A Hampton Inn guest discovered the door of her room was ajar when she returned early in the morning, sparking discourse about staying safe on vacation in the comments of a now-viral TikTok.
In a video with over 1.2 million views, TikToker Ezra (@ezrahaven13) shares a clip of her asking the front desk worker at Hampton Inn in Vincennes, Ind., to come with her to her room after they discovered the door was open.
“We always make sure we pull the door. There’s something in the door,” she tells the worker. The worker looks up her room number and claims she “didn’t do anything.”
Ezra enters the elevator with the worker who brings “bear spray” to fend off a potential assailant.
When they get to the hotel room, Ezra shows the ajar door with a small metal ball in the frame, keeping it from shutting fully. The hotel staff tells her they don’t have cameras in the hallway.
The caption reads, “Our hotel room was broken into last night while we were out. We are very cautious about making sure the door is completely shut when we leave. The door was open enough to were you could just push it open without using a key. Another magnetic ball was found in the room on the floor.”
@ezrahaven13 Our hotel room was broken into last night while we were out. We are very cautious about making sure the door is completely shut when we leave. The door was open enough to were you co#uld just push it open without using a key. Another magnetic ball was found in the room on the floor. Follow, like, share and comment for awareness and part 2. @Bubba after dark #fyp #fypシ #hampton ♬ original sound – BETTER.THAN.EZRA
What should you do if your hotel room is broken into?
In the comments, viewers urge Ezra to take further steps to ensure her safety after the suspicious metal ball made its way into her door frame.
“ALWAYS CALL POLICE! Hotel could be sued for not having cameras,” one claimed.
“As someone who works in hotel the front seat should have notified the police first before they went to the room. And should have called the manager to go up there with her,” another wrote.
“Don’t go to front desk. Call Police,” a third suggested.
Others told her to ask the front desk for more information.
“I work front desk. All they have to do is do a key audit and it will show who went in that room and what time,” a commenter said.
“You should’ve asked them to do a lock interrogation. They can check the computer system to see which key open the door last,” another wrote.
She follows viewers’ advice
In a follow-up video, Ezra shows a clip of the police knocking at her hotel room door. She explains the situation to them. The police did not know what the magnetic ball was, either.
Ezra also says someone had rummaged through her and her partner’s suitcases, but nothing appeared to be missing. An officer says they would take a report of the incident.
In the comments, viewers speculated how the metal ball could have been used to open the door.
“The magnets is probably how they get in. 1 magnet on either side of the door guiding a rope or something to the inside door handle to open it. They probably got spooked and left in a hurry,” one wrote.
“Maybe they left the ball there to make it easier to get back in and they just left and were gunna come back,” another suggested.
@ezrahaven13 Here is the update on the break-in at the hotel. We do not think they used the magnets to break in but to hold the door open (possibly). I checked my luggage more and noticed things had been moved around but ultimately nothing was taken. We are unclear what the motive was for breaking in and I don’t think we will ever know the reason. The hotel address is included in the location. @BETTER.THAN.EZRA @Bubba after dark #fyp #fypシ #hampton #update #police ♬ original sound – BETTER.THAN.EZRA
The Daily Dot reached out to Ezra via TikTok direct message and comment. We also contacted the Vincennes City Police Department and Hampton Inn via email.
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