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Most people feel generally safe when staying at a hotel. There are usually security personnel, reliable electronic keys, and a 24-hour reception in case you need help at any point.
Sometimes, however, something happens that disturbs that sense of security.
That is exactly what van life content creator Sarah (@livingwithsarah) says happened to her. In a recent TikTok video, which has garnered over 655,900 views, Sarah shares the scary events that unfolded the night prior.
What Went Wrong During Her Hotel Stay?
“So the weirdest thing happened last night at my hotel,” Sarah begins.
She says she went to bed early and later woke up to her room phone ringing. At first, she says, she thought it was her own phone or an alarm because she was still half asleep.
Then she realized it was the hotel room phone.
“I was like, what is happening?” Sarah says.
She decided not to answer it and let it ring until it stopped.
“I’m like, OK, so a little spooked, but whatever,” she says.
Sarah went back to sleep. But a while later, she woke up again, this time to a knock at the door.
“I look at the phone. It’s like almost 11:40 at night,” she says. “Why is someone knocking at my door in the middle of the night? No, thank you.”
Sarah says she looked through the peephole and realized the person outside appeared to be from the front desk.
“Hey, did you call for help?” Sarah recalls them asking.
She told them no. “They’re like, ‘OK, I’m so sorry,’ and they left,” she says.
At that point, Sarah says her heart rate was up, and she felt unsettled by the idea that someone had come to her room in the middle of the night. However, she tried to convince herself that nothing untoward was happening.
“Maybe they mix up rooms,” she says. “I don’t really know.”
Eventually, she calmed down enough to go back to sleep when her phone rang again.
“I was like, I’m answering it this time,” Sarah says.
She says she planned to ask whoever was calling to stop and then unplug the phone. But when she picked up, no one was on the other end.
“I’m literally living in a horror movie right now,” she says.
The Front Desk Had No Record Of It
By the next morning, Sarah decided to go downstairs and ask what had happened.
According to her, the employee at the front desk said there was no reason anyone should have been calling her room. More unsettlingly, Sarah says, there was nothing logged about a call or a visit to her room.
“I did at least expect him to be like, ‘Oh, yeah, you know, we mixed it up,’” she says.
Instead, she says, there was nothing.
The employee allegedly told Sarah that once the manager arrived, they would check the cameras.
“This is crazy. This is absolutely crazy,” Sarah says. “Please check those cameras. I would love that. Because what was the goal here? I don’t love this at all.”
Sarah Later Shared An Update
In a follow-up video she posted the day after, Sarah says she spoke with the manager.
According to Sarah, the manager told her that the situation may have been connected to a maintenance issue from two days earlier. Sarah says she had previously called about something not working in her room, and staff fixed it in about 15 minutes.
However, she says, her room may have stayed on a daytime maintenance list.
Sarah says the manager told her the nighttime front desk worker, who worked around 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., was apparently handling daytime responsibilities at night.
“She was just doing her job,” Sarah says.
Sarah says she told the manager she felt uncomfortable and wanted some sort of compensation. At first, she says, the manager offered to comp the pet fee. Sarah declined because the fee was small.
Eventually, she says, she got about half a night comped.
The Situation Still Felt Strange
Sarah says she understood that the employee may have been doing her job. However, she still thought the timing was inappropriate.
“Super weird to do it in the middle of the night,” she says.
She also thought it was strange that someone called again after already coming to her room and being told she did not need help.
Sarah says she explained that as a solo female traveler, she has to be on guard.
“You could tell she just thought I was being ridiculous,” Sarah says.
In a later update, Sarah said she was back in her van with her dogs and safe. She said she planned to call corporate, even if nothing came of it.
“Even if they don’t do anything, I just want them to be aware of the situation,” she said.
She also said she planned to post a review so other solo travelers would know what happened.
How To Stay Safe In A Hotel As A Solo Traveler
According to a Holiday Expert blog post, solo travelers should pay close attention to personal safety during hotel stays.
The site recommends checking the locks in your room. While that may sound obvious, it never hurts to make sure the door, windows, and any connecting doors actually lock the way they should.
A portable door lock can also add another layer of security and peace of mind.
Holiday Expert also recommends booking hotels with a 24-hour reception in case something goes wrong late at night.
Other common safety tips include making sure your room number is not said out loud at check-in, pretending you are staying with someone else if that makes you feel safer, and not posting your hotel location on social media while you are still there.
Commenters Had Theories About What Happened
In the comments, some viewers immediately jumped to frightening possibilities.
“Make sure they aren’t watching you.. the first thing that popped in my mind was a sex trafficking situation,” one commenter wrote.
“Yeah, you need to get out of that room ASAP,” another wrote. “Sounds like Human trafficking stuff.”
However, others thought there could have been a more innocent explanation.
“I work at a hotel,” one commenter wrote. “Sounds to me that a wake up call was set for your room.”
The Mary Sue has reached out to Sarah via email for comment and more information.
