THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF HOTELS

BY: DIzzIE [c]opyleft 2003

This text will outline some of the basic ‘scams’ that can be perpetrated inside a hotel.

Obviously, as each hotel is different it is not to be expected that all scams discussed here will work at the particular hotel you select; however, it is a safe bet to say that at least some will.

Food

*Let’s start off with what is perhaps the most renowned hotel scam: free breakfast. A nearly universal policy, free breakfast is usually offered around the hours of 7am to 10am. It is usually offered in the downstairs hotel restaurant and should be easy to locate by the smell, the flow of the people, or simply asking the hotel staff. When attending the free breakfast it is best to arrive early thus getting the best food. When entering the breakfast area, or even passing through the lobby, it is to your advantage to come out of the residential area. In other words, to avoid raising even a minimal amount of suspicion, you should emerge from the elevator, the stairs, or from down the hall, not from the front door of the hotel. To do this, you will have to enter through a side entrance, or if there is no other gateway other than the front door, walk in through the front door and then proceed to go up the elevator, only to come down a few minutes later.

Once you are in the breakfast area, the breakfast will most likely be a buffet (however, as we shall see later, if it is not, this posses no added difficulty at all). Depending on the hotel, you may or may not be asked your room number, or you may be asked to present a meal certificate (in this case, simply say you never received one and volunteer your room number). After you finish eating breakfast, stow away as much food as you can in your handbag for later consumption.

*The nice thing about hotels is that literally anything can simply be charged to your room account. Any verification is virtually nonexistent, and hence you are free to rattle away a random (yet an existing) room number. Thus, if you would also like to stay for dinner at the hotel restaurant, buy a few drinks at the bar, or enjoy a refreshing snack brought to you whilst you are lounging in a chair in front of the water, simply utter the delightful phrase ‘oh I don’t have my wallet with me, can you just put it on my bill, my room number is…’ If you are uneasy about using such a blunt approach, you can let the power of suggestion work for you, by revising the above statement to say: ‘oh damn, I think I left my wallet in my room…’ in which case the waiter himself will make the recommendation: ‘well, if I can just have your room number I can charge the bill to your account.’ If you wish to take yet another precautionary step, walk through the halls and spot any door that has a ‘do not disturb’ tag on it; a sure sign that the room is in fact inhabited, and thus that the account is existent (although this level of precaution is not necessary, as you are typically asked for your room number after the meal, by which time you will be saying ‘add it to my bill, room number…’ as you are getting up to leave)

*If you prefer to eat alone, and obtain a moderately nice set of silverware/dinnerware, simply order food to be brought up to ‘your’ room (commonly known as ‘room service’). To achieve this, proceed to a local phone, most likely located in the lobby. Dial the correct extension (by looking through the hotel directory which should be near the phone, or asking the front desk for one) to the room service, and ask for the meal of your choice to be brought to the room of your choice. Ideally, a room should be chosen from which you just saw people leave, yet any room can be given. Next, proceed to stand near the door you specified, and when you see the server hand him a tip to put you in his good graces, place a finger to your mouth and say ‘my wife/husband is sleeping, I’ll take it from here, thanks a lot.’ As the server turns around to leave, stand facing the door, pretending to fumble for your key until the server is out of sight. Alternatively, if you do not wish to stand by the door, when placing your order for room service, say that you will stop by yourself to pick up the food, once again giving the sleeping spouse excuse if you wish.

Leisure

Hotels are great places to simply sit back and enjoy the comforts of life in a pleasant 73 degree controlled environment. Sitting in the lobby/lounge area watching the big screen television or reading the morning paper is a nice, relaxing way to spend the morning. But why stop there, feel free to fully utilize all the facilities the hotel has. Take a swim in the pool (‘forgetting’ to return the towel), or go explore the game room, exercise room, the massage parlor/sauna and so forth. Walk over to the business center and use the computers (if prompted with a screen asking to input room number or credit card number, either input an existing room number, or a rogue credit card number, obtained by shoulder surfing at the front desk or behind a restaurant server inputting the card information at the register).

Miscellaneous Theft

Well, spending a day or two laying back in the hotel was fun, but you might want something to remember your visit by. Aside from the aforementioned techniques of acquiring towels/dinnerware, here are a few more ideas.

*Many hotels have moderately priced accessories such as min-statues and vases sitting around the vicinity, usually decorating tables in the lobby/lounge area. When the front desk is preoccupied, or when no one seems to be paying any attention, simply walk by your target with a handful of shopping bags, and give a slight tug on the desired ornament, letting it innocently fall into one of your bags.

*If it is a beachfront (or even a pool front) hotel, chances are high that many patrons will naively leave their valuables lying on their stretchers as they go for a cool dip in the water. Taking advantage of the rowdy atmosphere, with a towel hanging over your arm, feel free to help yourself to a desired handbag.

*Needless to say, if you spot a typical supply cart the hotel maids push around, stop by and ask for a fresh supply of soap, shampoo, sewing kits, towels, and bathrobes. Or you may walk directly to the supply room, where if no one is around, you can help yourself.

*If the hotel business center (fax machine, printer, computer, etc.) is not located in a too-public area, place the hardware apparatus of your choice into a suitcase, and indiscriminately leave the vicinity).

*Perhaps the riskiest ploy actually involves going into a room. The first thing that you must do is make sure the room is empty. This can be done by spotting a room with a ‘maid service please’ tag on the door, or by seeing people leave a room. Next, proceed to the front desk with a standard sob story: ‘I think I left my key inside my room! Can you please give me a key to room …, I’ll bring it right back.’ Depending on the hotel you may simply be given the key without any identity verification (though you may be asked to pay a small fine, in which case you may pay the fine or give the wallet excuse, mentioned below), or you may be asked to present some identification. In this case, proceed to explain how you left your wallet, which, in fact, has the key in it as well, in your room (‘I’ll bring it right back..’). If you are asked to give your name/address as verification, you can say ‘we just moved, I really don’t remember it yet’ although at this point it is suggested you try a different hotel.

One last side note: Some hotels have a rarely used ballroom/private restaurant area/etc. Such areas are surprisingly nice for the occasional sleepover

Finally, remember to keep an eye out for cameras, employees, and nosy guests. And by all means, don’t stick around the hotel after you have made a theft.



Enjoy!



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Standard Disclaimer: It is understood that the above is written for educational/informational/theoretical/entertainment purpose only. The poster does not accept any responsibility for any actions you may take and does not condone any activity which goes against the law.

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Great thoughts. Any ideas on room safes? I was thinking just ask for the key as it was locked inside by your son who lives in the same city with your ex wife.

Though I don't think they would just give out keys/combinations/reset codes that easily.

scuzzy i dont think they would, but worth a shot

actually, most hotels do give you keys if you ask.

once i was in a fairly ritzy hotel(i was actually staying there for the weekend) & a friend of mine had a room in the adjacent building. He didnt know i was there & i was going to go in his room to suorise him when he got back. I needed a key obviously so i went to the front desk & asked for a key and the gave it to me with out a question.

Another interesting tidbit I forgot to add: When you see a maid cart, look for any key cards laying around. They are likely the master cards to any room, thus allowing you to forego haggling with the receptionist.

Regarding room safes:

If it is a keypad safe, such as this one:

http://www.hotelsafes.net/g500a.jpg

You have two choices.

1) If you feel fairly confident the room occupants will not be back, call the front desk, and state that you have forgotten your combination. An employee with the key override card will come, as you let him into 'your' room, and for a sufficient fee (once again, 'add it to my bill, please'), he will open the safe.

2) If the aforementioned option does not appeal to you, and you have even more time, you may try to brute force the combination yourself. If the combination has been set fairly recently, obtain a pencil, shave down the graphite stem into a fine powder, and gently blow the powder onto the keypad. The powder will stick to the oily imprints made on the keypad, thus giving you the numbers used in the combination. From there it is only a matter of trying all the possible combinations (for example, if the graphite settles on 4 digits you will have 24 possibilities, etc...)

[This message has been edited by dDIzzIEe (edited 07-18-2003).]

actually get a room for a night and say you lost the key or card when you check out. wait a week or so. come back and check out the room. ive done it but the room was empty.

Key cards get deactivated. What would be useful is an actual key.

a few years ago I stayed in a hotel once and never returned the key, I have been back there several times to party with friends, I just have to be careful upon first entering the room to make sure its empty, everytime I did this it was always empty, I stole the tv 2 times also, but I since lost the key.

Another hotel scam that was prevalent in the late 90s:

( http://www.bbb.org/alerts/hotelscam.asp )