Travel Alert for Ladies – Check Your Peephole Before You Check In
At a recent luncheon, I had the pleasure of sitting and listening to a table full of ladies lament the many issues that were troubling their minds on that particular day. Like most men, I listened with a bit of a smug attitude until they started talking about all of the issues that women face when on the road.
The unfortunate truth is that many of those issues are man-made and I don't mean made by mankind, I mean issues brought on because the male of the species can often be a pain. And while the creepy looks, awkward stares, and unwanted advances appear to be just part of the problem the real issues arise when personal safety and privacy are concerned.
You might recall a story from the sports world a few years back where a well known female reporter was spied on and filmed through the peephole of her hotel room. To make matters worse the perv doing the peeping was a coworker. What's even more frightening is just how easy it was for the coworker to gain access to the peephole and the reporter's hotel room.
But that peephole problem hasn't gone away. In fact, it may have just gotten worse. Tik Tok user @erinvabney noticed a particularly troubling potential breach of her privacy and security while checking into a Las Vegas hotel recently.
@erinvabney maintains that the peephole on her hotel room door was installed backwards. In other words, if a person from the outside was to peer inside they would get a very nice view of the interior of the hotel room.
Many of the commentators on the Tik Tok post said they had no idea that the peepholes could be installed that way. While others noted that it "was a common practice" for the "lookout lenses" to be tampered with.
Y'all, that's just creepy.
To make matters even worse, the hotel depicted in @erinvabney's video isn't a "cheap roadside motel" it's the world-famous Bellagio in Las Vegas. As of this writing, we do know the management at the Bellagio has been notified of the issue. So far, there has been no response, at least none that has been reported publicly.
What can you do if you find your hotel room's peephole has been tampered with?
The obvious answer is to consult hotel management and see if there isn't another room available. Another trick that was offered by one of the commentators on the Tik Tok post was to use a Post-It Note or other sticky note to cover the peephole during your stay.
I guess we'll just have to chalk up "peephole maintenance" as one more item on a woman's never-ending to-do list when it comes to travel. And if you want to look inside a space that someone else is occupying, do it this way, by looking at a photo gallery, don't look through the peephole. That's just sick.
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