Alternatively, this post could be entitled "Why I've been sick to my stomach all day".

Okay, so my girlfriend is presently on a business trip in Houston with the rest of her coworkers for some sort of convention.  I had talked to her last night, and she was really excited about this nice hotel they were staying at (the Hotel Derek).  She was rooming with a female coworker.

So, she called me this afternoon and started the conversation off with "Well, I was thinking about you this morning at 4:30 am.  I thought that if you were here there would be a dead man in the hotel right now."  This gets my attention...

She continues on to describe how, at 4:30 this morning, she awoke because a light was on in the room.  She first thought that her roommate must be up, but immediately noticed that the girl was still asleep in the other bed.  As she raised her head, she discovered a young African American male standing over the foot of her bed!  She was apparently too shocked to scream, and the man simply walked out without saying a word.  She woke her coworker, but they decided not to even notify the front desk until later on this morning he
I've been absolutely sick about this all day.  I'm really pissed that more wasn't done about this (both by my girlfriend and the hotel).  I'm just thankful that no one was hurt.  Nothing was stolen either (not that it matters).

I'm thinking it was a hotel employee and she should call the police

I'd be rolling the bed until it blocks the door to the hotel room if she's staying another night.

She needs a quality roommate, not one that exposes her to danger.

I bought my wife this today:


If it were me, I would be taking the day off tomorrow to go stay with her tonight.  I also agree with the hotel employee theory above.

but they decided not to even notify the front desk until later on this morning

That makes no sense

Quoted: but they decided not to even notify the front desk until later on this morning That makes no sense

+1

Quoted: but they decided not to even notify the front desk until later on this morning That makes no sense

Why would they wait until morning , what did they do go back to sleep.This  makes really no
sense at all. No one would react like that

Quoted: but they decided not to even notify the front desk until later on this morning That makes no sense

I completely agree, and I've bitched about it accordingly.  Apparently, her roommate convinced her that there was nothing the hotel could do about it anyways.  We'll definitely be talking about her judgement when she gets home.

Correct me if I am wrong.. but don't the hotel doors auto-lock (not the deadbolt) and you need the keycard to unlock it?

If she was that hesitant to not call the front desk ASAP she would probably be too hesitant to draw down and or use the firearm if a situation arose.

My two cents.

Quoted: Quoted: but they decided not to even notify the front desk until later on this morning That makes no sense Why would they wait until morning , what did they do go back to sleep.This  makes really no sense at all. No one would react like that

No, they definitely didn't go back to sleep.  They just sat there until everyone else woke up.  As for no one reacting like that ... All I can say is that they did.  It somehow seemed reasonable to them at the time.

Quoted: Quoted: but they decided not to even notify the front desk until later on this morning That makes no sense Why would they wait until morning , what did they do go back to sleep.This  makes really no sense at all. No one would react like that

Know many young women?
They'll stay up all night holding each other, talking about how scared they are.
Most people today don't have a clue what to do when the shit flies.
They don't know who to call, except my GF and her friends, they call me.

To the original poster:
1) Have that judgement talk with her and her friend.
2) .38 spl revolver cannot be beat for a lady gun.

I have a nice CCW piece on the EE if your interested. Look up my ad.

I have to dig into this a little further.
They reported that a man in the middle of the night was standing over their bed ,
then turned around and walked out. Did they have hotel security take a statement fom them.
Is this a big hotel, many have security cameras now in the hallways.

Quoted: Correct me if I am wrong.. but don't the hotel doors auto-lock (not the deadbolt) and you need the keycard to unlock it? If she was that hesitant to not call the front desk ASAP she would probably be too hesitant to draw down and or use the firearm if a situation arose. My two cents.

You're exactly right; they do auto-lock.  That's why a hotel employee might be a good suspect.  The management is supposed to be checking the computer records to determine who accessed the door (all entries are logged), but they haven't notified my girlfriend about it yet.

As for being too hesitant to draw down, you're right about that too.  I don't think a firearm would have made this situation any different at all considering her reaction.  Thinking of the perp being shot just makes me feel better...

Quoted: I have to dig into this a little further. They reported that a man in the middle of the night was standing over their bed , then turned around and walked out. Did they have hotel security take a statement fom them. Is this a big hotel, many have security cameras now in the hallways.

No, they never interacted with hotel security at all (which pisses me off).  They spoke with the front desk and were referred to some type of manager that morning.  However, when they checked into it again that evening, the shift had changed and no one knew anything about it ETA:  I asked about video cameras myself, but the hotel didn't say anything about them.  They only mentioned the computer log of entries into the room.

It sounds like girl needs a reality check, hopefully that was it. No harm, no foul, but now it's time to teach her what self defense is all about and I hope she listens to every word you have to say about it.

This just goes to show that if anyone in this country should be armed it's women, bad men are always on the lookout for their vulnerabilities. If the guy was really looking for an easy rape victim then it's a shame he did not die from multiple gunshot wounds on the spot.

Flame suit on;


Maybe she does NOT need a gun. If she was too freaked out to scream, do you think she would have had her shit together enough to grab her weapon?

If you're not psychologically prepared to use a weapon, it simply becomes a tool that can be taken away from you and used against you.


Like it or not, there are a LOT of people out there that are better off without a gun.

I 'm just glad that she is safe and nothing happened.

Quoted: Flame suit on; Maybe she does NOT need a gun. If she was too freaked out to scream, do you think she would have had her shit together enough to grab her weapon? If you're not psychologically prepared to use a weapon, it simply becomes a tool that can be taken away from you and used against you. Like it or not, there are a LOT of people out there that are better off without a gun.

I absolutely agree.  I had to throw it in the title though since this is a gun form he

Quoted: I have to dig into this a little further. They reported that a man in the middle of the night was standing over their bed , then turned around and walked out. Did they have hotel security take a statement fom them. Is this a big hotel, many have security cameras now in the hallways.

Umm.

Not to be skeptical, but was there any hard evidence that someone was in the room?

The reason I ask is, it is common to wake up and see a "dark figure" standing over your bed while being frozen and unable to do anything.  It has something to do with one part of the brain waking up, while the movement-inhibiting part (that prevents most people from thrashing around violently during dreams, etc.) still thinks you are asleep.  The "dark figure" is a common feature.  This may also be tied to sleep apnea.

I've had it happen a few times, until I finally read a few articles on it, and now when it happens I automatically recognize that "oh, it's one of those things again", and wake up fully.

Here's one account of it:
www.nightterrors.org/readers/tim.html
His sounds a lot more frightening than mine ever were.  I'd just wake up, be unable to move, and see some dark figure standing next to my bed.  After what would seem like several minutes (probably only twenty or thirty seconds), I'd wake up completely and the figure would be gone.  At least a few times, the dark figure would actually travel out of my line of sight, thereby making me think it had actually moved out of the room as I woke up.

Twice, I've had very memorable and detailed hallucinations upon waking, one very neat and one utterly terrifying.

So, try an alternate hypothesis:  the other girl had gone to the bathroom before she went to bed and decided to leave the light on in case she had to go again during the night.  Your girlfriend partially woke up and had one of these episodes, and interpreted the "dark figure" to be a black guy standing next to her bed.  The big black dude ("dark figure") vanished, she finished waking up, and proceeded to scare the shit out of herself and her roommate.

ETA: this seems to be a better site for information about it.  Apparently, the medical term is "hypnagogic sleep" or "hypnogogic sleep".
arts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P.html
watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/intruder.html

71-Hour_Achmed,

He stated that the light was on.

Erm.. She.

Quoted: 71-Hour_Achmed, He stated that the light was on.

He explains that in his post.

Quoted: Flame suit on; Maybe she does NOT need a gun. If she was too freaked out to scream, do you think she would have had her shit together enough to grab her weapon? If you're not psychologically prepared to use a weapon, it simply becomes a tool that can be taken away from you and used against you. Like it or not, there are a LOT of people out there that are better off without a gun.

Yup.  Mindset is a trained thing.  She did not even have the presence to scream,
or to get on the horn to hotel security or the PD right away.

I venture to say she wouldn't have the presence to use a weapon.

Now, if this incident spurs her to want one, then, by all means, get her one
and pay for her CCW course/license.

Then, you guys should attend a good basic combat handgun course together.

Quoted: She needs a quality roommate, not one that exposes her to danger.

...And that roommate is in Brians_45's post.


FYI, as much as it may have been an employee that entered the room, it could have been another guest as well. The electronic (magnetic) hotel door locks (card swipe) are a joke... Maybe it was a guest who sees fit to pay for a room (or claim to be visiting a friend) and then enter other peoples rooms and steal/spy on them.

Of course the hotel wouldn't want to alert their customers to the problem and have their business go downhill, especially if it was an employee and they didn't know which one.

Quoted: I bought my wife this today: members.cox.net/blarose1/Eclipse_Ultra_Carry.JPG If it were me, I would be taking the day off tomorrow to go stay with her tonight.  I also agree with the hotel employee theory above.

+1-if you can, go down there....leave the door unlocked again and wait for him to come back

Another thing: If she DOES start to carry when she travels, make damned sure she keeps the weapon just out of reach so she's CONCIOUS and AWARE when she gets to it!

Is she sure the roommate came home alone??

Quoted: but they decided not to even notify the front desk until later on this morning That makes no sense

It's a woman thing.  I'm suprised they reported it at all.  It probably took some proding to get them to do it.  My girlfriend's car was broken into last week.  I told her she would need to call the police and file a report.  Her response was, "why what good will it do".  It took me and and her dad pushing her to get her to call the police and file a report.  It's as if they can only think it the present moment, her stuff was gone and the cop wouldn't do anything so why bother.  Just like TulaneBME's girlfriend was safe no need to bother reporting it to later if at all.  The hotel probably didn't seem too concerned because the girls didn't seemed too concerned.  Can you imagine being the front desk clerk and having someone come up to you and saying "oh by the way 4 hours ago someone came into our room an left."  Most likely your response would be "ok, I'll look into it."  Now if the girls had called immediately and immediately called the front desk saying they woke up to find someone standing over their bed I bet they would have gotten a much more urgent response.

Quoted: Quoted: I have to dig into this a little further. They reported that a man in the middle of the night was standing over their bed , then turned around and walked out. Did they have hotel security take a statement fom them. Is this a big hotel, many have security cameras now in the hallways. Umm. Not to be skeptical, but was there any hard evidence that someone was in the room? The reason I ask is, it is common to wake up and see a "dark figure" standing over your bed while being frozen and unable to do anything.  It has something to do with one part of the brain waking up, while the movement-inhibiting part (that prevents most people from thrashing around violently during dreams, etc.) still thinks you are asleep.  The "dark figure" is a common feature.  This may also be tied to sleep apnea. I've had it happen a few times, until I finally read a few articles on it, and now when it happens I automatically recognize that "oh, it's one of those things again", and wake up fully. Here's one account of it: www.nightterrors.org/readers/tim.html His sounds a lot more frightening than mine ever were.  I'd just wake up, be unable to move, and see some dark figure standing next to my bed.  After what would seem like several minutes (probably only twenty or thirty seconds), I'd wake up completely and the figure would be gone.  At least a few times, the dark figure would actually travel out of my line of sight, thereby making me think it had actually moved out of the room as I woke up. Twice, I've had very memorable and detailed hallucinations upon waking, one very neat and one utterly terrifying. So, try an alternate hypothesis:  the other girl had gone to the bathroom before she went to bed and decided to leave the light on in case she had to go again during the night.  Your girlfriend partially woke up and had one of these episodes, and interpreted the "dark figure" to be a black guy standing next to her bed.  The big black dude ("dark figure") vanished, she finished waking up, and proceeded to scare the shit out of herself and her roommate. ETA: this seems to be a better site for information about it.  Apparently, the medical term is "hypnagogic sleep" or "hypnogogic sleep". arts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/S_P.html watarts.uwaterloo.ca/~acheyne/intruder.html

Good point.  I had considered that possibility as well, although my girlfriend has no history of sleep disturbances.  Furthermore, she did state that the door was still OPEN when she and her roommate went to check it.  I'm going to check again with her that the door was actually open, since those hotel doors are usually strongly spring-loaded and are difficult to keep open.

Also, the "dark figure" wasn't quite so amorphous, and she claims that she could clearly make out the guy's face.

I am picking one of these up later today in hopes that my wife will like it.

If your wife has that kind of mentality, any gun you buy for her would probably have been sitting on the other side of the room in her purse doing her no good.

She needs a serious change in mindset before owning a gun.

..... a young African American male standing over the with over a foot......

My guess is that the hotel screwed up and gave someone else their room.

Some Black guy has his flight delayed and gets in real late. Maybe his wife was supposed to already be there. So, the hotel clerk gives him the wrong key and room number by mistake. He walks in and sees two white women in bed, one wakes up and looks scared.

Black guy freaks out a bit and leaves without saying anything. The hotel realizes they screwed up but hopes the whole thing will blow over and that they don’t get sued.

I figure if the guy had meant any harm he wouldn’t have propped the door open.

But, 71-Hour_Achmed’s theory is a good one too. I’ve had that very thing happen to me and it’s pretty scary, even when you know exactly what’s happening.

1.  Get a new roommate, or a room by herself.

2.  Use the safety chain/bar.  Its there for this very reason.

3.  CHECK THE DOOR herself before going to bed.  Dont assume the idiot roommate did.

Hopefully, this was just a mistake on the motel's part as mentioned earlier.  Hopefully, she will learn and remember that security is her responsibility.

AFA getting her a gun:  If she doesn't want one, she either wont carry it at all or will leave it in her purse or car.  If she "doesnt  think she could ever shoot someone" you are probably wasting your time.  My wife is that way, despite numerous attempts by me to teach her how to use one if needed.  

Just so y'all know, electronic locks are fool-proof....providing the hotel staff are not fools!! And providing you have enough sense to throw the deadbolt!

The electronic card locks store the last 300 entries to the room in their memory. This means the hotel manager can 'audit' the lock by plugging a portable terminal into it. This allows them to print out the record of the last 300 entries.

Each of those entries provide the time of the opening, a serial number of the card that opened it, and who MADE (encoded) the card that was used to open it. The guest cards will only open that particular lock, and only for the time period specified when the card was encoded.

Then you have master key cards. There are section masters, which will open a specific block of rooms. Grand masters, which will open all rooms, that are issued to maintainence, head housekeepers, and managers. Great Grand Masters, which will open any lock...even if the deadbolt is thrown.

All section master, grand master, and great grand master keys are supposed to be kept in a key safe and signed for when an employee begins and ends work. This is done on a key logbook.

A guest key will not open any other guest roomdoor locks...period. If they do....there is an incompetant son of a bitch runningthe property and they deserve to be blacklisted from the hotel feild!!!!!

TulaneBME, you need to have your GF call the police...even now. Report it as a B&E! The manager has to provide a log of the entries into the room. Whoever opened that door has to have used a card which has it's own unique 'fingerprint' and there is NO other card like it! It is then a simple matter to check the key log book to see had that card signed out at the time it was used to enter the room. Bingo, "you have the right to remain silent!"

IF the hotel cannot or will not give your GF the information, let them give it to the Police! If they cannot tell them who used the card, then their key control policy is non-existant and is ripe for litigation!

I have worked in Hotel Management for the past 35 years and I can tell you one thing....Guest safety and security must be a properties' PRIMARY mission. If that hotel cannot prove it's SOP provides for that mission....they deserve to be sued. You should own the place!

Oh...and if you need a consultant.....look me up!

ETA: PLEASE don't let her blow this off!! This guy needs to be taken down, now!! I'm sure your GF wouldn't want another woman to be raped or killed by this prick.....because she didn't want the hassle of reporting it!!! If she had been in the room by herself....she may not have been so lucky. I emplore you to see that this is dealt with!!!

You need a new girlfriend.

Would you want someone with that kind of judgement to take care of your kids and protect them from danger?

If she was staying at the Hotel Derek...maybe it was Derek checking to make she enyoyed her stay.

I was in Houston a few months back and I stayed near the Galleria as well...Glock 30 in my room and I slept like a baby

Quoted: Flame suit on; Maybe she does NOT need a gun. If she was too freaked out to scream, do you think she would have had her shit together enough to grab her weapon? If you're not psychologically prepared to use a weapon, it simply becomes a tool that can be taken away from you and used against you. Like it or not, there are a LOT of people out there that are better off without a gun.

+1

Why did she not scream, at some time and point?!?!? Throw something, make some noise, SOMETHING?!?!?