‘I went to Target earlier and bought wine’: Florida woman stays solo at DoubleTree in Boca Raton. Then her stay turns ‘terrifying’
Solo travel as a woman can already come with a certain level of anxiety, and for many, that fear isn’t unfounded.
According to a survey by JourneyWoman, 88% of women say they have felt unsafe while traveling, with some needing to defend themselves or rely on others for help.
TikToker Breanna (@brebreeezy) says her planned relaxing solo hotel stay turned into a “terrifying” night.
In a video that has garnered over 92,900 views, she recounts what happened during her stay at the DoubleTree by Hilton Deerfield Beach Boca Raton.
What Happened at the DoubleTree Hotel?
Breanna explains that she had driven four hours from Jacksonville to South Florida to look at apartments. She’s currently planning a move.
Exhausted, she says she decided to book a hotel for the night and make it a self-care moment. She stopped by Target for wine and skincare before checking in. “I just wanted a night,” she says.
After arriving at the hotel around 4:20 p.m., she recounts checking in and heading back out briefly to grab dinner. By the time she returned, she says she ate, showered, and got ready to relax for the night.
“This is the first time I’ve ever booked a hotel in a different city and just stayed by myself,” she explains.
After settling in to watch some TV, she says she realized the TV in her room wasn’t working and called the front desk for help.
The receptionist told her he would send a maintenance worker up, but she declined, explaining she had just gotten out of the shower and didn’t feel comfortable with a man coming to her room.
“He responded with, ‘What do you want me to do about that?’” she recalls.
Choosing not to push the issue, Breanna says she decided to go to bed early, exhausted from the day.
Then She Receives a Call
But hours later, after she had fallen asleep, she was suddenly jolted awake by the hotel phone ringing in the middle of the night, something she says immediately put her on edge, given that no one even knew where she was staying. “Why would somebody be calling my hotel?” she says.
Moments later, she says she heard a light knock at her door, followed by silence. Looking under the door, she says she saw two sets of feet standing outside. “Nobody said a word,” she recalls.
What happened next scared her even more. Breanna says she began hearing noises that sounded like someone trying to open or tamper with the connecting door inside her room, which links to the neighboring room.
At that point, she says she panicked. “I am freaking out so bad, I called 911,” she says. However, she began thinking it was an overreaction and hung up the call.
Alone in the dark, she says she grabbed a box cutter and mace while calling family members and trying to make sense of what was happening.
She recalls running through multiple possibilities in her head, including whether someone from the hotel had sent someone to her room despite her earlier request. “I’m thinking all this stuff,” she says.
The fear didn’t subside for the rest of the night. Breanna says she barely slept, staying alert until around 3 a.m. and waking up repeatedly, still shaken by what had happened. “I’m sleeping with a knife in my hand,” she says.
It’s Finally Morning
The next morning, she says she went downstairs to check out, still visibly shaken.
That’s when the receptionist, this time a woman, told her something that partially explained the situation. According to Breanna, the front desk told her she had been marked as a “no show,” meaning staff believed no one was staying in the room. “They didn’t know who was occupying the room,” she says.
While that explanation offered some relief that the people outside her door may have been hotel staff rather than intruders, she says it still didn’t make sense.
“You’re telling me I checked in at 4:00 and nobody realized the room is occupied until going on 1 o’clock in the morning?” she asks. “And instead of calling the room or knocking and identifying, you wanted to break in the room?”
Breanna also says she later learned the employee who checked her in was new and had made errors, but she believes the situation could have ended far worse. She points out that it could’ve turned into a scary situation. “Imagine that I felt threatened enough to pull out a gun,” she says.
She adds that when her aunt called the hotel staff, they allegedly told her there was no on-site security, and says she has yet to receive a follow-up explanation from management beyond a refund for her stay.
Even after returning home, she says the experience has stuck with her. “I am so traumatized from this situation,” she says.
Looking back, Breanna says the entire ordeal has changed how she approaches traveling alone. She now urges others to take extra precautions and trust their instincts in unfamiliar environments. “Be safe, be smart… trust your gut,” she says. ”I wish I would have let the 911 call play out.”
Commenters Question What Really Happened
In the comments, viewers tried to make sense of the situation, with many raising concerns about hotel access and safety.
“I’m confused… this is wild… staff has master key to enter every room… so was it staff?” one person wrote.
“Wait they are refunding a no show?? Heck no. No no no,” another said.
Some also shared how they try to stay safe while traveling alone. “I travel for work, I always use hotel door locks from Amazon!!” a third. “Highly recommend. I feel super safe and I’m usually scared of everything,” added.
Others said the situation would have been too much to handle. “I would’ve had to go sleep in my car after that. Cause no. That would’ve terrified me so bad,” another wrote.
Florida’s Laws About Hotel Security
According to law firm Gonzalez & Cartwright, hotel guests are entitled to a reasonable level of safety under Florida’s premises liability laws.
While Florida law does not require hotels to have on-site security, they are still expected to take reasonable precautions to protect guests.
The firm notes that if a guest is harmed because of a lack of safety measures, a hotel could be held liable under what’s known as “negligent security.” In those cases, the question is whether the harm could have been prevented if “reasonable security precautions were in place.”
How To Stay Safe as a Solo Traveler In A Hotel Room
Before you even check in, it helps to know what kind of safety measures a hotel actually has in place. According to the travel blog AbroadWithAsh, measures such as a 24/7 front desk, locked entrances at night, and visible staff near the lobby are all safety measures you want in place.
Once you’re in your room, one rule is non-negotiable, according to the blog: don’t open the door unless you are completely sure who’s on the other side. Even if someone says they’re housekeeping or maintenance, you don’t have to let them in unless you requested it.
If anything feels off, call the front desk and confirm. And if you’re still unsure, it’s fine to say no and keep the door closed. As the blog makes clear, it’s always better to stay cautious than to second-guess yourself later.
@brebreeezy I cannot believe I have not heard from the management once. The doubletree by Hilton Deerfield beach Boca raton has truly traumatized me. @HiltonByDoubleTreee #besafe #fyp ♬ original sound – Bre
The Mary Sue has reached out to DoubleTree Hotel in Boca Raton via email and Breanna via Instagram messages for comment.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
