Woken by hotel staff

[HotelStrangers]

I've been at an important 2-day work meeting further from home than usual. Due to a long-term condition, which causes fatigue, I booked myself into a Travelodge overnight to avoid a bit of commenting (me paying, not work).
At check-in the lovely staff gave me a 'quiet room' when I explained the reason for the stay. By 9.30-10pm I was asleep, yay (despite it being like a sauna).
Then at 11.30pm I woke as a stranger was walking into my room! I jumped out of bed and shouted to get out. They did and I barricaded the door assuming I'd forgotten to put the snitch down (was sure I had).
Was just drifting off again when abput 11.55 there was banging on the door. Got up asked through the door if they were wanting me, yes. Had to open the door to a male staff member. I was stood there, bleary eyed, in just a 'Should not be seen in public' nightie, and had to confirm my identity. He said a brisk 'sorry for waking you' and when I said I was already awake as had had a stranger in my room 25 mins earlier he confirmed it was another member of staff as there had been a room mix-up. He seemed a bit annoyed.
No idea why they didn't call my phone and that they had to take my name with me there not dressed, face to face.

I'm now fully awake, hoping they're not coming back, regretting having booked this room, wishing I'd just done the driving, and dreading being exhausted in the meeting tomorrow.

I've just sent an email to the only email address I could find for Travelodge.

Am I unreasonable to complain?
(If I disappear will be due to trying to sleep)

So how much do you have to pay as a woman for a random man not to come in your room?

I was sexually assaulted by someone breaking into a holiday apartment at night when I was 11 and in my own op, if this had happened to me I’d have screamed the place down.

id be making a huge complaint to their head office about someone entering the room , not paying or asking for a refund.

The last place I stayed was a Travelodge, just before Christmas.
It had neither a lock or a chain on the door 😱
It was very, very basic but thankfully had 2 chairs that I wedged behind the door and into a shelving unit, ensuring the door couldn't be opened without it causing a racket.
Will never stay in one again as apparently it is company policy not to have internal locks at that particular site.

I had similar recently with a baby and 3 year old at a premier inn. Two staff members knocking at the door close to midnight demanding I pay the bill for dinner as they close the till at midnight and it shouldn’t have been charged to my room. Never again!

Sorry about your experience OP, but what you have done is given other women staying alone in hotels a bit of a wake up call.

I am always very wary, but at the same time think it'll never happen here, or to me. But it can and it does.

An added worry for me is that I am deaf (when I remove my hearing aids to sleep that is) and I wouldn't hear a bomb go off, not to mind someone entering my room. Add in an eye mask and I might as well just put a sign on the door saying enter and I won't know!

So I just bring a couple of door wedges and hope for the best. I know I can get more sophisticated door alarms and so on, but I wouldn't hear them anyway.

Stay safe out there my sisters.

This is terrible, definitely complain.

I know the situation is different, but I stayed in a hotel last summer for two days for a friends wedding. On the first morning, my boyfriend and I were still fast asleep enjoying a nice lie in around 8.10am, and were woken by a member of staff banging on the door. I got up, threw a hoodie and some shorts on and answered, and they said they’d come to look at our internet connection. I said we had no issues with it, he’d actually woken me, and we didn’t ask anyone to come and look at the internet.
The next morning, the morning after the wedding, we were woken by a knock on the door at 9am. Checkout was 11am but they’d come to clean our room. Again, we were fast asleep and hungover after a very late night. I was fuming! One morning I could forgive but both mornings was annoying. So I emailed and complained and got a £50 voucher. Luckily it was a chain hotel so we’ve been able to use it since, somewhere else!

I stayed in a 5 star hotel in London. A porter showed me to my room and opened it to reveal a woman sitting on her bed in her nightie. Someone at reception had mixed up the rooms.
At those prices, she didn't get what she paid for.

Maybe yes - but people staying there can sometimes be given the wrong key to the wrong room as well. I'm not sure they would be any more dangerous than a male member of staff who knew the room was occupied by a single female.
Staff have no reason in that scenario to enter the room.

So in the event of a fire, you wouldn't hear the alarm, wouldn't see any flashing lights that are installed specifically to warn deaf people, and nobody would be able to get you out of your room because you've barricaded the door? And you think you're safer?!!

I would be apoplectic OP.
I think the hotel is not safe for women and this needs reporting to the police.
How frightening.
As there is a pattern I would tell them you will also be contacting the media.

Not good enough at all.

OP is absolutely right to escalate this. For all we, know this slapdash behaviour has been going on for ages, never been challenged - so one day the worst could happen and a guest end up being assaulted or worse.

Incidentally, this happened to me at a Premier Inn.

I checked in late at night, given a keycard, went to 'my room'. There was a shape in the bed - which woke up and understandably roared 'OII!!!'
I was back down at reception - shaken, upset and mostly angry - that they'd double-booked the room. Turned out whoever did the room allocations was a bit slapdash at writing the numbers on the room card.

I did complain to head office, and got some money back.

If I'm a lone female guest, I make sure the spy hole is closed, and barricade myself in with a door wedge, plus a chair or ironing board wedged against the door. I don't trust hotel door locks. I also leave the TV on if I'm not in the room so that anyone else would know the room was occupied.

At another Premier Inn, I checked in late, got to my room and could hear the TV. No way was I going to knock on the door and frighten someone else - so reception had to find me another room.

Absolutely within your rights to complain, the hotel should be refunding your stay and apologising for the disturbance and distress being woken up by a stranger in your room at nearly midnight might have caused.

I do hear very high pitched alarms like fire and my carbon monoxide detector, as that part of my hearing is ok. I can hear house alarms going off on my road for example. It's ordinary noises like a door opening or closing, the TV, radio, knock on the door, normal stuff like that I wouldn't hear if sleeping, (or awake without my hearing aids in), whereas others would.

I know my limitations!

My meeting: I have lovely colleagues ❤️ During an experiential learning exercise at the meeting today I shared last night’s events. Everyone was appalled. They were so lovely I realised I was too tired to engage and left mid morning to be safe to drive home. Hence I have missed a unique opportunity this meeting gave to learn from a national (world?) leader in our field. He was lovely too and offered to send me info.

Police: spoke to the force local to the area via 101. The call handler was lovely. I was clear that I did not expect any action regarding last night’s events but that the incident needed to be logged in case this forms a pattern of behaviour which may escalate. They agreed and took it seriously, even suggesting I’d get further contact. As I’d been told this was repeat behaviour reporting to the police was definitely the correct thing to do.

Travelodge: I’ve heard nothing from them as yet. They will definitely be hearing more from me!

@vandelle I can understand what you’re saying. I’m partially deaf on one side. Luckily last night I must have had my working ear away from the pillow otherwise I wouldn’t have woken until they were beside me, actively waking me, or not at all (I usually sleep very deeply)

Had similar problem with travel lodge in Oxford last year. Checked in, nice staff, went to the room to find it occupied, it was about 5pm.though not quite the same. I went back down, pretty exhausted from the drive there, got a weak apology and a new room.

I know they are cheap, but this was a new hotel, lovely food there and a nice room. I told them thank goodness I'm honest and didn't nick the other person's belongings!. She wasn't in the room but In a way that's worse, it took me a few seconds to.work it all out.

Needless to say whenever I went over after that I stayed elsewhere! I never asked for a refund but would do if i were you.

This happened to me recently at a London Travelodge. I complained at Reception and was told they were having some teething issues with a new computer system. I said it wasn’t good enough!

The other thing that p*sses me off about that particular hotel is that they announce your room number loudly for everyone to hear. I’ve got a hospitality background (albeit a looooooong time ago) and you just don’t do that.

Not sure it’s really valid, but if it was a Premier Inn, you’d get a refund.

Absolute nonsense.

Whether you’re staying in a budget hotel or a posh one, you are entitled to safety and security, and for other people not to come into your room!

I hope the Travelodge PR and legal team see your report and/or this thread. Not a safe place for a lone female to stay! Definitely keep persuing this!

@TorroFerney I’m so sorry to hear about your experience.
The possibility of this person moving on to assault is why it was important to raise this with the police. Plus even if he doesn’t go on to assault someone the possible trauma to those who have previously experienced assault is unacceptable.

Exactly this.
I hope the repeated use of the word Travelodge brings this to their attention. Still no reply to my middle-of the night-email.
Unless action is taken swiftly there will be a very clear and accurate TripAdvisor review being posted. The police will also be seeing if Travelodge took my advice to report this repeat behaviour.

Thank you for all your support and input. It’s shocking to hear how many people have had staff barge in.

FYI no phones in the rooms anymore and only way to contact Travelodge is via pay-per-minute phone numbers, or the customer services emails (which hasn’t replied).

I’m going to close my eyes for a bit. Will update if I hear back from Police or Travelodge

I don’t understand how the hotel could say it was repeat behaviour despite a reprimand, when the person came back and asked for you to identity yourself? Or sent someone else up. That doesn’t sound like some member of staff just walking into rooms at night and then claiming it was an accident.

If he had just walked in, with the intention of watching you or something, and then planned to claim it was an accident and wrong room if he was caught, then why did he come back up, bang on the door and ask for identification? That’s harder for him to claim to managers that it was a mistake.
What was actually going on? What had the staff member done before that was reprimanded?

This is the stupidest comment.

What you pay for is a private room. She wasn't staying in a hostel.