremely negative review on Trip Advisor.
Hope you get it sorted, OP. I wouldn't be happy, either.

I’d be more worried about the toddler getting out into the balcony then some random stranger breaking in.

I woke up one day and found my toddler half way out of a window on holiday ! I wouldn’t stay anywhere which could be dangerous - talk to reception

I haven't read the whole thread but the balcony door where I am now has no lock. It clicks shut and has no handle on the outside so can't be opened. I'm not at all worried.

Nope.
At the very least, a room should be secure.

Yeah but not so insecure that toddlers can break them, which is the main safety issue here I think

We had a very hot room and we left the balcony door ajar (with curtains closed) and put chairs in front of the door so anyone coming in would make a noise. Can you put furniture / luggage/ bottles in front of the doors so the noise would wake you? I would like to reassure you that the chances of anything happening are very low.

These comments make me so fucking angry. Every day there’s attacks on women and children in the news, and many more that don’t even get reported and then when a woman wants to sleep in a locked hotel room, a fairly basic requests, outcome people like this to shame her for being concerned about her safety and calling her dramatic.

SHES ALLOWED TO WANT TO FEEL SAFE FFS, especially in a hotel room she’s paid for.

It's like no one ever kidnapped a child from a hotel room.
Oh wait.

Of course the chances are low , but imagine if OPs child was abducted, itll be no comfort to say, its a vanishingly rare thing to happen.

I'm quite sure the mccanns would say dont sleep there.

Absolutely I’d be furious if I was given a hotel room that didn’t have a working lock on it - it’s really not unreasonable to expect that your room can be completely locked.

And that’s without adding a toddler into the mix. which adds a whole different dimension of horror to the situation.

I know hotel room doors are not the most secure (I’m another one that travels with a wedge to help further secure athe door) but most rooms you have the decision of whether or not to sleep with the windows open and most places they don’t act as an easy entrance from a different room.

sounds like the hotel haven’t classed it as an emergency as they know they should sort it out and can’t be bothered - most of the time that will be through laziness or disorganisation, but just occasionally it will be because someone has bad motives and wants to access the room or it’s guests. And if the hotel is lazy about fixing things like that and more people get to know about it the bigger the likelihood that somebody else will know about the dodgy door; be it somebody who has overheard the room owner complaining about the problem at reception or by the door itself, or on the phone, or they’ve heard hotel staff saying about it or previous guests complaining and so on.

I would be tempted to ring their booking line this morning and ask what their policy is on providing secure rooms - hopefully they will explain that of course the rooms are secure, we take that very seriously, enabling you to say well why haven’t you fixed the problem or moved me to a different room? If you have to stay another night or more, hopefully they will move you.

good luck - hopefully they are suitably apologetic and you managed to get some sleep last night!

I agree too.
I have a relative who travels a lot with work and he always uses a door wedge, as people coming into hotel rooms is not uncommon. There have been multiple accounts on here of women finding someone in their room.
Added to that a balcony that can be accessed adds another danger for a child.

Absolutely. The cool girls are out in force on this thread 🙄

The chances of anything happening overnight are slim and easily dealt with temporarily by putting an item of furniture (bedside chest?) or suitcase against the area where the door opens to create a noisy obstruction if anyone tries to get in or your toddler tries to get out. I'd be far more concerned about leaving the room empty with all my stuff in it, which is far more likely to happen. Anyone could walk in and steal your bags while you're out.

As PPs have said, are you sure that the doors aren't designed in such as way as to be impossible to open from the balcony but easily opened from inside in case of emergency/ fire?

If you don't have a door wedge, roll up a towel or bathmat and push it hard against the bottom of the door. It acts like a wedge and stops the door opening.

Put something against the door and complain again.

We slept with open balcony doors last year and someone broke in, they definitely moved around our room and next to my bedside as we found my handbag outside and it was taken from next to my bed.

Same with DH, where they took his wallet out of the bedside table.

The one evening we didn't put the wallets into the safe.

I love sleeping with open windows/doors but not anymore if there is a chance you can access it from the outside.

OP, post on Twitter and Trip Advisor now about your situation: take photos and put them up. That might get the management motivated.

I wouldn't accept this for myself, as an adult.

Drunk and confused people do wander into the wrong rooms, especially where the rooms all look the same.

Bad men do exist, too.

I agree it's probably what I'd have been worried about but OP mentions people getting in which is very rare but not impossible.

How would anybody who wants to take a baby know the lock is broken, unless you told everybody, and why would they do it when the mother is in the room to wake up and see them?
It's OK for a couple of days until they fix it.

I wouldn't be ok with that. Mainly because your room is not secure, people working at the hotel know that, and other people may know that. They are more likely to go after your property than you (even less your baby) but robberies go wrong.

Changing a door lock is not a big job, and there is no good reason to drag their heels.

She is in a hotel surrounded by strangers. I understand her anxiety.

>>These comments make me so fucking angry.
SHES ALLOWED TO WANT TO FEEL SAFE FFS, especially in a hotel room she’s paid for.<<

I bet you wait around for things to be offended by so you can swear and be angry, and tell others that they should think the same as you.

Sandy hook
Cleo Smith
Susie jaeger

Just a quick Google, probably lots more.
Again it's cold comfort if it's your child that goes missing.