‘That big event that happened a few years ago…’: Woman travels to Las Vegas. Then ‘security’ says they’re doing mandatory room checks

You’re settling into the bed of your hotel room when, suddenly, you get a knock on the door.

What’s going through your mind? Maybe someone ordered you a Room Service surprise? Maybe there’s an issue with the hotel? Or maybe something strange is afoot?

A user on TikTok recently sparked discussion after recalling her own bizarre hotel experience. Specifically, she’s asking why the hotel decided to inspect her room—twice.

What Happened In This Las Vegas Hotel Room?

In a video with over 146,000 views, TikTok user Sylvia Longmire (@spintheglobe) recounts a strange experience she had at the LINQ Hotel in Las Vegas.

According to Longmire, she was in her room one morning when she suddenly got a knock on the door.

“I had my Do Not Disturb sign on the door, so I was surprised that somebody was knocking so strongly,” she recalls.

When she got to the door, she saw that the person knocking was a security guard. The reason he was there? To perform a “mandatory room check.” According to Longmire, the guard claimed that, following the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, this had become standard practice.

Longmire says that, while she’s a supporter of law enforcement, the perceived effort of the security guard was fairly low.

“He just went in my room and just kind of walked around and looked at things,” she recalls. “He said, ‘OK, everything looks good,’ and he left.”

Longmire suspects that, seeing she was a non-threatening wheelchair user, he probably assessed that she was not a threat. Still, she felt uncomfortable, with the thought going through her mind that the man could have been someone posing as a security guard who really wasn’t one.

It Happens Again

The following day, Longmire got another knock on the door—again at 10:00 am, which Longmire says woke her up.

“It’s Vegas. Nobody is awake at 10:00 am on a Friday morning in Vegas,” she says.

Longmire attempted to yell to whoever was at the door, as leaving the bed given her disability can take a fair bit of time. 

Soon, Longmire learned it was another security check. She countered that the security had been there yesterday, that she’s disabled, and that she can’t easily come to the door. The security guard from the night before then showed up and informed the other security guard that they did not need to inspect her room.

“I don’t know how legal that is,” she says of the experience. “I would not have said no simply because, again, I’m all in favor of security—but this was unusual.”

Are Room Inspections Normal in Las Vegas?

While some commenters claimed that this was not typical, a small detail in Longmire’s story shows why her room may have been inspected so many times. In short, she was using the Do Not Disturb sign.

On Reddit, numerous users have noted that room inspections have become especially common since the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, especially if one uses a Do Not Disturb sign for days on end. Users on Facebook have made similar claims. Some say that these inspections only begin after two or three days; others say they can happen at any time.

Hotels do not hide this fact. Often, stipulations that random room checks can occur are in the terms one agrees to when they book a room.

Some hotel chains have made this promise openly. For example, Caesars Entertainment announced in 2018 that room checks would be performed every 24 hours if someone had a Do Not Disturb sign on the door. The LINQ, where Longmire was staying, is a Caesars property.

The TikToker Responds

In an email to The Mary Sue, Longmire said that she’s now aware that this is standard practice industry-wide. As far as why the hotel did not inform her of this, she says that she checked in using a QR code at a kiosk and never actually spoke to a worker during the check-in process.

“I definitely should have called the front desk to find out if this was legitimate,” she wrote. “However, I kind of froze in the moment and the security guard was very firm that they needed to come in my room. Maybe it’s because I’m a woman, maybe it’s because I’m very compliant with law enforcement and authority that I let him into my room without really questioning it. Obviously, hindsight is 20/20 and I would’ve behaved differently had I had a bit more sense.”

In order to improve this experience for others, Longmire recommended some changes.

“I definitely would’ve appreciated it more if he had been doing the inspections with a female security guard,” she shared. “When he was in my room, despite being in a very official-looking uniform and just making a cursory inspection of my room, he did not leave the door open and I felt very unsettled while he was in there alone with me. Again, that is on me for not setting some boundaries but I just froze in the moment from being so caught off guard.”

She said that, following the incident, she asked the front desk about it, who claimed an independent company performed the inspections. That said, the front desk said they would make a note about her disability so room inspectors could be mindful of the longer waiting period for her to answer.

@spintheglobe The weirdest thing happened to me in my hotel room at the LINQ in Las Vegas yesterday morning and this morning, and I need somebody to tell me if this is legal. #lasvegas #linq #solotravel #solotraveler ♬ original sound – Sylvia Longmire

Commenters Don’t Like It

In the comments section, users felt disturbed by the possibility of someone asking to enter their room.

“As a woman alone I would have told the security officer that I’m calling the front desk to verify his presence,” said a user.

“The October 1 mass casualty event may have been avoided if room checks were done at that time,” countered another. “Maybe they should have warned you to expect room checks during the your stay.”

“You are totally valid in your concern! Why did the Linq not warn you about potential room checks or that they had extra security going around at check-in?” questioned a third. “It’s scary enough travelling alone as a woman, and there are so many horror stories about women being attacked in their rooms. What has happened to hospitality and customer service?”

The Mary Sue reached out to The LINQ via email and Longmire via website contact form.

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