Would you let your child do this or am I over the top?

[KrustyBurger]

Currently on holiday in the USA. We are staying at a Marriott so not a motel type set up.

Husband asked our daughter who is 12 to run some rubbish down to the bin next to the lift, she would have to go past about 12 room doors (6 each side).

I said no, il do it as you never know who’s in the rooms and it only takes 5 seconds for someone to open the door and yank her in and you wouldn’t even know which room it is or where she is.

Husband said ok but gave me a strange glance.

Was I being over the top? Or would other parents do the same. It’s nearly 10pm at night here.

Husband's a bit of a clean freak and our bin is full hence not just leaving it.

Wtf

I feel like I've slipped into an alternate dimension reading this thread.

What's being in a foreign country got to do with it?

If you're not totally comfortable with it, that's fine.... personally in a place I don't know well or at all I'd err on being safe. If people looked at crimes committed in hotels maybe more people wouldn't be as critical of you...Def not OTT.

I was going to reply but this sums it up perfectly!

I know how you feel about this and you’re in the states so it’s kinda scary TBH but she’s probably okay.
Our 5 year old year child years ago ran into a lift in the states and the doors shut and the lift went up with our 5 year old in it and I really panicked. Thankfully the lift came back down and he was still in it but it was the hardest few minutes of my life. I also lost my son in a shop (he was hiding) and I told the shop people (in the states) he was lost. They immediately locked the doors and shut the place down and announced he was missing. They work immediately to get your child back. They are actually very helpful and so it’s not as bad as the reputation the states has.
I think 12 is a lot older and it’s down the hallway so they are probably okay however it you’re not okay then don’t allow it till you’re ready. Nothing like choosing to do something you’re not happy with because others say it’s okay only for something to go wrong. Do what makes you comfortable and let your husband support you in that. As he should.

Way OTT. Do you drive her around in a car (far higher risk)?

Woah! I don’t think this is normal in the slightest.

Surely the hotel has CCTV? People are more likely to be grabbed on the street than in the corridor of a hotel. It would be very easy to identify the culprit if there is CCTV, which I would assume there is.

It's a Marriott. If she got grabbed you'd just ring the front desk. The chances of being grabbed in a Marriott I'd put at 0.01% at most.

Also, it's a Marriott. Just leave your full bin outside the door or ring Housekeeping and ask them to collect it.

You are both VVU.

I was staying in Bristol and participating in an exhibition in the town centre. I was followed from my hotel reception to my room late at night by a man. There was no one manning the desk, but the reception area was full of people who just seemed to be congregating there. Anyone could walk in.

I sort of sensed someone was going to do it, so ran I from the lift when it arrived at my floor to around the corner, then pegged it to my room .a few moments later a knock on my door. You've dropped your key card, he said.
So how did I get in to my room then? Leave it at the desk please?
He said oh, then left. I was pretty terrified. Normally after an exhibition I'd have had a few drinks and possibly would have opened the door, but was sober as a judge this time luckily

I can't believe people would let their young daughter wander through a hotel alone to the bins which will obviously be at the rear of the hotel or in an alley way.

Over the last couple of years, in many US cities, hotels, even the upscale ones, are being used as extra housing for some of the homeless population. A lot of the people placed in the hotels are active drug users or people refusing mental health treatment.

Just a couple of weeks ago, my DH and I were traveling for business. We booked a room at an upscale hotel online. Upon arrival, we found that this hotel was one of the ones being used for housing. We had to pass people doing drugs on our way to our room. We both felt unsafe and barely got any rest. It was too late that night to go somewhere else, but we canceled the rest of our stay and relocated to another hotel.

Unfortunately, at least in the US, you can’t rely on a hotel company’s good name anymore. We just returned from another business trip to the same city and did a lot more research when booking our rooms.

This one instance of the OP not allowing her DD to walk down the hallway won’t harm her DD. Based on what the OP has said, her DD has a lot of independence at home. This seems a one off situation. If there isn’t a history of anxiety or fearfulness, then trusting her gut was best.

And they'll just swoop in and reverse any damage?

I had to reread this. My 11 year old took public transport across London with no issue. Foreign countries aren’t that scary.

Different attitudes to women , different levels of law following, different attitudes of law enforcement for various crimes. Different languages spoke so a lessened ability to ask for help , or read warning or instructional signs etc

You quoted the OP and still managed to think the bins were ON ANOTHER FLOOR?

Also, as scary as that is, you were followed. Its not the same as walking along a corridor from room to bin and back.

If you think someone is following you do NOT go to your room. Double back around to the reception where people are and hang around until you can get hotel staff help (someone would be along soon)

She's in an English speaking country in the Marriot.

Why can't you all just take it out the next time you leave the room or wait for the staff to do their daily cleaning to get it? Or just walk together if you need to get it out of the room right away. I would probably be comfortable standing in the hallway to watch mine throw it away at that age. I mean, if someone did try and snatch her, they aren't going anywhere so if you called out, they would stop.
Also, they will just come and get the trash for you, just tip.

Safety or not, I think I'd have told DH to get off his lazy backside and do it himself lol

DH was busy sorting out the other child, read OP's posts

No, I would be the same. Not just in a different country, but in the UK too. We are living in an unsafe world, esp for young teenagers. Better to be safe than sorry.

I'm American, have stayed in Marriotts all over the world. This question astounded me. This is a safe, respectable hotel, she walks down the hallway to the elevator/lift and sticks trash in the bin. Back in 2 minutes.
Are hotels in the UK so dangerous you can't walk down the hall? Do strange men grab girls like this there? This is a serious question. I don't know anyone here who would ask this, so is there something I don't know about safety in UK hotels that drove this question?
I'm not sure where you are in the US--some cities here (San Francisco, LA, New York) are dangerous now, and many of us avoid them. We avoid the city, though, not a hotel hallway.

I wouldn't take a 12 year old girl or boy anywhere near San Francisco for example. But I'd let them walk down a hallway in a Marriott.

Tell Cleanfreak to do it himself my answer is NO! 😆

I work closely with young people with anxiety disorders. They too have an irrational attitude to risk. Some won’t go outside on their own, speak to shop / hotel staff or go anywhere without someone (often a parent) with them. I read this thread and I understand why.

I agree with you, I would definitely rather be the one grabbed than my child. Surely it's just common sense to NOT let your child walk down the corridor alone, especially in the USA. I've seen ridiculous amounts of reports of, pure chance, child abduction stories in America. As far as I am concerned, it's better to be safe than sorry!

Im In one of the 3 cities you mentioned.