Woman in China demands compensation and apology after male hotel staffer entered her room at midnight to ‘deliver a fruit platter’
- A woman staying at the All Seasons Hotel in northern China was shocked when a security guard entered her room at midnight on January 10
- The hotel says the incident was a misunderstanding and has refused to apologise or pay the woman compensation
A woman is seeking compensation from a hotel in China after a security guard used a master key to enter her room at midnight while she was in bed in the dark, reportedly to serve her fruit, The Beijing News reported on January 16.
The woman, surnamed Ni, was staying at the All Seasons Hotel in Hohhot, in northern China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region, when the man entered her room on January 10 while she was alone and left her terrified, she said.
The guard, who was standing in for housekeeping that night, left the room shortly after entering and leaving the fruit platter.
“At around midnight, I heard a knock at the door. I asked who it was, and a man answered that he was serving fruit. I said I didn’t need it because I had already gone to bed to sleep,” Ni said.
“However, he still opened my door using his key card and entered my room,” she said, “I was really scared because the room was dark. Only the light in the bathroom was on.”
“I kept asking him what he wanted and telling him I didn’t need the fruit. After about 20 seconds, he walked out.”
Ni said the incident had left her traumatised, and said she wanted an apology from the hotel and compensation of 20,000 yuan (US$3,000).
The hotel’s owner, a man, surnamed Zhai, said the guard’s late entry into the room was a misunderstanding and has rejected Ni’s demand for a public apology and compensation.
Zhai accused Ni of blackmailing the hotel over a misunderstanding and suggested she take it to court if she was not satisfied with his decision.
“It was a bit late because he was delivering it all by himself, on one floor after another,” the owner said.
An unnamed manager from the hotel admitted that the guard chose a wrong time to do the job. But he told the Beijing News that while the guard had used poor judgment, he only entered the room after knocking on the door and receiving no response.
“It’s the security guard’s responsibility to send fruit platters after housekeeping colleagues sign off,” he said.
“What he did is really problematic. He knocked on the door after 11pm. It’s inappropriate to do it after 10pm, let alone 11pm,” he added.
