Anyone work in a Premier Inn?

[fizzypop100]

Our teen slept heavily and wasn't responding to us knocking loudly on his hotel room door and calling his phone. The receptionist had a look but couldn't open it with her key card because he had locked the door from the inside.
She said the only way to open it was the police. Surely there is a way to open the door in these circumstances, without damaging the door ?
(Next time I'm booking a connecting room)

Surely there is a way to open the door in these circumstances, without damaging the door ?

It's neither your problem nor your business.

Your son wasn't in a situation where the door needed to be opened from the outside.

Well if he's 18 he's an adult isn't it so you can't be asking staff to go in

I think a lesson in responsibility for you all.

If he's 18 you can't demand access to his room.

We had to leave for a flight and I couldn't leave him there !

Is it right that hotel staff can't gain entry to a room that the occupant has chosen to lock to safeguard themselves without the police.
Yes absolutely it is.
Wasn't it Lucy Spraggan who dropped out of X Factor and years later it was revealed she'd been raped by a hotel staff member who used his key card to gain entry.
YABU

Responsibility?! I did tell him to set an alarm . What more could I do. He didn't answer

Not the same hotel chain but I have worked in hotels with these kinds of locks, we had master key cards and a manual key to open doors. I suspect the receptionist may have needed to ask a manager or housekeeper for a master key. I’m glad your son is okay, that must’ve been worrying for a while.

There was a member of staff and 4 members of family stood outside his room !

We had to leave for a flight and I couldn't leave him there !

Right, but it absolutely wasn’t an emergency where the police would have facilitated the opening of the door, was it? It was a case of 'shit happens' your DS slept in.

You don't need to know how it's done in an emergency, you didn't have an emergency.

There is a lock for a reason.

If staff could get in easily then not only could it be dangerous but they could also be accused of all sorts including SA or stealing.

In an emergency they would ring the police, just like you would do if you needed to get into a strangers home (e.g. a welfare check on an elderly neighbour).

A sensible answer, thank you

Of course you can.

I think missing a flight is an urgent situation

This isn't a premier inn problem, this is a your son problem. And I say this as someone who will face this exact scenario in a couple of weeks. My plan is to set his phone off on Find my Device which is a horrible alarm.

So would you be happy that any old member of staff could access the room? This is aside from you all standing outside bellowing. Would you feel the same if you had a daughter?

What on earth caused him to sleep so heavily that he couldn’t hear his door being battered at close range?

No, at 16 and 17 they can be in their own room as long as you are in the hotel, with Premier Inn.

That is exactly what I did. I sounded the Find My Device and kept trying to call him.

I think missing a flight is an urgent situation

To you maybe, but to the hotel?

Your son was fine, you don't need to be asking why they couldn't open the door. Yes procedures are in place for emergencies, this was not one.

Waiting for the police to bother getting around to attending seems pretty unpredictable. Why can't these hotels keep a single master key in a "break glass in case of emergency" box?

Premier inn class 16+ as an adult. I can't book myself and 2 16+ teens into 1 room for that reason. They don't allow more than 2 adults per room.

I feel your pain but at 18 you can't expect a hotel to access a room because you tell them to.

Not blame premier inn that your adult child can’t wake up!

I’ve got teenagers and if one of mine was likely to sleep in before a flight or similar I’d probably have booked them into a room with someone else - in your case the boy’s uncle perhaps. or as you suggested yourself an adjoining room.
although just him (not the rest of you) missing a may well have cured him of doing it again!