When bad guests happen to good people
Welcome to the Oceanside Inn in Daytona Beach Shores, Fla. This unassuming hotel is located on a nice stretch of white sand beach, away from the crowds of Daytona’s main drag. It’s usually home to families looking for an affordable place to stay while enjoying the beautiful natural surroundings and amusements that central Florida has to offer. The Oceanside Inn is a pretty peaceful place.
Until Timothy Becktel, Christopher Romano and Michael Bolt checked in, that is. This trio of 21- year-olds left cold Ohio for the sunnier climes of Daytona Beach, hellbent on an awesome Spring Break. And at about 2:30 a.m. on Friday, March 21, these boy geniuses allegedly detonated a stick of dynamite on the Oceanside Inn’s sun deck.
There was, of course, lots of damage to the hotel. The blast blew out windows, destroyed a nearby light pole, and spread a field of debris over about 100 feet. But in addition to the property damage, three people, including a small child, were injured. Now three college kids who were facing bright futures just a month ago are now facing felony charges.
Until the day hotels require guests to have a minimum IQ before they are allowed to check in, guests like Becktel, Romano and Bolt will be renting rooms at all types of properties all around the world. So what should you do if you wind up in the same hotel as a problem guest? Here are a few tips for surviving their shenanigans.
* Lessen the odds of sharing a hotel with bad guests by being careful about when and where you book. Avoid Daytona Beach or Panama City Beach, Fla., in March if you don’t want to party with Spring Breakers. Avoid Laughlin, Nev., at the end of April if you’re scared of bikers. I don’t mean to single out these two groups — there are many different groups that take over certain areas at certain times, and some of them can be quite rowdy, or even dangerous. So use your common sense. If you book a hotel room in Times Square on New Year’s Eve expecting a little peace and quiet, you’re crazy, and you have only yourself to blame when you’re disturbed by other guests.
* Ask for a room away from the pool, bar, restaurant, elevator, convention area and meeting rooms. Anywhere people congregate will be a noisy hot spot.
* If you’re being bothered by kids running up and down a hall, or people slamming doors and yelling as they visit all of their friends’ rooms, then pick up your in-room phone. Is there an extension specifically for security? If so, call that department; if not, call the front desk or the operator. Explain the situation, say where the trouble is occurring, and then leave it alone. You will most likely not help the situation by lecturing someone else’s children or exchanging words with someone who may be drunk or crazy.
* Be reasonable about your expectations. Expecting hotel employees to be noise police at noon is unrealistic, but it’s fair to expect noise levels to be lower from around 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Of course, if your hotel has a rocking bar, noise levels in certain areas may be higher until later. Also be reasonable about response time. Depending upon the size of the property, it might take a while for someone to reach your area and investigate your complaint. Understand that smaller properties may not have a dedicated security team, so the night manager might have to find someone to cover the phones or front desk, or lock up exterior doors, before he can assist you. Give it about 15 minutes before assuming you’ve been ignored.
* I go by the “three strikes” rule: Troublesome guests get three complaints against them before they are asked to pack up and find other accommodations. Similarly, I think a guest should only have to ask for help with a troublesome situation three times before being allowed to leave the hotel with a full refund for that night’s room charges or, at least, no charges for early checkout. If the hotel staff won’t make reasonable attempts to keep the peace, then you absolutely have the right to leave with no penalty to you.
* There are times you should bypass hotel staff and call 911 or other emergency services immediately. See a fire? Call 911. See a violent crime taking place? Call 911. After you do so, let the front desk know what is going on and that authorities are on the way. It is important to let hotel staff know so that they can dispatch any on-site security, protect other guests, and clear the driveway and unlock doors to get ready for the arrival of emergency vehicles.
* I can’t say it strongly enough: Once you’ve made the appropriate calls, protect yourself and stay out of the way. If it’s best for you to stay locked in your room, then do so. Don’t even open the door to sneak a peek. If it’s best for you to evacuate, then safely do so. Do not try to break up a fight, or try to put out the fire, or try to yank the stick of dynamite out of the drunk kid’s hand. The security staff does not need your assistance, nor do the police.
I’ve seen all sorts of troublesome guests, dangerous activities and emergency situations at hotels, but here’s hoping you never do. Let’s hope the worst you ever have to deal with is the occasional excited and loud family. But if you do run into trouble, remember my tips, and stay safe.
Let us know about the worst guests you’ve ever encountered in our Talking Travelers forums or in the Comments section below.
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Comments
3 Responses to “When bad guests happen to good people”
Please share your thoughts...
Any advice for the person who found him/herself in this situation:
http://www.talkingtravelers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=15145
Cuz it sounds like the hotel really dropped the ball with the kid locked in the room but then put security up on the hall for a noise complaint?
My wife and I were staying at the Marriott Sea-Tac in Seattle and on a Sunday morning were disturbed by some very noisy children. We called the hotel operator at reasonable intervals - something like every 20 minutes or half hour. They would tell us they were going to do something about it (and didn’t). Eventually, it became evident that they felt they couldn’t “tell the parents how their kids should behave”. Since there are all sorts of good and bad parents out there, and I am paying the hotel (not the parents), I expect the hotel to enforce reasonable noise levels. It also became apparent that several other rooms had complained, not just me. Finally, I told the hotel to either stop the noise or refund my room for the night. I had wanted them to stop the noise! They chose to refund the room price to me, but I wonder why they would make that choice rather than have one unreasonable family’s kid be told to behave. Why does it make sense to upset a whole bunch of guests while letting one group cause a disturbance.
It was good of them to refund one night’s stay, but it would have been better of them to show some sort of responsibility snd stop the noise. They lost my respect (and probably that of several other guests) which is why I will be very hesitant to ever stay in that hotel again. And certainly, when it comes to Marriott, I will escalate very rapidly if confronted by this issue again.
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