Hotel staff removed my belongings whilst I wasn't there

[Tothemoonandbackx]

I didn't really know where to put this, so property seemed like the only place that seemed sort of, relevant. My partner has been working away and he's been stopping in Hotels. He's stopped in this certain hotel before and never had a problem. The other night, he had a disagreement with a staff member, nothing audacious. Just a bit of a mix up with the manager telling my partner he could do one thing, and the staff member saying he couldn't. So he goes to work the following morning and everything seems OK, he comes back to find the staff have gone into his room and packed all his belongings into his travel bag and suitcase and removed them from the room. Is this legal??????? And if it is or isn't, is there any specific law or site I can get this information from???? I've googled a thousand things and nothings really coming up on the legality of it all.

Does the hotel have a terms and conditions section on their website?

I think you will find a hotel is entitled to end a guest’s licence to occupy the property at any time and for any reason they wish. They may have to refund any nights which have been paid for in advance.

Perhaps there was more to the disagreement than reported? Different people can have different experiences of the same conversation.

I'm not sure of the legality of it but they are certainly leaving themselves wide open to allegations of theft or damage to property by entering and touching a guests property.

Had he paid in advance? If you were not there how do you know it was just a mix up and nothing more audacious?

Probably better under Legal or Travel btw

@LIZS he's just not the type of person who would make a scene or be rude. It was just a small mix up.

@PragmaticWench thank you for that suggestion, I hadn't thought of that, I'll have a look x

Yes it's legal. He just had a licence to stay, as long as the hotel didn't man handle him out they can remove his belongings and his licence. He may have a claim for his money back if he paid in advance.

@Fujimora they may be able to end a guests license, but surly that doesn't mean they can just go into your room while you're out and pack your property up

@Squidthing is there anything I can find in writing that I'd be able to send him stating this????

@Soul11Soul thats what he was worried about to, he has quite a few expensive items used for work in there, I've asked him to double check everythings in his bags x

It sounds like a bit more than a "small mix-up" for the hotel to take those steps.

What was it about?

There's not enough info to understand what happened and why.

Sounds like more than a small mix up for them to take this stance! Never heard of a hotel doing this.

In my mind a "small mix-up" would be whether or not he wanted an extra pillow on his bed or poached eggs rather than scrambled.

For the hotel to do this it was obviously quite a big issue so either he's not telling you the full story or you're playing this down.

Of course they can enter the room and remove the guests’ property so long as it’s safely stored elsewhere. This does sound like a mix up though so I’m sure there’ll be an apology from the manager soon.

I work in a hotel. We would generally do something like this if the guest had gone awol after their paid stay period had ended. Which happens more often then you’d think.

Can he talk to the same manager that gave him the conflicting advice?

Confirm what was that he should've done and enquire what happened to his belongings, on what grounds his booking was cancelled etc.

@ldontWanna

Can he talk to the same manager that gave him the conflicting advice?

Confirm what was that he should've done and enquire what happened to his belongings, on what grounds his booking was cancelled etc.

In writing

How do you want this resolved?
Does he have somewhere to stay tonight?

This is the bonkers thing, he stayed there before Christmas for 4 weeks, on two of the days, every week, the bar/restaurant doesn't open. He asked if it was OK to have a takeaway in there as there are no tables or chairs in his room, which would mean him eating on the bed. They said no problem. He's gone back this week and brought a takeaway in and the guy working that night said he can't have it in there. He questioned why, as he was allowed to before and the manager was OK with it, and the guy working there basically said "because I said you cant". He asked if it was possible to speak to the manager and see if he could OK it and he said "no, he's not working tonight" and that was about it. My partner really really isn't the kind of person to kick up a fuss, so was taken aback when he came back from work the following day to find his property had been handeld by members of staff and removed from his room. The room was booked for four weeks and no one got in touch with him to explain what they were going to do or why. Surely it would have been better for them to contact him first and at least let him move his own property. I find it quite alarming now that staff can come into your room and just go through and remove your things without your knowing, if that's what's to be believed from previous comments. I'm just wanting to know if there is anything written down sort of legally that I can look up to make sure they were 100% within there rights to move his stuff.

Are you suspicious and doubting of his explanation of what happened, as it seems slightly odd that it's you who's looking for advice? If he's actually there, why is it you trying to figure it out?

No, I'm not suspicious or doubting at all. I'm just really miffed on his behalf and he's been working all hours and thought I'd find out for him.

I'm just looking for something solid, in writing, that states that Hotel staff can or cannot remove property from a room without the consent of the person stopping in there. He hasn't done a midnight flit and left his stuff without paying a bill, he had it set up that he was going to be there for 4 weeks, that information I can actually find online, but nothing states whether you can or cannot do it for any other reason.

I would probably email the hotel and clarify things. If the dispute was a minor as you I do think it should be brought to the managers attention in case the guy on reception checked your husband out as petty revenge. I would imagine there is a clause in the terms and conditions that items can be packed up and removed from the room when you check out and the staff member who did it might just see the check out on the system and not know your husband did not voluntary check out.

But hotel staff enter guests’ rooms daily to clean, and regularly pick up and handle things left on the bed or floor or bathroom surfaces so they can clean and vacuum and bedmake — if you’re not ok with this, pack everything away in your case/the safe/cupboard, or take it out with you for the day. Even if you say you don’t want your room cleaned, staff still have master keys and can enter, and if he had a multi/week booking, housekeeping is likely to have a policy on intermittent cleans to make sure the room isn’t filthy when the guest leaves (especially if they’re eating in the room).

I’m a bit puzzled that this is the bit you had a problem with, when the issue seems to be that he had an ongoing booking for further nights that was terminated without notice.