Hotel Door Pushed In

A couple years ago, Comfort Inn. Lebanon IN. Day 2 of Pat Rogers Carbine Operators Course.

It's about 5:30 in the evening, I had just started to load magazines for the next day's class. There are two carbines, (my duty R6920 and my back up carbine, M4 clone all Colt parts on a Bushmaster lower) on the bed along my Kimber Warrior and my BUG (SW Model 36). I'm sitting on the floor loading magazines, probably 30 empty and partially loaded magazines stacked around me an open case of XM193 next to me and a trash bag full of empty boxes and plastic separators over by the trash can. I'm dressed in khaki 5.11s and a black Gemtech T shirt with a suppressed M249 on the front of it.

The door opens with the electronic key card and in walks a couple that was obviously stopping for the night on vacation. I don't know who was more startled, me or them. The husband quickly said, we must have the wrong room and the backed out faster then they walked in.

It turned out that the clerk who checked me in, put my checkout date into the computer wrong, the room showed as available and they rented it to the couple that walked in on me.

The lesson I learned, the latch isn't just for when you are sleeping.....

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Jeff, thanks for posting that . . .it made my day. I can still picture mr & mrs tourist telling their friends about "rambo" at the Lebanon Indiana Comfort Inn.

Keep in mind, hotel and motels have always been a concern for some that travel on the road.

Remember as well, not everyone is of legal age to CCW, nor is every jurisdiction gun friendly.
ADEE, applies, meaning do not default to "gun" instead take prudent steps to not get to the "gun stage".

Your 19 year old daughter, attending college, that has car trouble in Chicago ain't gonna have gun for instance.

New wedges and such are great, old methods still work.

-Rubber and homemade wooden door stops.
-Screw drivers.
-Shoe horns (metal or FRN)
-No.2 Pencils, Ink Pens.

-Aluminum patio and window stops. These are the small dealies with a thumbscrew or wingnut. Mom &Pop hardware stores have these, some big box stores sell in a package of 2 or 4.
It has a "lip" that fits, then one screws it down tight.
It will slow someone down.

For those that fly, the above in checked luggage work.

Pocket Knife, even a SAK Classic is a huge defensive tool!!

Still let us say one has luggage lost, or due to car trouble, or a bad wreck on the Interstate, even bad weather, one has to pull over and get a room.

Access the differences in a hotel with exterior access and one with interior access and both.

If you stay in the Brookhollow Holiday Inn , or Anatole in Dallas , one stays in a interior access.
Comfort Inn in Tulsa, one has exterior access with the pool being right in front of door.
Marriot in PA, one has access from both inside the hotel and from exterior.

Screwdrivers work under doors, in windows and even sliding glass doors.
Daughter for instance can use the small tool box from her car.
Maybe dad was smart to toss in some door stops, and that one bigger stop to use as a wheel chock , in changing a flat tire.

Rental, out of town, and other reasons one has nothing they brought...
Run what ya brung...

Easiest and most obvious is a chair under door knob.
Never overlook the obvious, nor use it.

The heavy plastic "guest cups" in the bathroom will "scrunch" to make a wedge, for use at door, window and patio (top and bottom).

No.2 pencils/ Ink pens , in the room, or at the desk, will work on patio (top and bottom) and windows (place where window slides in rail.)

Door: Use your SAK classic to whittle the pencil /ink pen to fit.
No knife, break the damn thing, and use the parking lot, sidewalks or whatever to fashion.

Free magazines, and the like work to make wedges too.
Roll those up tight, and carry and use for defensive tools.

See the lamp? Look at the way it unscrews. Many of the mounted ones on a wall, will unscrew and one has a "bar" to use anywhere from 10" to longer.
"Stick beats knife".


Easiest way to be prepared and therefore Avoid, is at home, and while at work.
Forget you have a gun.

What do you have in the house, at the office?
Use it.

Did the maid leave a broom, or dust pan? Great, you have a door wedge and "stick".


Cheat.
Exterior access, add something to sidewalk to make noise.
Travel Reps used to get popcorn kernels for instance that could not be sold as the package was busted.
Sprinkle /toss this in front of door.
Footsteps will "crunch" and signal someone is near your door.
There will a rhythm to traffic, and the signal will be someone stopping, at your door.

Think.

Brook-Hollow Holiday Inn, Dallas, TX.
10th floor.
Partner and I knew Trouble was outside the door.

I had put part of our dishes out from our door where I could see them using the wide angle peep hole.
The rest were down near another room, I could see from peep hole.
While I did this, I took dishes from another room I could see from peep hole, and moved part to another area.

Pard had the shotgun using bed for cover.
I spoke from aside the door, after taking a quick peep.
"Anymore dishes?" asked Trouble.
None of the dishes had been moved and there was no cart, and the person asking was not in front of peephole as a hotel employees would/should be.

We just made a phone call and had this handled.
No cell phones back then.
We had contingency plans, one being a compressed air horn.
That horn, will get anyone on a hotel floor to open a door and ask and see what is going on.
Some will think it is a fire alarm.

Trust me, air horns will get attention inside the Big Fancy Hotel , that was used later on to stop a person, that had snatched a briefcase from someone I knew.
Folks closed elevator doors and Security had stairwells covered in a heartbeat.
Criminal caught in the stairwell.
Let the cops do the stairwell clearing.

Oh, there is nothing wrong with hitting a lady in a expensive dress with a food tray either.
She was part of the team.
Top cut down to "there" and slit up the side to "there".
Strawberry blond with a Glock , she never got that far.
"Wham!" Smack dab in the face and down she went.

I sorta enjoyed hitting that gal, she earned it.
Part of a team, hi-class team, that had caused trouble before.
There are some things a guy should not say or ask a lady, she was no lady.
What I said did throw her game off (I totally surprised her as she did not see me, and then what I say, caused her to hesitate).


Wear the gun.

S&T and quality practice come from "Dry Fire" drills.

Not everyone is of legal age to wear a gun, and many jurisdictions do not allow some to have guns.

Have codewords with family, like when you go down the hall to get ice and the wife and kids are in the room.
Maybe you get ice, the wife runs downstairs for something, and the kids, teenagers have practiced such non-gun skill sets, and use of code words.



Women and Fried Chicken - Jones

Dang if he did not peg Memphis, TN with that song!

coyotehitman wrote:

Quote:
Who said anything about shooting anyone?

No one directly. Are we pretending that it was not addressed indirectly?

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If you took the quote that I responded to, you will see that I addressed this:


coyotehitman wrote:

Quote:
Castle doctrine?? You gonna shoot the maid/hotel clerk for coming into the wrong room?

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So no... I haven't seen anyone suggesting shooting "the maid/hotel clerk"-- directly or indirectly.


coyotehitman wrote:

Quote:
You will have to let us know where you get that crystal ball....


Pretty nerdy.

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Whatever. What are all the cool kids saying now?

Perhaps I should have said that it must be nice to be omnipotent.


-- John

The motel selling the same room happens more than one would think. It is extremely important to further secure the door.

I worked in Cucuta Colombia SA for a week and was the only Gringo in town. I could see ppl in the hallway through my door!!! The room was at best sparce so I took the matress off the bed and jambed the bed frame at a 45* angle across the door.

Thankfully the place didn't catch on fire.

I travel quite a bit for work and you'd be surprised how often this happens, whether it's staff or another hotel guest.

However, even scarier is when they give you a key to a room, you enter it only to find it occupied. If so inclined, being shot by someone is quite feasible given the scenario.

Yes, I now knock loudly before I go into any room, but even that doesn't always work. I walked in on someone who was taking a shower and they couldn't hear the banging on the door. I heard the shower and backed out: I don't think s/he even knew I'd been there. However the front-desk clerk and the manager on duty got an earful from me.

The wedges are a great idea.

Jeff White, a pile of guns, a surprised suburban couple on vacation...if only
we had the video from the smoke detector cam to see all those surprised looks.

I had it happen to me once, hotel gave someone else a key to my room, we had jsut gotten off work and were dog tired and nasty, son was in shower. my wife and I were sitting watching tv waiting our turn, guy walked right in carrying luggage, got 1 step inside door before I had him painted with my M&P, he turned ghost white, and turned around and left. I went down to the desk clerk and raised h@@@, asked them were they trying to get someone killed? Well I got my room for free and so did the other guy. After that the first thing I do is flip the lever over, keeps them from getting all the way in.

I saw Richmond Virginia mentioned. A buddy of mine's truck got broken into there a few years ago while he stayed at a motel.

Appears to me that hotel/motels are a popular place for thieves and robbers to work. The cars tend to contain useful/saleable stuff, and the customers always have cash.

Not at all uncommon to hear reports of getting robbed at motels. I always keep a gun in my room with me at these places.

And it's true, like dralarms experience, people try to get into the wrong room by accident. But then, there was a rash of "room invasions" not too long back in a nearby big city.

The traveler has historicaly been a favored target of criminals, hence the term "highwayman"!

I've heard guests screaming at each other at like 2am at a Hilton. Apparently two females were staying in a room and a late-arriving male guest was told that was his assigned room. His key worked, women freaked out and were screaming/crying in an East Asian language, dude started yelling "I'm sorry! They said this was my room!" Concierge came running since we were on the first floor, etc.

Kharn

I've been given occupied rooms many times. Aways knock, always pay attention as you open the door. I have had my carry gun drawn & at the ready for an innocent patron twice.
One thing I did not see mentioned is ALWAYS check the window locks. I'm in hotels 2 nights a week & the windows are rarely locked. The wedges & screwdrivers are great. Depending on the room layout I'll leave the ironing board or a chair in the path of the door.
While we're talking hotels, always know your fire escape route, how many doors down, which side etc. I've had to evacuate a hotel room twice, once was smoke filled for real. 2 am in unfamiliar surroundings standing in a parking lot without my keys!
It helps to know exactly were your keys, wallet etc are. I have a habit of leaving key's wallet etc in the previous day's pants pockets. I try to hang the pants on a chair on the same side of the bed every time.

So I'd guess your wife is fully on board now with guns? There's a silver lining....

I've had people walk in our room a lot, but we stay in hotels a lot because my son plays hockey in two leagues which means we travel a lot of the year.

I think it is totally reasonable to ask about the legality of shooting an intruder. I know that we typically have at least one gun at the ready while away from home and I have had a couple maids see the business end of a pistol. I have also had several people get assigned the wrong room.

When that happeneds, I think hotels need to know that they might be liable if they check two different people into the same room and they get shot.

For myself, if it's the middle of the night, the risk of being shot while walking into my motel room is very high if you make it into the main part of the room. If it's morning, I don't like it, but I generally assume it is the maid even though they still get the pistol treatment.

As a very effective door stop, use a a three-foot 2x4 to prop against the doorknob. I have a commercial door jam very similar to the above, but is made of adjustable steel frame. It should slow down anyone trying to kick the door open.

This happened to my wife and me once, early in our marriage. We were in one of two hotels in a small town, between the two bars in that town, at a relative's funeral. All the locks were on, and somebody started trying to open the door. Turned that knob real slow and stealthy.

Both of us woke up immediately -- neither of us ever sleeps really well away from home anyway. I rolled off the bed and dug my pistol out of the backpack I had it in, and stood about 8 feet from the door with it in both hands, pointed at the ground.

Noises outside stopped after a few minutes, and we never heard more about it, but my wife stopped wondering why I always had a gun with me. Now she carries one, too.

Nowadays, I'd have one of those rubber door stops under the door, too.

I did a Lot of traveling between '90 and '04, usually 5 days a week over seven southern states.
At least once a year, either someone would be given the card to my room, or I'd be given the card to theirs. I learned to always, repeat always, throw the inside latch, and to place my suitcase in front of the door, usually resting on the nice little stands most places used to provide.

Well, Steve, I try to get an exterior room on the ground floor with a parking space in front of it. Preferably on the "road" side. I don't mind if there are parties going on or people about.

I back in the van, offload the guns and tools (benchrest toolbox is worth over $3,000), open the hood, pop the battery disconnect, and I'm good for the night. If it's not feeling like a nice neighborhood, I'll chain the steering wheel through the driver's seat, with a nice big visible master lock and a log chain.

Inside, if I'm by myself, I'll usually load a 'gauge and a .45... If I'm with Jen and the kids, it's usually a lower profile - two .45s with long sticks.

The chair goes in front of the door, the TV goes on, the cooler comes out, and a glass of tasty Knob Creek as I watch a half hour of TV before bed...

FWIW, I've also stopped at nicer places - once had the bellman load up four gun cases, a toolbox, and an overnight bag... Didn't even bat an eye...

Last May a couple of my friends and I were staying at the Sarasota hotel and marina for a school competition. The 2nd night of the competition a few of us were playing cards in my room when all of the sudden the locked door flys open, the guy that opened it just muttered damn wrong room and left. I guess the lock was crap because he manged to break it just by turning the handle with enough force...

Hey Jeff, that's funny.

It's like, Welcome to your worst nightmare..

Hampton Inn- Pittsburg PA- University Center/Oakland: July 3, 2003.

I was working on a project for University of Pittsbugh Medical Center and had to work first shift preparing the jobsite and then third shift unloading and setting the machienry. I went back to my room to catch a sandwich and a nap and shower before going back to work. I could have sworn I set the night latch but I was pretty tired and had my hands full of Arby's food.

Anyway, around 7pm, I had the drapes drawn and the lights off trying to get a nap, the door handle shakes a couple times, the door opens, and somebody walks in, doesn't turn on the lights, and something slams onto the other bed in the room. I usually take the room with one bed but they were busy- this room had two beds, I took the one by the window to be closer to the A/C unit- I like the air blowing on me.

I was out of bed wearing only a Colt King Cobra .357 revolver out of the bedside drawer. (Did I mention I prefer to sleep in my birthday suit?)

I shouted, "Who's there?" while fumbling the light switch on the table lamp.

Turns out the hotel was oversold, I had the room from Monday night through Thursday night, somehow they had not updated the computer to the correct end date, thought it was available, and gave the guy a key.

I don't know what scared him more- the naked guy yelling at him, or the naked guy yelling at him- with a gun.

The desk clerk and managers were very apologetic, the guy eventually got a room in another hotel by a room-share agreement, but I think honestly he crapped his drawers.


BY THE WAY:

Always, ALWAYS, check every window, sliding door, connecting door, etc in your room as soon as you check in. I got in the habit of this and I almost always find windows, and especially sliding doors, unlocked. Even if you are on the 15th floor, check your stuff out. It's not too hard to balcony-hop even 200' in the air.

Call me paranoid but I always throw one of theses in my bag when I travel:

http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=productDetail&productId=202346-382-265DCCSEN&lpage=none

They'd have to kick the door off the hinges to get in and $20 is a cheap price to pay for a safe nights sleep.

I don't have to pack a hotel chair... And if one won't do it, heck, there's the table. And about 50 pounds of toolbox, etc., at the base of the door.

Ain't nobody just wandering in.

Checked into a hotel and went to the room and opened the electronic lock with the card. The door was latched from the inside and the lights were out and all was quiet (this was in the afternoon). My first thought was the maid left the latch on while accessing the room through a door that adjoins two rooms, and did not immediately occur to me the room was occupied. I started trying to flip the latch off when finally some guy half dressed opens the door. He asks what we are doing and explain to him this is the room we were given. He said are you sure, this room is out for PM. I said yes and show him the key I was still holding. He said again this room is out for PM. Ask him what that is, and he says preventative maintenance. He said he would get the situation resolved and shuts the door. It is obvious he is a hotel employee who is not alone using a room that is supposed to be out of service for maintenance. We go to the lobby and tell them what the deal is (they seem to not belive us at first untill they call the room). Then they get very apologetic and give us a free upgrade to a suite. The thing that this taught me is to always enter a motel room aware and checking to see if it is occupied.

More than once I've been given a hotel keycard for the wrong room and walked in on someone. Now EVERY time I check in I knock on the door first before going in.

The odd thing about this thread is that I'm pretty sure electronic doors won't open if the deadbolt is thrown. I know this since I've heard the maids try it and I hear the electronic mechanism go and then they move the handle but the lock doesn't open. Maybe different brands of locks work differently.

Whatever. What are all the cool kids saying now?

Perhaps I should have said that it must be nice to be omnipotent.

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The cool kids do not say jackassed things. Clear enough? It seems to be important to you, so you can have the last word now.

call the corporate office to report it.

301 592 5000