‘Don’t trust the staff’: Woman checks into Tennessee Best Western. Then someone starts ‘body slamming’ against her door at 11pm
A woman staying at a Franklin, Tennessee, Best Western had an unsettling experience when someone started “slamming” into her hotel door late at night.
TikToker DraperDestinations (@draperdestinations) booked a hotel for her family as part of a relaxing vacation, describing the incident in a video with over 131,000 views.
The very first night they stayed there, they heard someone urgently trying to enter their room. The Mary Sue has previously reported on two different incidents where guests at varying hotel chains had employees try to enter their rooms while they were inside. But, in this situation, hotel staff may have actually stolen money from the family.
Later, their room was cleaned without their explicit permission. Someone had rummaged through the files the family brought with them. Eventually, they saw a charge for a $2,000 withdrawal on their bank account that they did not make.
What happened at this Best Western stay?
Everything about the family’s stay at the Best Western was normal at first. The staff were friendly and asked straightforward questions, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
But, later in the evening, during the first night of their stay, the family heard someone physically slamming their body into their door.
“ Somebody started shaking our door pretty aggressively and body slamming against it,” DraperDestinations said. “We had all of the door locked… so it didn’t affect us, but it scared us.”
The next morning, the family went to the front desk to tell a manager what had happened. They asked staff at the hotel to pull the cameras, giving someone working the front desk their room number.
The front desk clerk agreed, stating that the hotel would pull the cameras and see who was working that night for the family. The family left, satisfied with how the conversation panned out, and went to do activities in town. When they returned to the hotel at around 7 p.m., another manager was working the front desk. When they asked about their previous inquiry, they immediately received flak.
“ He was really shifty and shady about that option or us even needing to have the cameras pulled,” DraperDestinations told her audience. “He acted like it was a non-issue, stating that there was no reason to call 9-1-1.”
The manager stated that if something happened in the future, they should just call the front desk. This bothered DraperDestinations, who felt as if her concerns weren’t considered seriously.
Still, the family went upstairs to stay a second night in the hotel.
The family checks out the room and realizes someone cleaned it
When they returned to their hotel room, they decided to do a “door lock test.” They fidgeted with the door handle for their room to see how it unlocked and turned.
“ The only time the doorknob turned was if you inserted a key for that room,” DraperDestinations said. “If you didn’t put a key in the doorknob on, the backside did not move.”
They then realized the room had been reset by someone with a key. Someone had straightened the pillows, restocked the towels, and replenished toiletries in the room.
DraperDestinations saw that a folder that was zipped up in a duffel bag was strangely “out.” She realized that someone who entered their room may have rummaged through their belongings, fishing out the folder and placing it out.
Within a short period, they got a notification that someone had withdrawn $2,000 from their banking account. DraperDestinations mentioned that the folder being placed out and the withdrawal happened too close together to be a coincidence. For that reason, she implied that a hotel staff member may have stolen their personal information.
Commenters urge DraperDestinations to call the police
In the TikTok’s comments section, viewers told DraperDestinations that she needed to call law enforcement as soon as possible.
Identity theft and fraud cases should be reported as soon as possible. It can generally help law enforcement narrow down suspects and aid in the case’s development. It can also help prevent additional credit hits due to heavy withdrawals or purchases on unaccounted cards.
“I would had called 911 when I saw the folder moved. I would not left until you knew who cleaned the room,” said one commenter. “We carry guns when we travel.”
It’s unclear whether or not DraperDestinations called the police later on, although she did not do so while staying at the hotel. She barred the door to the room instead.
Viewers questioned why she didn’t immediately tell the front desk or call law enforcement, and Draper Destinations stated, “Honestly, I don’t know. I am such a diplomatic person that I try to think of all the possibilities and not go straight to thinking something bad. But today when our bank was hacked I realized I wasn’t crazy and it was an actual issue.”
@draperdestinations Not every smile behind a front desk means you’re in safe hands. Hotels are businesses, and not everyone working there has your best interest at heart. Staff come and go, background checks aren’t always as thorough as you’d think, and access to master keys, guest information, and personal belongings is part of the job. That’s a lot of trust to hand over to strangers you just met. Rooms get entered when you’re not there. Personal items are left out. Credit cards are swiped. Luggage is handled by people you don’t know. Most employees are honest and hardworking, but it only takes one bad apple to turn a relaxing trip into a nightmare. Lock your valuables up. Use the deadbolt. Keep your important items with you. Being polite is good but being cautious is smarter. Trust is earned, not automatically given just because someone is wearing a name tag. #bestwestern #hotelstaff #trafficking #identitytheft #draperdestinations ♬ J 無音 – J
The family has made no subsequent updates regarding the situation. We’ve reached out to DraperDestinations via TikTok direct message for comment. We’ve also contacted Best Western’s press team via email.
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