The number of cases where of women being raped in their rooms at popular hotel chains, due to employees handing over the keys to sexual predators unchecked, is increasing. According to New York Post, men were able to break into the room of women after lying to staff to obtain access to their rooms in three separate cases in Texas.
In December of 2022, a guest at a Gonzales, Texas Holiday Inn Express & Suites woke up to a man standing at the end of her bed with his pants undone and a condom out. “She was able to scream and get him out of the room, and she immediately called down to the front desk,” the victim’s lawyer explained. “They admitted, ‘Oh yes, we did give a key to the man. He said he knew you.’” The suspect was later located and arrested and charged with attempted sexual assault.
In Austin, Texas, Kathleen Dawson was found unconscious outside the the $500-a-night Hilton Americas Houston hotel she was staying at. When spotted, a concerned bystander notified police. Hotel staff and officers from Houston’s police department followed the instructions of Dawson’s coworker, who falsely claimed she was staying in his room. Without checking her room number, hotel staff put Dawson in a wheelchair and rolled her into her coworker’s room. She later woke up to the man raping her. In a civil suit, Dawson was awarded $44 million in damages.
“Although Hilton typically does not comment on legal matters, we respectfully disagree with the jury’s verdict, and attest that our hotel team members acted at the direction of the Houston Police Department,” a spokesperson from the hotel chain explained.
In January of this year, a woman staying at the DoubleTree Austin University Area Hotel saw a man’s hand pushing through the gap between the open door and trying to remove the safety latch. When she saw the man attempting to break in, she slammed the door on his finger, completely severing it off. After discovering that the man had been provided with a keycard to her room, the woman is now suing the hotel management company for $1 million.
