‘This happens often in Florida, one of the biggest… trafficking places in the world’: Florida woman stays at hotel. Then others recount their stories
Recently, The Mary Sue shared a story about a woman who was disturbed during a stay at a DoubleTree near Boca Raton, Florida. The post garnered significant attention, which led some viewers to supply tips about their experiences with hotels across.
One viewer, Jordan Abner, shared that she and her husband Brian were disturbed in their hotel room while staying at two separate hotels in Tampa, Florida. While staying at a Baymont by Wyndham, an individual tried to enter their hotel room without a hotel key. She recounted that the man tried to “drill” inside the room after jiggling the lock.
Then, Jordan had a frighteningly similar encounter at a Hampton Inn—someone tried to enter the couple’s room and even opened the door while she was showering. Luckily, her husband was able to stop the man from entering the room.
After further recollection years down the line, Jordan believes these may have been deliberate, or in the very least, a reckless safety issue she encountered with both locations. She mentioned that “this happens often in Florida,” which is “one of the biggest… trafficking places in the world.”
What happened at the Baymont by Wyndham?
When Jordan and her husband Brian checked into a reportedly closed Baymont by Wyndham, located at 3001 University Center Dr, in Tampa, they noticed some red flags. The hotel advertised that they had a pool and bar, but had neither. Instead, employees told the couple that they could “ bring [their] own alcohol and drink at the bar,” which immediately felt sketchy. Despite this, they checked in and went upstairs to sleep for the evening.
That evening, Jordan and her husband heard a strange sound coming from their doorway. Jordan woke up first, nudging her husband awake because she heard the door rattling due to a disturbance. They listened closely to see if someone would attempt to enter their room. After waiting for just a few seconds, they heard a buzzing sound that sounded like a drill.
“He goes and listens and then we hear a drill sound and my husband is like, ‘somebody’s trying to drill in this door… Something might happen,’” Jordan described.
Confused, Brian got up and approached the door. That’s when he saw two men trying to drill into their room. “ We didn’t have anything on us, like we didn’t even have a pocket knife at the time. And the two, there were two men there and they looked really, really surprised to see a guy there,” Jordan said. She mentioned that she was the one who made the booking—not Brian. That made her realize they may have thought she was alone.
How did hotel staff address the issue?
Later, when they went to speak to a front desk attendant, they were met with a complete lack of urgency. Similar to Breanna Holmes’ story, the hotel recounted that they didn’t check Jordan into the room.
“ We immediately like went downstairs and told the girl at the front desk what was going on,” Jordan said. “And she really acted like she didn’t care. She couldn’t be bothered and they weren’t even gonna offer us a refund. [So], I made them refund us and we left.”
After that point, Brian, Jordan’s husband, legally purchased a gun so that the family could defend themselves.
What happened at the Hampton Inn?
While staying at a Hampton Inn located at 3333 Busch Blvd, Tampa, Florida, Jordan and Brian once again heard a strange noise at their door. This time, it was a man trying to open the door with a key.
Brian told his wife to get out of the shower while he addressed the disturbance. There, he came across a maintenance man who was actively letting himself into the room.
“ The door jiggles again, my husband whips the door open… By this time he has a gun, but not, you know, in his hand,” Jordan said. “So he whips the door open and the guy just looks at him and same scenario, ‘oh, I didn’t know anybody was in here.’”
Brian left a review for the hotel after their stay, which read, “[The] hotel room was clean, front desk staff was friendly. Unfortunately while my wife and I were here we had a do not disturb on our door and a maintenance guy unlocked and attempted to enter the room. My wife was in the shower at this time and fortunately I was in the room and ran to the door and confronted him.”
Jordan recounted that the man looked “surprised” that a male came to the door. The couple then brought up the issue to the front desk, and were surprised to learn that “no maintenance” was scheduled on the second floor where they were staying.
Notably, the hotel they stayed at was a Hilton property. DoubleTree, the hotel where Holmes experienced her frightening encounter, was also owned by Hilton.
What happened afterward?
The hotel stated that they would look into the matter, but the Abner family did not hear back regarding the situation. “This is extremely upsetting when you stay at a hotel you were under the impression that you are safe in your room and that no one can enter it unless you open the door. I would never stay at this hotel or any others like it ever again,” Brian stated in his review.
Even though hotels can technically enter rooms for maintenance issues or emergencies, Jordan and Brian found it strange that they experienced a similar incident two different times. Jordan cited the fact that she booked the hotels under her name as a possible reason why. In her comments to The Mary Sue, she warned other women that, “ You have to mind your surroundings and really pay attention to things for your own safety and for everybody else’s too… You should always let someone know where you are. Keep in touch with them, especially if you’re staying in a strange place or a new place on your own.”
Since their experiences occurred, the Abner family has opted to avoid hotels entirely. Instead, they stay at Airbnbs when necessary. But both experiences have made Brian and Jordan avoid traveling for fun. At this point, they only leave their home for career-related events.
We’ve reached out to Hilton Inc via its press portal and Wyndham via email for comment.
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