[tvp2003]

Originally Posted by Ace

I couldn’t help but think the maid story was made up to get a search warrant, and they actually had surveillance or intelligence that they acted on. Something about the way the laws in the US are, they can’t just surveil anyone for no reason; but they probably are.

It got me thinking about what rights a hotel guest has (legally and otherwise); based on this it sounds like hotel chains are making it more clear that they have the right to enter your room regardless of whether you have a "do not disturb" sign:

You might think that a "Do Not Disturb" sign on your hotel or motel room doorknob guarantees that you'll be left alone. But since a gunman on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas reportedly hung such a sign on his door for three days in October 2017 before opening fire on a music festival and killing 58 people, some hospitality chains are altering their practices.

At hotels in the Hilton chain, for example, if a "Do Not Disturb" sign is on a door for 24 hours, the hotel's security or duty manager is notified, in order to check on the guest.

"Guest privacy and welfare are a top priority at Hilton," a company spokesperson explains in an email. "We regularly review and update our policies and procedures to align with the latest industry standards. We have long had Do Not Disturb procedures in place, and at the end of [2017] updated our policy to provide Team Members with additional guidance on how best to address the welfare of our guests and status of our rooms. This guidance was provided to help properties protect guest privacy, but also manage suspicious activity and any concerns about a guest's welfare."

Several hotels at Walt Disney World in Florida reportedly got rid of "Do Not Disturb" signs altogether, replacing them with "Room Occupied" signs, and informed guests that the hotel and its staff had the right to enter rooms, the Orlando Sentinel and other news outlets reported.

Make Yourself At Home?

Those sorts of changes are reminders that when you stay in a hotel or motel, you shouldn't necessarily expect to have the same degree of privacy that you enjoy in your own home. Hospitality law experts explain that while hotels and motels want guests to feel comfortable, they still own the property, and also have an interest in protecting their employees and other guests. In some instances, property owners also might cooperate with police and other law enforcement agencies by turning over information about who's staying with them.

"You have to keep in mind, in the hotel guest relationship, the guests do not own the hotel room as they do their homes or cars," Stephen Barth, an attorney and professor of hospitality law at the University of Houston, explains. "They have been licensed by the hotel to use this space."

According to Barth, hotels and motels have good reason to be wary about what guests might do on their premises. "This conversation didn't just come up because of Las Vegas," he says. "This has been brewing for many years because of meth labs, prostitution and other illegal activity going on in hotel rooms. Human trafficking is on the radar as well. Hotels have been diligently trying to address those issues."

https://people.howstuffworks.com/muc...otel-guest.htm