Things That Go 'Crash' in the Night! **Updated**

Oh my!!! Sharon and I were sound asleep in our hotel room last night when suddenly there was a loud 'crash/bang'! We both sat bolt upright and our hearts were beating so fast and we were shaking! It quickly became obvious to us that someone had tried to break into our room and had got so far as to actually open the door a bit! Thankfully we had put the slide lock on the door so that had stopped them because the deadbolt had been unlocked from the outside!! When we realized what was happening I quickly ran to the door to look out the peek hole but the hallway was empty. We could tell someone had almost made it in though as the piece of the lock that is nomally flush against the door was now out at a 45o angle. Talk about scary!!

We didn't call the front desk figuring it had just been a mistake and we attempted to go back to sleep. Deciding to reinforce the door a bit more (purely for comfort sake as opposed to safety) we discussed what we might be able to put in front of it. We teased that our bag of snacks might weigh enough to keep it closed but then thought that might only entice them to come back. We also talked about putting our luggage in front of it; as any of you know who have been here for long, we don't travel light!! In the end, we double checked the slide lock, the deadbolt and moved the closet door over the door and put a chair in front of it, purely for a little bit of peace of mind. It took us over an hour to settle down and fall back to sleep and as an answer to prayer, we both slept well.

Fast forward to 6:30 this morning and IT HAPPENED AGAIN!!! Can you believe it?? Once again we were both woken from out of a dead sleep by someone opening our door! Even though the deadbolt and slider were on they were part way into the room again! Sharon was on her feet first and suddenly yelled out in a loud, low voice 'HEY!!!' It took me a moment longer to wake and by the time I did she was already half way to the door, yelling at whomever was out there! She looked out the peek hole in time to see a young guy in a maintenance uniform standing back from our door with a surprised look on his face. (He was probably wondering who was yelling at him!)

We immediately got on the phone and called the front desk to let them know what was happening and have them send someone up. After a couple of questions he figured out that they had our room recorded wrong in the computer and so in their system we were in a vacant room. Umm nope - we're in here!! (When we first checked in yesterday our keys didn't work in the door of the room they sent us to. Sharon went back down and the girl at the front desk said she'd written down the wrong room # and sent us to a new one. Guess she wrote the wrong one in the computer too!)

In the end it was all a big mistake but it sure was a scary one!! Now we just laugh about it and suddenly yell out 'HEY!' to one another! I can see how the first problem happened but really cannot understand why they would have sent someone up with a master key at 6:30am when there was a question if the room was empty or not! That's what phones are for! Don't know why they didn't wait for a normal hour to call the room and check before using a master key to unlock the deadbolt a second time!!

All in all it's fine and, a story to tell. One of the many adventures we have shared together over the years of travelling together for her business! We laugh at her running to the door and yelling out 'HEY!' because if you knew our personalities I'd normally be the one doing that but nope...Sharon to the rescue!! I teased and said that when I heard her loud, low 'Hey' that I woke to think 'ooo, there's a guy in my room?!' only to see 'him' running across the room in a pink nightgown! :o)

The hotel apologized profusely and offered to give us tonight's stay as a complimentary one but we're seeing what they can do to give Sharon a credit for another time as tonight's night is being paid for by her business. It would be so much nicer if she could have an opportunity to come back with her hubby another time rather than 'the kid!' **UPDATE** Sharon has been given a credit to come back for a complimentary night later this year and breakfast is also on them tomorrow morning. It's good when a company stands behind their errors and does what they can to correct the situation.

Lesson learned: ALWAYS put the deadbolt and slider on hotel room doors! I know that's a lesson we'll remember for a long, long time!