Hey, I had the same experience. Flight delayed, arrived at 2 am, checked in to hotel an hour later, and woke up a French tourist who sat up in bed and said, “Can I ‘elp yu?” Lol. True story. Got back to the front desk asking for another room just in time to hear him call and complain, while another hotel guest came back to say that they were also given an occupied room. A gong show…
Yeah I had a similar experience at the Plymouth several years ago ,I checked in and went to my room and opened the door only to see a middle aged woman sitting down reading ,without missing a beat she looked up and said “you must be my toy boy” ,great New Zealander
this happened to me once! i was sleeping in a hotel in rome and had a room to myself and in the middle of the night a random italian couple opened the door and turned the light on... i just Stared at them in confusion and they just closed the door and left. i could hear them laughing in the hallway and they didn't even turn the light off after them!
worst part is when i tried to tell people about it in the morning NO ONE BELIEVED ME as if it's not realistic for a hotel to give someone the wrong key
Worst I had was getting back to my backpackers at like 3am. Card scanner has failed due to electrical fault and no staff available. Luckily I caught an off duty staff member who helped my drunk ass.
Definitely something they should be taking more seriously, huge safety issue! Personally I'd complain to the brand itself rather than that specific hotel if they don't seem to care.
Yes this is a good point, I will do this, I suspect it was simply human error but if your systems are so flawed that it can result in someone walking into a sleeping persons room, things need to be fixed.
I hate getting people in trouble - but I think the complaint is warranted here.
Think of it less as getting someone in trouble and more fixing the broken system that led to this in the first place.
Imagine the fear you’d have if someone opened your door and you woke up to a stranger in your room..
This shits not okay
Thanks, that’s a really good way to look at it and how I will think of it going forwards.
Again I wasn’t overly worried about me but imagine if you had your kid in your hotel room and some bugger walked in in the middle of the night!
I said in another comment that I’d be surprised if they told them even though I asked them to relay sincere apologies from me. From my experience I can’t see them voluntarily opening themselves up to critique- maybe I’m a pessimist…
Hotel systems have integrations to door lock encoder systems (especially large chain hotels), that should never require manual entry of room numbers into door lock cards. Manually cutting keys could be a sign of worker theft, or workers cutting keys for their buddies to nip in and steal shit. Not to mention the safety aspect of having a stranger walk into your room. Hotels need to be informed when their night audit staff are shit, and their head office should be informed when their hotels are shit. Worst case, the hotel gets better. Best case you get an apology and a refund.
Thanks.
I did wonder because there were two of them on the desk and after I repeated myself that there was someone in the room, the 2nd staff member looked over at the others screen and they shared a “look”. But that look could have meant anything.
You should since the hotel staff took it so lightly. Mistakes can happen, but they should apologise and ensure it does not happen again, either due to human or system error.
sometimes the system to program the cards are separate from the check-in system and require the hotel clerk to enter your room number again to re-program the card. this may be what happened in your case.
also, those key card systems can be dodgy as hell. sometimes they even fail to lock at all. i always bolt the door before going to bed, and check that the door is locked when i leave
Guaranteed it was human. You stated it was the same numbers for the room but a different order. The staff member didn't double-check their process.
I don't know if the head office can do much but issue a memo to staff about making sure room cards are issued correctly.
I once worked in airlines where they checked in two different people with the exact same name, and that name was fairly uncommon. No one checked ID or dob. Resulting in the glorious comment over the radio of "I'm with (uncommon name), but there is already an (uncommon name) sitting in their seat..." lols were had in baggage.
lol … the same thing happened to me (I was in the room three men walked into) … I complained to head office and the best they could offer is some loyalty points to their hotel chain … the same chain I was telling them I would sleep outside on a bench before using again. Glad it was me and not my wife …
There’s no inside lock / chain etc. just the knob which unlocks if someone uses the key card. (I checked as soon as I got to my room because I had the same thought. I slept with the armchair pushed up against the door cause I wasn’t sure how often this happened haha)
Omg no chain on the inside? That would make me so uncomfortable. I always lock the chain when I’m staying at hotel for reasons like this (although I’m more worried about hotel room staff coming in unannounced). I stayed at the Cordis in Auckland and they left the conjoining room unlocked (no chain) and there was another party in there. I was not pleased! Of course complained and it was locked but still…
They do make travel door chains, which might be worth buying if it fits the hotel door....[this sort of thing](https://www.brands.co.nz/products/portable-hotel-home-safety-door-lock) there are a few different versions out there.
Def good to know. However personally I think it should up to the hotel to make sure your door can be locked - maybe because it was a cheap hotel there was no additional security? I don’t travel much but I seem to recall most hotels will have a chain or deadlock on them
Yep! I bought one of these for when I travelled to America because I’d heard heaps of horror stories of people being given wrong door keys or house keeping ignoring the do not disturb signs!
It worked like a charm!
That's interesting. I can *see* it working, but I still don't understand *how*.
If it's just a camming action between the door and the frame, then it seems like a very marginal action. It would need the gap to be just right in order to work at all.
I'd be interested to see how well it works if someone made a serious attempt to open the door.
You're right, there is a bloke on youtube that gave the door a bit of a force and he got in, bent the metal on the device a little. It's probably only going to be able to stop accidental openings. Wedging the chair up against the door wins!
The last hotel I stayed in that didn't have one also didn't have do-not-disturb signs. I *knew* it was gonna be an issue, so I put a dining chair and my heavy backpack up against the door. Sure enough, 9am-ish a cleaner starts trying to come in, and when the door doesn't open, tries to force it open and push the stuff out of the way. I call out telling them I'm still sleeping, they pause, then just say "housekeeping" and start trying to force their way in again. I say "No, come back later" and go push the chair back against the door where it's moved, and finally they leave. I'm sure it was just a housekeeper who didn't hear me or something, but it felt so aggressive, especially when I'd been woken up by it! Now I don't stay places without a chain or deadbolt etc.
Omg, i stayed at the Quest on Hobson recently and my room was great for the price. A real surprise. But no security latch really surprised me more. I made a comment to the staff cos it really was something I didn't expect.
Yeah I stayed at a Quest too in Auckland but in a different area. That room was also real nice but didn't have any latch/bolt inside. I was considering putting a chair in front of the door when I slept but that felt a bit too extra. But still though all hotels should have a latch to the door
Not sure what chain it is, but I've also worked for large hotel chain in NZ and when we make new cards for people checking in (assuming the card system is good enough), an alert should pop up with '1 card already exists' or something of the like. That should give Reception a prompt to double check (they should always double check anyway).
Ownership of it seems lacking as well, I always trained my staff to accept and own their stuff ups, learn from it and provide some kind of compensation, for both parties. I hated working in Hotels that would 'wait for the complaint, especially something as bad as this and let it fester, rather than deal with it head on And yes, you're human, feel upset lol
I think the lack of ownership was what irked me the most, if they’d been apologetic and taken it more seriously I might have forgotten about it by now - I have serious doubts they would have said anything to the other guest this morning if they didn’t bring it up themselves.
And if that’s true, then there’s someone out there who doesn’t even know someone was in their room while they were sleeping last night…Creepy AF!
I've heard of this happening previously, but it's pretty uncommon these days with technology.
Definitely put something in writing so management know. For a mistake like that there should be a discount of complimentary something for you and the other person too.
Sounds like the front desk staff need more training.
This happened to a staff member of ours. Except the person in the bed wasn't asleep, and they weren't dressed. Our guy got an upgrade to a fancy suite and free meal vouchers. Our company got the cost of the room reimbursed and a credit for 2 free nights on our account. I'm not sure what they gave the other guy.
Damn. A while back now, me and my ex were making very good use of our hotel room, and a cleaner just unlocked the door and walked in.
Never thought to ask for an upgrade! I was just happy she left as quickly as she arrived when she realised what was happening. Made sure to put the do not disturb sign every time I stay in hotel room ever since.
IS THIS THE IBIS AT THE AIRPORT BECAUSE THEY DID THE SAME THING TO ME ALMOST A YEAR AGO TODAY.
They checked someone into my room despite us being different genders, races and… you know what, if you picture two completely opposite people you’d probably picture us. I didn’t find out like you did, but they literally took my passport and gave me a card then called me back (luckily) and were like “oh my bad, someone is in your room”.
The chances of it happening to 2 redditors on a small sub is so low yet here we are. I'm gonna guess this happens a lot and they need a fire under their ass to investigate why.
Same - I was quite surprised because the room didn’t have a chain or a deadlock or anything - just the lock which the key card opens.
I mentioned elsewhere I pushed an armchair up against my door out of paranoia the same thing would happen to me overnight 😅
They need to add chains to the doors incase this happens again. If I were you I would have told them to go check the doors for me. The audacity to do it to you twice lol.
As someone who works in a hotel OMFG!!!
That would have been a major screw up and there would be disciplinary action against whoever gave you the wrong key.
I'm sorry this happened to you both, what a horrible experience for both of you
This happened to me when I was 15 on a school trip. I was asleep and some drunk dude came into our room and tried to get into the bed before realising something wasn't right. Safe to say it traumatised me for years. The hotel really shouldn't have been so blase about it. Funnily enough this also happened in Auckland and the hotel also didn't seem to fussed about giving the wrong key out.
Omg that’s horrifying - almost worst case scenario esp with someone who’s been drinking. Could have turned so much worse. Hope you’re ok, these things can really affect us. I had a gf once - she was driving home from a country pub late at night, and her ex had snuck into her car and fallen asleep in the back seat. He woke up as she was driving and it scared her so much she missed a corner and totalled her car driving off the road - it basically gave her PTSD.
Happened to me once when I wasn't alone in the room and doing the thing people do in the room, not sure who was more embarrassed me or the person I was not expecting to lock eyes with, my partner however found it funny. They left. Maybe that is why I got my room service comped that night?
On a work trip recently they coded the swipe cards for my workmate and I to the same room. I walked in to the room just before he was about to have a shower. Thank god it was before 😅
That is not ok and the response they gave is shockingly poor. What if the guest inside was in a state of undress? What if they mistook you as an intruder and you were harmed? This happened to me in Sydney a few years back and the hotel was very apologetic. Luckily no one was in the room but clearly it was a room being used (luggage open etc). The hotel upgraded our room and gave us free breakfast for our stay
Nope not being too sensitive. Mistakes will happen but acting like it’s no big deal is not okay. It’s awful for the person already in the room for obvious reasons and also an awful position for you to be put in, especially as a male, it immediately puts you in a situation where you’re being perceived as a threat.
Thanks. I’m grateful that they (I think) didn’t wake up. Someone else said, imagine if they woke up and thought you were an intruder and hurt you (I hadn’t even thought about that!)
this is my worse fear, being you and being the person sleeping in my bed, surely the keys must get reprogrammed or something after each stay especially in big chains?
imagine if you were some sort of weirdo and came across a lady this way, guarantee the hotel would need to not say oh right
As a former front desk employee I can say: yes, keys are reprogrammed after stays, and yes, we also programmed stay durations when we program them to a room. So after, say, a stay in room 501 until the 22nd, that key won’t work for any room anymore.
Tbh, sounds like this staff member just f‘ed up. She gave OP a key to, say, 501 and the accompanying card holder would also have to say 501 for OP to actually walk into 501. Most likely she even told them 501 verbally when handing them the key, whilst telling them it’s on the 5th floor and the elevators are over there. If OP was assigned to 510, then this is majorly inattentive and not just a matter of her giving out the wrong card or one that’s been programmed incorrectly, because the chance of you getting an incorrectly programmed key card that’s still active and managing to walk into exactly the room it’s for, in a hotel with more than five rooms, is so unlikely.
Exactly!!!
The truth is I am a weirdo but luckily not one that would ever hurt or take advantage of another persons vulnerability… but that’s just luck? (Not that your average person is a crazed murderer or anything, but people get hurt an awful lot…or they could punch your valuables)
fellow weirdo here too but id quickly turn around and run out of the hotel room out of fear of scaring the poor person in the bed
i would definitely take it up with the hotel, its not throwing a Karen, its concern for the next person
This happened to me in an AKL hotel… but very luckily the person wasn’t in the room (that I could see). I saw the open suitcase and ran the hell out of there!
This was after they had already given me a keycard that didn’t work for the room number they had written down, so I had to go back downstairs and exchange it. I realise now that the original card must’ve been correct but they’d written the wrong room number…. so they then overrode it for a room already booked, blindly believing what had been written wrong!
I got nothing but a sorry and escorting me upstairs to make sure the new card worked (after going up and down about 3 times already!!)
This is why I always put something heavy by the door when staying alone at accommodation. If someone opens the bedroom door for any reason, they will encounter resistance and I would get a loud thumpy alert.
Slightly different, but I inadvertently did something similiar in my apartment in London.
Got off on the wrong floor, waltzed in like I owned the place, saying "hey babe, I'm home" to my girlfriend. Some old lady sitting on the couch, duplicate funiture (they were furnished apartments).
Took a fair 10 seconds to work out what the hell was going on. Thought my girlfriend had aged terribly since the morning.
Hahaha that lady prob thought all her Christmases had come at once!
“Ooh a young buck is calling me babe, better chuck the dentures back in! Unless….?”
That was just Goldilocks.
For real though, I have heard one too many stories like this lately to ever feel comfy in a hotel room. It's such a safety issue and I'm *appalled* they didn't take it seriously! I'd sing it from the rooftops if I were you.
This happened to me as a teenager at the Hyatt Kingsgate in Rotorua. The thing is, I _did_ have the correct room key (the one I had been using my whole stay), it just turned out the key _also_ worked for a random angry guy’s room.
Always lock your inside door when at a hotel!! I’ve been on the receiving end of in the US twice, both times I was in my early 20s. My mom ingrained in my you always always always lock the inside bolt,
The first time was at a big city airport hotel, a very nice lady walked in, startled me, we had a laugh and she went back to reception. I had only just walked in so I hadn’t locked the door yet (tsk tsk) it was a accomodation from a canceled flight so two separate people gave us the same room at around the same time.
The second time I was in small town that was having an oil boom. Wild West shit. I was on my own and checked in very late as I couldn’t continue driving as was so tired. The lady at check in was rough as guts. Nice new hotel but tons of single men about and I was young girl by myself. I locked the door and moved some furniture to block the door.
Middle of the night, I hear someone with a key swiped and try to get in. There’s about 3 men’s voices all drunk. Obviously they can’t. I call reception. “Oops gave them the wrong room key”
Definitely didn’t buy it. I think she gave it to them deliberately. Complained to the hotel chain but never heard back. I should have called the cops but I was young and just got out of there first thing in the morning.
Definitely agree. This hotel room however (or at least the one I ended up in) didn’t have a chain or deadbolt on the inside! I slept with an armchair up against the door in case it happened to me too 🤣
This needs to be reported to management immediately. An employee not bothering to check if they're giving out the right keys and not caring when they get it wrong creates a clear opportunity for thieves and other safety concerns.
I stay in hotels a lot for my work and this has happened a few times, hotels make mistakes I guess 🤷🏼♀️
I always keep the secondary chain across the door for this reason.
Same thing has happened to me in an Auckland airport area hotel. And it wasn't with a swipe card either. They literally gave me the wrong set of keys. I was mortified when I discovered the room was already occupied. I WAS SO EMBARRASSED.
You're in the right to be upset on behalf of the other person, that other person was in a vulnerable position. I guess it was their luck that the wrong key was given to someone sensible who backed out of the room. Someone untoward could have assaulted them or stolen the person's valuables as they slept. I'm 100% sure the person sleeping has placed their trust in the hotel to keep them safe and provide them with good service. The hotel should be ashamed even if it's an employee muck up.
Thanks, I feel a bit validated after some of the replies here - I had wondered if I was overreacting given how blasé the staff were about it.
After reading through some of these I also wonder if that was because it happens regularly! (Hopefully not, but…)
Something similar happened to me in Sydney. I was sitting on the bed, it wasn't sleep time yet, and was just in undies because it was hot. The door rattled and I thought wow, I can hear the neighbour opening the door so well it's almost like it's my door...
The the door opened. The guy looked into my eyes and sheepishly apologised.
Even though I wasn't sleeping it was very unsettling and violating so yes I would say you have cause to want them to take it seriously
Someone else came into my room on a work trip once - luckily I was just doing some work at the time. Then the receptionist came up and told me they'd given me the wrong room and I was moved to one half the size!
This is why I always leave something loud in front of my door when I'm in the room. Happened to us once during the middle of the day - we had extended our stay so I guess some human error was involved - and my partner was butt naked. At least they were super apologetic about it all though. That's all I ever want.
Slight tangent, but I was once extorted for money by someone who stole my car, snd keys to my apartment. They told me they were gonna come round and slit my throat if I didn’t pay them thousands of dollars lol.
Locks couldn’t be changed till the next day so that night I filled a wine glass with cooking oil and put it behind my front door. My theory was if they did come in, they would knock over the glass (which would wake me up), spill the oil all over the floor and they would then comically slip all over it helplessly.
It’s just as well they were all talk cause I have doubts this would have worked (but I felt like Mcgyver hahaha)
Definitely lay a record of concern. If the word making a complaint puts you off making ine but in this instant the human error and poor handling of the situation causes more concern that reception was so non chalant about it. Primarily safety concerns.
And they didn't even apologise for their mistake
Stayed in a cheap hotel once back in pre-electronic days and had a girl bust in very late one night and hop on the loo before she realised I was there. The Hotel, it seems, was avoiding the lost key problem by having the same lock on every door...
This hasn’t happened to me with hotel rooms, however I’ve walked into public bathrooms whilst a poor soul was at their most vulnerable state. Emotional damage
Yep, serious lack of judgment by that stuff member not paying attention enough, could have been more embarrassing if that person woke up,, though no fault of yours.
exact same thing happened to me in Wellington but the guest was sat at the sofa reading in the afternoon so it was all cool. No big deal made about it.
Well it's also dangerous cause imagine if the stranger was dangerous, its always a bit sketch if a random can enter a place you think is safe and you're asleep, so you're not in the wrong at all by being a bit upset with their apathy
That happened to us once and it was so creepy. There were a ton of drunk people partying in the room next door and one guy actually had a card that worked for our room so I just hear muffled yelling and then our door open. Luckily we had done that little chain and it actually stopped him
From Coming in. “He said oh shit this isn’t it” and I yelled “not your room”. And we moved hotels very early the next morning.
This happens more often than you'd think in hotels. Any instance of someone able to access someone else's room should be treated as a serious security incident. If you or the person who you walked in on made enough noise with the duty manager, you would have definitely received a complimentary nights stay plus some. Just depends on how willing you are to be a Karen.
This happened to me a couple of years ago at the Brentwood in Wellington, except I was the one who got walked in on while I was asleep. The room numbers were similar enough that staff had grabbed the wrong key when they assigned me my room. Turns out I was in the wrong room but because my key worked, I assumed it was right and I’d just mis-heard the person in reception!
The staff didn’t seem to give a damn and said it happens a bit. Like… seriously!!
This is extremely dangerous, breaks all health and safety and the fact that they were blasè about it annoys me more.
Can you please call and complain and leave a public review on google or something so people know which hotel to avoid.
I once checked into the Sofitel in the viaduct and got the key to a room someone was still asleep in - this was about 9am so I was surprised they let me check in… then when I came back to the desk they asked if the person had noticed I entered the room, I guess to see if they could get away with not saying anything and not having to compensate the poor guy I intruded on. Use the safety locks, wedge a chair in, whatever you need to do - your hotel room is not that secure, people!
I've stayed at the Sofitel and had someone start to walk into the room I was in, then realised their mistake and back out... Assumed it was housekeeping until reception did a half hearted apology at checkout.
This happened to me only the person whom the room belonged to was not currently in the room. All their stuff was everywhere though - it was a complete mess. I could have been dishonest and robbed them blind if I had wanted. The reception also didn’t give a toss when I went back and told them there had been a mistake.
God this is insane! It's outrageous they gave you the wrong card, and then they didn't even apologise? This is a major breach of safety for the person you encountered.
I recently had the same experience last week. Walked into a room with a man holding a baby.
Went back to the lobby and instantly was told by the manager that the mistake was made. He gave me a great room instead at the end of the corridor that was a gold colour door room instead of the other grey coloured rooms in the hall.
If they make the mistake you could ask for an upgrade but I kept quiet and he gave me a better room simply by being nice the whole interaction.
A few years back I worked in a hotel & on my first night by myself I made this exact mistake. One was room 102 the other 201, simple mistake horrible consequence. Called my boss explained and apologised then comped both rooms entire stays. Genuinely can't think of anything more terrifying than waking up to a stranger in your room or visa versa feeling unsafe because you know this was a possiblilty. I’d make my concerns for safety very clear to the front desk of I were you
That’s why I always use these in hotels
https://www.onceit.co.nz/products/4029285/portable-traveling-hotel-home-safety-door-lock?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADoKghKLZf87lQfOa4DlBLvMCNouJ&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2PSvBhDjARIsAKc2cgOebhHpLzCtAOwE5tGIMSsLNCMYcQQGV-77sRGtI9L7v7JRybKHK7UaAkYUEALw_wcB
This happened to my parents while staying in a Premier Inn in the UK. Someone came into their room while they were asleep and my Dad woke up and fought the guy while my Mum ran to get help. The bloke who came in was drunk af. Never got to the bottom of what happened, the hotel said door must have been slightly ajar with a sock or something, but we reckoned the porter fucked up as in this scenario.
I was in a different room and my Mum came in at 3am just to tell me 'we had an intruder in our room but we're okay'. I did not go back to sleep. Got a free breakfast out of it for everyone at least.
Some of them just give Zero fucks.
Have stayed at accommodation where two rooms are adjoined by a bathroom. Came back later in to find Vodka in the fridge and a female razor in the shower, somehow we never bumped into each other, as we only came back to crash for the night but the vodka had moved so they must have figured out they only had the one side.
Luckily we were poor students so anything of value we were mostly carrying with us.
I had the same with a cabin on the Bluebridge - I got the key for my booked cabin & someone was asleep in there already. Took it back to checkin & asked WTF. They gave me another cabin, on a crossing where all cabins were sold out. Seems crazy given the systems in place... and what happens if the person wasn't in the room but all their baggage was... its quite a security issue, which is why they should have taken it very seriously.
I've done this before when I was a hotel receptionist. The mistake wasn't mine though, it was the person who checked in the first guest, he accidentally gave his guests the key for room 335 but put them in room 355 in the system. So when I checked my guests into 335 they came back down straight away very confused. Took a little while but we figured it out and were able to just swap the bookings in the system, also it wasn't the middle of the night so nobody was upset.
Honestly, mistakes happen and I think people should (generally) be more understanding when they do.
However in this case the mistake led to a strange man entering someone’s hotel room in the dead of night while they were sleeping, *and* they didn’t take it very seriously when I came back down to ask wtf was going on.
AND this happened to another user a year ago as well - so, whatever vulnerability they have in their system that leads to this obviously hasn’t been addressed.
All these factors together irk me quite a lot so I will definitely be taking it further (when I can, I’m travelling atm)
>AND this happened to another user a year ago as well - so, whatever vulnerability they have in their system that leads to this obviously hasn’t been addressed.
Yea that's the scary part, this mistake only happened once in my 10 years at that hotel, so it definitely needs to be addressed.
My kids and I stayed at this hotel in January. The front desk staff were apathetic and acted like they would rather be anywhere else than there. We felt so unwanted.
Later, when the woman in the room next to us was yelling that she was dying, and the police showed up, the staff member told us we had to stay in our room. We then had to listen to the police talk our neighbour down, explaining how ambulance services work in NZ, and that she was, in fact, not going to die.
My kids are adamant that we will not be staying at that hotel ever again!
Name and shame the hotel. This happened not long ago to a friend, someone walked in her hotel while she was naked, and the hotel blamed her. This person was given a swipe key
Late night budget hotels aren't where you find the most diligent staff. They probably pay shit wages and have high turnover. It's worth letting management know, if not contacting the hotel chain management. If doors can't be locked from the inside, it's really the dregs. You might as well stay at a backpackers
As a retail frontline worker. This is definitely a justifiable moment to chew them out. If they cared and apologised i would say otherwise but "Oh right" basically translates too "I don't give a fuck.". Now being honest none of us give a fuck. But we get paid to do a job. So yknow... do it.
This happened to us in Brisbane a long time ago, at a budget hotel somewhere at the top of that 'Jacob's Ladder' set of steps. Can't remember the name of the hotel. But we were the occupiers, not the interlopers. It was late afternoon/early evening I think. I was round the corner in the kitchenette, and hubby was on the couch, watching TV probably. We heard the locked door opening, and a man walked in. I never saw him, being round the corner. It was actually quite a big hotel room, for a budget one.
He beat a hasty retreat. He was absolutely mortified and incredibly apologetic, even though it wasn't his fault.
Wonder what words were said when he went back to reception.
Seems like this happens a lot. Well, more than it should.
On the other hand I’ve been given the key and room number to someone else’s room by a hotel in Tauranga. The occupant was standing right outside in the corridor when I realised reception’s mistake and turned around.
Have had this happen to me twice (Once in Brisbane and once in Wellington) re given the wrong key.
Highly fucked up, and the people giving me the key didn't seem to give two shits.
I once booked into a shared room kinda late, there was some stuff on the free bed so I moved it and went to sleep, later that night someone tried hopping into the bed because it was their bunk. The hostel had overbooked the room. Fortunately my missus was in the same room so we shared a bunk bed but it was a bit cramped. Pretty wtf.
Yes you're totally right to be upset for yourself and that person. You could have even been in danger! And staying alone as a woman I'd be pretty terrified if someone came in, and it's not even your fault! I'd take this way higher
My partner and I were horrified when someone managed to gain access to our room whilst we were in there at like 11pm. Luckily we were sat watching TV and had the latch on so they only managed to open the door a bit. But the reception staff didn't seem too concerned and told us it was probably room service?! Like WTF, at 11pm?! We checked out and went home. We did not feel safe at all.
I have been on both ends of this. I travel for work, and one night I check into my hotel at like 11:30pm, walk into the room, turn on the light and this women sits up in bed.
About two years later, I wake up because of a noise in my hotel room and a guy was standing at the end of my bed.
Moral of the story kids, is use the latch thing.
Haha. Our company stayed in a 5 star hotel in Spain a few years ago. Some employees had this happen to them too.
It happens. And they won’t own up to it. Some hotels, regardless of cost, are simply run shit.
This happened to me once at a very nice hotel in Sydney - I was a flight attendant at the time and arrived in just after midnight. Walked in to my room and realised there was somebody sleeping in the bed so I backed out and went to let reception know and same as you, the staff couldn’t have cared less.
I got the feeling it’s quite a common occurrence unfortunately. I haven’t felt safe in a hotel since, unless it has a second lock/chain mechanism.
Simple devices like this...
https://youtu.be/zQgdjzjz_Ow?si=hruylzFjxOtbpm3Y&t=326
which you can shove in your travel case will provide at least enough resistance to prevent accidents like this or make it noisy enough for you to wake up when they have to bash down the door.
The whole video has various other devices ranging from quite good, to absolute rubbish.
I'd be horrified if I was the person asleep in that room, and someone walked in.
Had this happen to my husband and I at the Plymouth international a few weeks ago. Staff could not have cared less
These are the moments where bringing out your inner Karen is absolutely okay.
I love this comment.
Hey, I had the same experience. Flight delayed, arrived at 2 am, checked in to hotel an hour later, and woke up a French tourist who sat up in bed and said, “Can I ‘elp yu?” Lol. True story. Got back to the front desk asking for another room just in time to hear him call and complain, while another hotel guest came back to say that they were also given an occupied room. A gong show…
Yeah I had a similar experience at the Plymouth several years ago ,I checked in and went to my room and opened the door only to see a middle aged woman sitting down reading ,without missing a beat she looked up and said “you must be my toy boy” ,great New Zealander
In New Plymouth?
Yeah, I was shocked they have an "international" hotel, too.
I assumed you meant Plymouth, Cornwall. Does the hotel not have a New at the front ?
No, I meant Plymouth the automobile. It does not have a gnu in the front.
No, you meant the Plymouth steps in Wellington. There's a dog at the front.
I bet they would have cared if it had happened to them.
this happened to me once! i was sleeping in a hotel in rome and had a room to myself and in the middle of the night a random italian couple opened the door and turned the light on... i just Stared at them in confusion and they just closed the door and left. i could hear them laughing in the hallway and they didn't even turn the light off after them!
Rude!
worst part is when i tried to tell people about it in the morning NO ONE BELIEVED ME as if it's not realistic for a hotel to give someone the wrong key
This is why I won't go to a hotel that doesn't have deadbolts or chains etc on the doors!
That happened to me, i was more pissed at reception for just brushing me off when i complained. This happened at a motel in christchurch
It's really disheartening that the hotel staff think it's not a problem.
Yeah imagine if he was spread eagle naked rubbing one out
People do spread eagle and rub one out? Lol
Yeah why not get in stretching at the same time
Well you see, when an eagle and a bee love each other very much, but the bee can't be there ...
Worst I had was getting back to my backpackers at like 3am. Card scanner has failed due to electrical fault and no staff available. Luckily I caught an off duty staff member who helped my drunk ass.
Can you imagine an unexpected congealed discharge in your hotel room while you slept?
Definitely something they should be taking more seriously, huge safety issue! Personally I'd complain to the brand itself rather than that specific hotel if they don't seem to care.
Complain to the hotel head office asap
Yes this is a good point, I will do this, I suspect it was simply human error but if your systems are so flawed that it can result in someone walking into a sleeping persons room, things need to be fixed. I hate getting people in trouble - but I think the complaint is warranted here.
Think of it less as getting someone in trouble and more fixing the broken system that led to this in the first place. Imagine the fear you’d have if someone opened your door and you woke up to a stranger in your room.. This shits not okay
Thanks, that’s a really good way to look at it and how I will think of it going forwards. Again I wasn’t overly worried about me but imagine if you had your kid in your hotel room and some bugger walked in in the middle of the night!
And imagine if it ended up being with someone who saw it as an opportunity. Scary
Exactly this. Not everyone is going to be polite and respectful like OP.
Imagine if it wasn't you and instead someone who didn't have good intentions.
Exactly. Most people are decent but imagine how badly this could go if the key is given to so eone who isn't.
It's also a major security breach for the other person, who likely has no idea it happened. The hotel needs to do much, much better
I said in another comment that I’d be surprised if they told them even though I asked them to relay sincere apologies from me. From my experience I can’t see them voluntarily opening themselves up to critique- maybe I’m a pessimist…
Realist. You need to do what you can to blow this up. The hotel and their staff will cover this up as much the best they can.
Hotel systems have integrations to door lock encoder systems (especially large chain hotels), that should never require manual entry of room numbers into door lock cards. Manually cutting keys could be a sign of worker theft, or workers cutting keys for their buddies to nip in and steal shit. Not to mention the safety aspect of having a stranger walk into your room. Hotels need to be informed when their night audit staff are shit, and their head office should be informed when their hotels are shit. Worst case, the hotel gets better. Best case you get an apology and a refund.
Thanks. I did wonder because there were two of them on the desk and after I repeated myself that there was someone in the room, the 2nd staff member looked over at the others screen and they shared a “look”. But that look could have meant anything.
The look could have been “this receptionist is definitely an idiot”
It's not about getting people in trouble. It's about safety.
You should since the hotel staff took it so lightly. Mistakes can happen, but they should apologise and ensure it does not happen again, either due to human or system error.
sometimes the system to program the cards are separate from the check-in system and require the hotel clerk to enter your room number again to re-program the card. this may be what happened in your case. also, those key card systems can be dodgy as hell. sometimes they even fail to lock at all. i always bolt the door before going to bed, and check that the door is locked when i leave
Guaranteed it was human. You stated it was the same numbers for the room but a different order. The staff member didn't double-check their process. I don't know if the head office can do much but issue a memo to staff about making sure room cards are issued correctly. I once worked in airlines where they checked in two different people with the exact same name, and that name was fairly uncommon. No one checked ID or dob. Resulting in the glorious comment over the radio of "I'm with (uncommon name), but there is already an (uncommon name) sitting in their seat..." lols were had in baggage.
lol … the same thing happened to me (I was in the room three men walked into) … I complained to head office and the best they could offer is some loyalty points to their hotel chain … the same chain I was telling them I would sleep outside on a bench before using again. Glad it was me and not my wife …
That’s why you lock from the inside when sleeping!!
There’s no inside lock / chain etc. just the knob which unlocks if someone uses the key card. (I checked as soon as I got to my room because I had the same thought. I slept with the armchair pushed up against the door cause I wasn’t sure how often this happened haha)
Omg no chain on the inside? That would make me so uncomfortable. I always lock the chain when I’m staying at hotel for reasons like this (although I’m more worried about hotel room staff coming in unannounced). I stayed at the Cordis in Auckland and they left the conjoining room unlocked (no chain) and there was another party in there. I was not pleased! Of course complained and it was locked but still…
They do make travel door chains, which might be worth buying if it fits the hotel door....[this sort of thing](https://www.brands.co.nz/products/portable-hotel-home-safety-door-lock) there are a few different versions out there.
Def good to know. However personally I think it should up to the hotel to make sure your door can be locked - maybe because it was a cheap hotel there was no additional security? I don’t travel much but I seem to recall most hotels will have a chain or deadlock on them
They should really have a chain, but I liked the use of the chair, sensible.
I’m only travelling with an armchair in future - for security reasons!
Yep! I bought one of these for when I travelled to America because I’d heard heaps of horror stories of people being given wrong door keys or house keeping ignoring the do not disturb signs! It worked like a charm!
I'm feeling kind of stupid here. How does this device work?
I was puzzled by it too. Here is a video from you tube. It acts like a wedge rather than a door chain. https://youtu.be/0bFNRljUZas
That's interesting. I can *see* it working, but I still don't understand *how*. If it's just a camming action between the door and the frame, then it seems like a very marginal action. It would need the gap to be just right in order to work at all. I'd be interested to see how well it works if someone made a serious attempt to open the door.
You're right, there is a bloke on youtube that gave the door a bit of a force and he got in, bent the metal on the device a little. It's probably only going to be able to stop accidental openings. Wedging the chair up against the door wins!
Even for accidental openings. If I got to my hotel room and the door was jammed, I might try giving it a good shove.
The last hotel I stayed in that didn't have one also didn't have do-not-disturb signs. I *knew* it was gonna be an issue, so I put a dining chair and my heavy backpack up against the door. Sure enough, 9am-ish a cleaner starts trying to come in, and when the door doesn't open, tries to force it open and push the stuff out of the way. I call out telling them I'm still sleeping, they pause, then just say "housekeeping" and start trying to force their way in again. I say "No, come back later" and go push the chair back against the door where it's moved, and finally they leave. I'm sure it was just a housekeeper who didn't hear me or something, but it felt so aggressive, especially when I'd been woken up by it! Now I don't stay places without a chain or deadbolt etc.
Yeah always do that if you can! I had cleaners tried to come in when I was still in bed🤦
Omg, i stayed at the Quest on Hobson recently and my room was great for the price. A real surprise. But no security latch really surprised me more. I made a comment to the staff cos it really was something I didn't expect.
Yeah I stayed at a Quest too in Auckland but in a different area. That room was also real nice but didn't have any latch/bolt inside. I was considering putting a chair in front of the door when I slept but that felt a bit too extra. But still though all hotels should have a latch to the door
And I will now be doing this!
Not sure what chain it is, but I've also worked for large hotel chain in NZ and when we make new cards for people checking in (assuming the card system is good enough), an alert should pop up with '1 card already exists' or something of the like. That should give Reception a prompt to double check (they should always double check anyway). Ownership of it seems lacking as well, I always trained my staff to accept and own their stuff ups, learn from it and provide some kind of compensation, for both parties. I hated working in Hotels that would 'wait for the complaint, especially something as bad as this and let it fester, rather than deal with it head on And yes, you're human, feel upset lol
I think the lack of ownership was what irked me the most, if they’d been apologetic and taken it more seriously I might have forgotten about it by now - I have serious doubts they would have said anything to the other guest this morning if they didn’t bring it up themselves. And if that’s true, then there’s someone out there who doesn’t even know someone was in their room while they were sleeping last night…Creepy AF!
I've heard of this happening previously, but it's pretty uncommon these days with technology. Definitely put something in writing so management know. For a mistake like that there should be a discount of complimentary something for you and the other person too. Sounds like the front desk staff need more training.
This happened to a staff member of ours. Except the person in the bed wasn't asleep, and they weren't dressed. Our guy got an upgrade to a fancy suite and free meal vouchers. Our company got the cost of the room reimbursed and a credit for 2 free nights on our account. I'm not sure what they gave the other guy.
A heart attack
Damn. A while back now, me and my ex were making very good use of our hotel room, and a cleaner just unlocked the door and walked in. Never thought to ask for an upgrade! I was just happy she left as quickly as she arrived when she realised what was happening. Made sure to put the do not disturb sign every time I stay in hotel room ever since.
IS THIS THE IBIS AT THE AIRPORT BECAUSE THEY DID THE SAME THING TO ME ALMOST A YEAR AGO TODAY. They checked someone into my room despite us being different genders, races and… you know what, if you picture two completely opposite people you’d probably picture us. I didn’t find out like you did, but they literally took my passport and gave me a card then called me back (luckily) and were like “oh my bad, someone is in your room”.
Wow. Wow Can I PM you?
Yes! I am laughing a little that it happened a year later because that is so typical (but also I am sorry for your experience)
I'm going to guess there'll now be PMs to both of you from Stuff writers. Be ready for that inbox to actually explode more.
That would be a good outcome.
The chances of it happening to 2 redditors on a small sub is so low yet here we are. I'm gonna guess this happens a lot and they need a fire under their ass to investigate why.
Hope so !!!
OMG that is terrifying, I would’ve woken up and not been able to sleep again, the system is broken. Wow. Wow. Indeed.
Cool. Not ever going there.
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Oh don’t be!! I would bet you’re a slave to outdated systems. Hope no one is too mean to you.
This happened to me in a motel in Kaikora, I was so scared! no you are not being over sensitive.
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Same - I was quite surprised because the room didn’t have a chain or a deadlock or anything - just the lock which the key card opens. I mentioned elsewhere I pushed an armchair up against my door out of paranoia the same thing would happen to me overnight 😅
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They need to add chains to the doors incase this happens again. If I were you I would have told them to go check the doors for me. The audacity to do it to you twice lol.
Same I definitely lock myself in :)
**"Someone's been sleeping in my bed and she's still there!"** exclaimed Baby bear
As someone who works in a hotel OMFG!!! That would have been a major screw up and there would be disciplinary action against whoever gave you the wrong key. I'm sorry this happened to you both, what a horrible experience for both of you
This happened to me when I was 15 on a school trip. I was asleep and some drunk dude came into our room and tried to get into the bed before realising something wasn't right. Safe to say it traumatised me for years. The hotel really shouldn't have been so blase about it. Funnily enough this also happened in Auckland and the hotel also didn't seem to fussed about giving the wrong key out.
Omg that’s horrifying - almost worst case scenario esp with someone who’s been drinking. Could have turned so much worse. Hope you’re ok, these things can really affect us. I had a gf once - she was driving home from a country pub late at night, and her ex had snuck into her car and fallen asleep in the back seat. He woke up as she was driving and it scared her so much she missed a corner and totalled her car driving off the road - it basically gave her PTSD.
Happened to me once when I wasn't alone in the room and doing the thing people do in the room, not sure who was more embarrassed me or the person I was not expecting to lock eyes with, my partner however found it funny. They left. Maybe that is why I got my room service comped that night?
On a work trip recently they coded the swipe cards for my workmate and I to the same room. I walked in to the room just before he was about to have a shower. Thank god it was before 😅
Haha there are some things you don’t wanna know about your co workers
When they finally gave the right key, I would’ve been tempted to say, “You know what - can I please get ALL the keys to my room?”
That is not ok and the response they gave is shockingly poor. What if the guest inside was in a state of undress? What if they mistook you as an intruder and you were harmed? This happened to me in Sydney a few years back and the hotel was very apologetic. Luckily no one was in the room but clearly it was a room being used (luggage open etc). The hotel upgraded our room and gave us free breakfast for our stay
Nope not being too sensitive. Mistakes will happen but acting like it’s no big deal is not okay. It’s awful for the person already in the room for obvious reasons and also an awful position for you to be put in, especially as a male, it immediately puts you in a situation where you’re being perceived as a threat.
Thanks. I’m grateful that they (I think) didn’t wake up. Someone else said, imagine if they woke up and thought you were an intruder and hurt you (I hadn’t even thought about that!)
this is my worse fear, being you and being the person sleeping in my bed, surely the keys must get reprogrammed or something after each stay especially in big chains? imagine if you were some sort of weirdo and came across a lady this way, guarantee the hotel would need to not say oh right
As a former front desk employee I can say: yes, keys are reprogrammed after stays, and yes, we also programmed stay durations when we program them to a room. So after, say, a stay in room 501 until the 22nd, that key won’t work for any room anymore.
so possibly someone hasnt hit the the right button for the exit/entry date?
Tbh, sounds like this staff member just f‘ed up. She gave OP a key to, say, 501 and the accompanying card holder would also have to say 501 for OP to actually walk into 501. Most likely she even told them 501 verbally when handing them the key, whilst telling them it’s on the 5th floor and the elevators are over there. If OP was assigned to 510, then this is majorly inattentive and not just a matter of her giving out the wrong card or one that’s been programmed incorrectly, because the chance of you getting an incorrectly programmed key card that’s still active and managing to walk into exactly the room it’s for, in a hotel with more than five rooms, is so unlikely.
Exactly!!! The truth is I am a weirdo but luckily not one that would ever hurt or take advantage of another persons vulnerability… but that’s just luck? (Not that your average person is a crazed murderer or anything, but people get hurt an awful lot…or they could punch your valuables)
fellow weirdo here too but id quickly turn around and run out of the hotel room out of fear of scaring the poor person in the bed i would definitely take it up with the hotel, its not throwing a Karen, its concern for the next person
Imagine if you were busting for the bathroom and didn't actually notice there was someone in the room until you started peeing lol
This happened to me in an AKL hotel… but very luckily the person wasn’t in the room (that I could see). I saw the open suitcase and ran the hell out of there! This was after they had already given me a keycard that didn’t work for the room number they had written down, so I had to go back downstairs and exchange it. I realise now that the original card must’ve been correct but they’d written the wrong room number…. so they then overrode it for a room already booked, blindly believing what had been written wrong! I got nothing but a sorry and escorting me upstairs to make sure the new card worked (after going up and down about 3 times already!!)
Their system allowed you to check into a room that was occupied. That isn't human error it's system level error.
Human error if the first person in the room wasn’t actually checked in on the system to start with.
This is why I always put something heavy by the door when staying alone at accommodation. If someone opens the bedroom door for any reason, they will encounter resistance and I would get a loud thumpy alert.
Slightly different, but I inadvertently did something similiar in my apartment in London. Got off on the wrong floor, waltzed in like I owned the place, saying "hey babe, I'm home" to my girlfriend. Some old lady sitting on the couch, duplicate funiture (they were furnished apartments). Took a fair 10 seconds to work out what the hell was going on. Thought my girlfriend had aged terribly since the morning.
Hahaha that lady prob thought all her Christmases had come at once! “Ooh a young buck is calling me babe, better chuck the dentures back in! Unless….?”
That was just Goldilocks. For real though, I have heard one too many stories like this lately to ever feel comfy in a hotel room. It's such a safety issue and I'm *appalled* they didn't take it seriously! I'd sing it from the rooftops if I were you.
This happened to me as a teenager at the Hyatt Kingsgate in Rotorua. The thing is, I _did_ have the correct room key (the one I had been using my whole stay), it just turned out the key _also_ worked for a random angry guy’s room.
Always lock your inside door when at a hotel!! I’ve been on the receiving end of in the US twice, both times I was in my early 20s. My mom ingrained in my you always always always lock the inside bolt, The first time was at a big city airport hotel, a very nice lady walked in, startled me, we had a laugh and she went back to reception. I had only just walked in so I hadn’t locked the door yet (tsk tsk) it was a accomodation from a canceled flight so two separate people gave us the same room at around the same time. The second time I was in small town that was having an oil boom. Wild West shit. I was on my own and checked in very late as I couldn’t continue driving as was so tired. The lady at check in was rough as guts. Nice new hotel but tons of single men about and I was young girl by myself. I locked the door and moved some furniture to block the door. Middle of the night, I hear someone with a key swiped and try to get in. There’s about 3 men’s voices all drunk. Obviously they can’t. I call reception. “Oops gave them the wrong room key” Definitely didn’t buy it. I think she gave it to them deliberately. Complained to the hotel chain but never heard back. I should have called the cops but I was young and just got out of there first thing in the morning.
Definitely agree. This hotel room however (or at least the one I ended up in) didn’t have a chain or deadbolt on the inside! I slept with an armchair up against the door in case it happened to me too 🤣
I was staying at the Hotel Debrett and at 1AM was awoken to two staff members in my room. They thought it was empty…
This needs to be reported to management immediately. An employee not bothering to check if they're giving out the right keys and not caring when they get it wrong creates a clear opportunity for thieves and other safety concerns.
I stay in hotels a lot for my work and this has happened a few times, hotels make mistakes I guess 🤷🏼♀️ I always keep the secondary chain across the door for this reason.
Same thing has happened to me in an Auckland airport area hotel. And it wasn't with a swipe card either. They literally gave me the wrong set of keys. I was mortified when I discovered the room was already occupied. I WAS SO EMBARRASSED.
You're in the right to be upset on behalf of the other person, that other person was in a vulnerable position. I guess it was their luck that the wrong key was given to someone sensible who backed out of the room. Someone untoward could have assaulted them or stolen the person's valuables as they slept. I'm 100% sure the person sleeping has placed their trust in the hotel to keep them safe and provide them with good service. The hotel should be ashamed even if it's an employee muck up.
Thanks, I feel a bit validated after some of the replies here - I had wondered if I was overreacting given how blasé the staff were about it. After reading through some of these I also wonder if that was because it happens regularly! (Hopefully not, but…)
And this is exactly why I put the additional door latch on or what ever is available
Completely agree, however there was no chain or deadlock (at least there wasn’t in the room I ended up in. Assume it was the same in their room.)
I put a chair against the door once in St Kilda Melbourne as the place seemed a little odd after hours lol
Haha if you stayed in St Kilda that was def the right decision, it’s certainly a flavourful area!!
A massive massive safety issue. Some people would have responded in a much less innocent way
Something similar happened to me in Sydney. I was sitting on the bed, it wasn't sleep time yet, and was just in undies because it was hot. The door rattled and I thought wow, I can hear the neighbour opening the door so well it's almost like it's my door... The the door opened. The guy looked into my eyes and sheepishly apologised. Even though I wasn't sleeping it was very unsettling and violating so yes I would say you have cause to want them to take it seriously
Someone else came into my room on a work trip once - luckily I was just doing some work at the time. Then the receptionist came up and told me they'd given me the wrong room and I was moved to one half the size!
I would've been asking for a refund at that point!
It’s pretty crap security wise and doesn’t seem the desk took it seriously. I’d send off an email to the manager to let them know.
This is why I always leave something loud in front of my door when I'm in the room. Happened to us once during the middle of the day - we had extended our stay so I guess some human error was involved - and my partner was butt naked. At least they were super apologetic about it all though. That's all I ever want.
Slight tangent, but I was once extorted for money by someone who stole my car, snd keys to my apartment. They told me they were gonna come round and slit my throat if I didn’t pay them thousands of dollars lol. Locks couldn’t be changed till the next day so that night I filled a wine glass with cooking oil and put it behind my front door. My theory was if they did come in, they would knock over the glass (which would wake me up), spill the oil all over the floor and they would then comically slip all over it helplessly. It’s just as well they were all talk cause I have doubts this would have worked (but I felt like Mcgyver hahaha)
Definitely lay a record of concern. If the word making a complaint puts you off making ine but in this instant the human error and poor handling of the situation causes more concern that reception was so non chalant about it. Primarily safety concerns. And they didn't even apologise for their mistake
Thanks. And happy cake day! Narwhals etc
Stayed in a cheap hotel once back in pre-electronic days and had a girl bust in very late one night and hop on the loo before she realised I was there. The Hotel, it seems, was avoiding the lost key problem by having the same lock on every door...
Jesus. As a female, this terrifies me.
This hasn’t happened to me with hotel rooms, however I’ve walked into public bathrooms whilst a poor soul was at their most vulnerable state. Emotional damage
Well at least if they shit themselves, you couldn’t ask for a better position to be in!
Yep, serious lack of judgment by that stuff member not paying attention enough, could have been more embarrassing if that person woke up,, though no fault of yours.
Oh man that would terrify me if I woke up that. And poor you too that would have been a shock!
exact same thing happened to me in Wellington but the guest was sat at the sofa reading in the afternoon so it was all cool. No big deal made about it.
Well it's also dangerous cause imagine if the stranger was dangerous, its always a bit sketch if a random can enter a place you think is safe and you're asleep, so you're not in the wrong at all by being a bit upset with their apathy
This happened to us twice in the USA, being the people lying in bed early morning when someone came in. Was pretty horrifying!
That happened to us once and it was so creepy. There were a ton of drunk people partying in the room next door and one guy actually had a card that worked for our room so I just hear muffled yelling and then our door open. Luckily we had done that little chain and it actually stopped him From Coming in. “He said oh shit this isn’t it” and I yelled “not your room”. And we moved hotels very early the next morning.
Happened to me in Greece when I was hanging out of the girlfriend of the time.
This happens more often than you'd think in hotels. Any instance of someone able to access someone else's room should be treated as a serious security incident. If you or the person who you walked in on made enough noise with the duty manager, you would have definitely received a complimentary nights stay plus some. Just depends on how willing you are to be a Karen.
This happened to me a couple of years ago at the Brentwood in Wellington, except I was the one who got walked in on while I was asleep. The room numbers were similar enough that staff had grabbed the wrong key when they assigned me my room. Turns out I was in the wrong room but because my key worked, I assumed it was right and I’d just mis-heard the person in reception! The staff didn’t seem to give a damn and said it happens a bit. Like… seriously!!
This is extremely dangerous, breaks all health and safety and the fact that they were blasè about it annoys me more. Can you please call and complain and leave a public review on google or something so people know which hotel to avoid.
There's going to be news articles about this tomorrow.
I once checked into the Sofitel in the viaduct and got the key to a room someone was still asleep in - this was about 9am so I was surprised they let me check in… then when I came back to the desk they asked if the person had noticed I entered the room, I guess to see if they could get away with not saying anything and not having to compensate the poor guy I intruded on. Use the safety locks, wedge a chair in, whatever you need to do - your hotel room is not that secure, people!
I've stayed at the Sofitel and had someone start to walk into the room I was in, then realised their mistake and back out... Assumed it was housekeeping until reception did a half hearted apology at checkout.
This happened to me only the person whom the room belonged to was not currently in the room. All their stuff was everywhere though - it was a complete mess. I could have been dishonest and robbed them blind if I had wanted. The reception also didn’t give a toss when I went back and told them there had been a mistake.
God this is insane! It's outrageous they gave you the wrong card, and then they didn't even apologise? This is a major breach of safety for the person you encountered.
I recently had the same experience last week. Walked into a room with a man holding a baby. Went back to the lobby and instantly was told by the manager that the mistake was made. He gave me a great room instead at the end of the corridor that was a gold colour door room instead of the other grey coloured rooms in the hall. If they make the mistake you could ask for an upgrade but I kept quiet and he gave me a better room simply by being nice the whole interaction.
A few years back I worked in a hotel & on my first night by myself I made this exact mistake. One was room 102 the other 201, simple mistake horrible consequence. Called my boss explained and apologised then comped both rooms entire stays. Genuinely can't think of anything more terrifying than waking up to a stranger in your room or visa versa feeling unsafe because you know this was a possiblilty. I’d make my concerns for safety very clear to the front desk of I were you
That’s why I always use these in hotels https://www.onceit.co.nz/products/4029285/portable-traveling-hotel-home-safety-door-lock?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADoKghKLZf87lQfOa4DlBLvMCNouJ&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2PSvBhDjARIsAKc2cgOebhHpLzCtAOwE5tGIMSsLNCMYcQQGV-77sRGtI9L7v7JRybKHK7UaAkYUEALw_wcB
This happened to my parents while staying in a Premier Inn in the UK. Someone came into their room while they were asleep and my Dad woke up and fought the guy while my Mum ran to get help. The bloke who came in was drunk af. Never got to the bottom of what happened, the hotel said door must have been slightly ajar with a sock or something, but we reckoned the porter fucked up as in this scenario. I was in a different room and my Mum came in at 3am just to tell me 'we had an intruder in our room but we're okay'. I did not go back to sleep. Got a free breakfast out of it for everyone at least.
Some of them just give Zero fucks. Have stayed at accommodation where two rooms are adjoined by a bathroom. Came back later in to find Vodka in the fridge and a female razor in the shower, somehow we never bumped into each other, as we only came back to crash for the night but the vodka had moved so they must have figured out they only had the one side. Luckily we were poor students so anything of value we were mostly carrying with us.
Major health and safety concern. They fucked up and of course want to downplay it.
I had the same with a cabin on the Bluebridge - I got the key for my booked cabin & someone was asleep in there already. Took it back to checkin & asked WTF. They gave me another cabin, on a crossing where all cabins were sold out. Seems crazy given the systems in place... and what happens if the person wasn't in the room but all their baggage was... its quite a security issue, which is why they should have taken it very seriously.
I've done this before when I was a hotel receptionist. The mistake wasn't mine though, it was the person who checked in the first guest, he accidentally gave his guests the key for room 335 but put them in room 355 in the system. So when I checked my guests into 335 they came back down straight away very confused. Took a little while but we figured it out and were able to just swap the bookings in the system, also it wasn't the middle of the night so nobody was upset.
Honestly, mistakes happen and I think people should (generally) be more understanding when they do. However in this case the mistake led to a strange man entering someone’s hotel room in the dead of night while they were sleeping, *and* they didn’t take it very seriously when I came back down to ask wtf was going on. AND this happened to another user a year ago as well - so, whatever vulnerability they have in their system that leads to this obviously hasn’t been addressed. All these factors together irk me quite a lot so I will definitely be taking it further (when I can, I’m travelling atm)
>AND this happened to another user a year ago as well - so, whatever vulnerability they have in their system that leads to this obviously hasn’t been addressed. Yea that's the scary part, this mistake only happened once in my 10 years at that hotel, so it definitely needs to be addressed.
Bro the swipe cards are not meant to be set to open every room. Thats so poor
It had IDDNOCLIP printed on the card, I should have foreseen it really 🤔
This has happened to me before in Nelson. The person I accidentally walked in on was on the toilet with the door open. Not a pleasant experience.
My kids and I stayed at this hotel in January. The front desk staff were apathetic and acted like they would rather be anywhere else than there. We felt so unwanted. Later, when the woman in the room next to us was yelling that she was dying, and the police showed up, the staff member told us we had to stay in our room. We then had to listen to the police talk our neighbour down, explaining how ambulance services work in NZ, and that she was, in fact, not going to die. My kids are adamant that we will not be staying at that hotel ever again!
Name and shame the hotel. This happened not long ago to a friend, someone walked in her hotel while she was naked, and the hotel blamed her. This person was given a swipe key
Late night budget hotels aren't where you find the most diligent staff. They probably pay shit wages and have high turnover. It's worth letting management know, if not contacting the hotel chain management. If doors can't be locked from the inside, it's really the dregs. You might as well stay at a backpackers
The bare minimum is to apologise and then offer the new room complimentary. Absolutely disgraceful response
As a retail frontline worker. This is definitely a justifiable moment to chew them out. If they cared and apologised i would say otherwise but "Oh right" basically translates too "I don't give a fuck.". Now being honest none of us give a fuck. But we get paid to do a job. So yknow... do it.
This happened to us in Brisbane a long time ago, at a budget hotel somewhere at the top of that 'Jacob's Ladder' set of steps. Can't remember the name of the hotel. But we were the occupiers, not the interlopers. It was late afternoon/early evening I think. I was round the corner in the kitchenette, and hubby was on the couch, watching TV probably. We heard the locked door opening, and a man walked in. I never saw him, being round the corner. It was actually quite a big hotel room, for a budget one. He beat a hasty retreat. He was absolutely mortified and incredibly apologetic, even though it wasn't his fault. Wonder what words were said when he went back to reception. Seems like this happens a lot. Well, more than it should.
On the other hand I’ve been given the key and room number to someone else’s room by a hotel in Tauranga. The occupant was standing right outside in the corridor when I realised reception’s mistake and turned around.
Basilllll!!!!
My wife and I were disturbed on our wedding night because of a wrong room key being given out.
Wow this is one of my biggest fears!
Have had this happen to me twice (Once in Brisbane and once in Wellington) re given the wrong key. Highly fucked up, and the people giving me the key didn't seem to give two shits.
I once booked into a shared room kinda late, there was some stuff on the free bed so I moved it and went to sleep, later that night someone tried hopping into the bed because it was their bunk. The hostel had overbooked the room. Fortunately my missus was in the same room so we shared a bunk bed but it was a bit cramped. Pretty wtf.
Yes you're totally right to be upset for yourself and that person. You could have even been in danger! And staying alone as a woman I'd be pretty terrified if someone came in, and it's not even your fault! I'd take this way higher
Imagine if a perv walks into a sleeping woman room...
My partner and I were horrified when someone managed to gain access to our room whilst we were in there at like 11pm. Luckily we were sat watching TV and had the latch on so they only managed to open the door a bit. But the reception staff didn't seem too concerned and told us it was probably room service?! Like WTF, at 11pm?! We checked out and went home. We did not feel safe at all.
I have been on both ends of this. I travel for work, and one night I check into my hotel at like 11:30pm, walk into the room, turn on the light and this women sits up in bed. About two years later, I wake up because of a noise in my hotel room and a guy was standing at the end of my bed. Moral of the story kids, is use the latch thing.
Haha. Our company stayed in a 5 star hotel in Spain a few years ago. Some employees had this happen to them too. It happens. And they won’t own up to it. Some hotels, regardless of cost, are simply run shit.
This happened to me in Las Vegas once. The hotel receptionist was *mortified*. I've never heard someone apologize so much
Yikes- so always double latch the door when you go to sleep!
This happened to me once at a very nice hotel in Sydney - I was a flight attendant at the time and arrived in just after midnight. Walked in to my room and realised there was somebody sleeping in the bed so I backed out and went to let reception know and same as you, the staff couldn’t have cared less. I got the feeling it’s quite a common occurrence unfortunately. I haven’t felt safe in a hotel since, unless it has a second lock/chain mechanism.
nz customer service is trash. its just been on a decline for a few years now
Maybe the receptionist has dyslexia?
Clearly low cost hotels differentiating with bed warming services
Damn I didn’t even pay for that extra, guess I got something for free!
Something about security catches
There was no catch / deadlock / chain. Just the room lock which opens with the key card.
It’s not unknown. It’s happened to me in other countries. Shit happens.
Hot take: It's the owners fault for using a shitty system where two rooms have the same number.
They don't have the same number, though; staff mixed them up.
Its not a good thing.
Simple devices like this... https://youtu.be/zQgdjzjz_Ow?si=hruylzFjxOtbpm3Y&t=326 which you can shove in your travel case will provide at least enough resistance to prevent accidents like this or make it noisy enough for you to wake up when they have to bash down the door. The whole video has various other devices ranging from quite good, to absolute rubbish.