Non-guests using hotel pool

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I’m with those above who say “check the facts” before you jump to conclusions.

I live in a tourist area and MANY of the local hotels, restaurants etc offer special deals etc to “locals” even people who are not employees of that company. I suppose it’s an reciprocal sort of thing. Many employees work long hours, low pay and these “perks” help insure an employee base.

Many hotel svcs go underused and it does them no harm to allow employees and their guests to use them, and build good will.

A local hotel allowed use of it’s pools to workers of several surrounding businesses, as well as allowing their own employees use of the facility.

So make sure you understand fully the situation before you jump to conclusions or get involved.

Some hotels also allow employees to purchase passes for their families.
 
This is another thread of “he said she said”, also known as hearsay. There is a reason courts do not let this type of evidence in; and that is, it is unreliable.

With no disrespect to the OP:
  1. supposedly it was said that it was a “room card”. Room cards are fairly closely watched, as they are a security issue. I had to travel last week, and when I checked in, I was given two cards. They expected two cards back. It is not all that complex, if the hotel does not receive a card back, to “kill” that card within the system. Therefore, it seems unlikely it was a “room card”.
The likelihood is that it was a pass card issued to an employee who would need it to access rooms for whatever - rooms being not only guest rooms, but others with a lock. So was “room card” accurate? Probably not.
  1. The employee said something and did something. Rather than the person the employee spoke to, we now have a third person (the OP). Did anyone ever play the game where everyone sits in a circle, and a “secret” is whispered to the next person; to travel around the circle. It never gets to the end of the circle accurately.
This isn’t a top rated hotel, from the costs; but a nice one. Do we really think that 13 people, including kids (who tend to be noisy when at play at a pool) could be “sneaked in” under the noses of every other hotel person, come in with a cooler (indicting there were not there for a half hour swim) and be entirely unnoticed?

The OP may well have thought this was a “sneak job”; the person who spoke to the OP{ about it may have thought it was a “sneak job”, but the facts simply don’t make a case for it.

All of the suggestions are good, if the facts would actually support a theft of services. With even a few simple questions, just looking at the whole picture, this case does not hang together.

At which point, one might remember the Gospel dictum to take the mote out of one’s eye before taking the nite out of the other’s eye.
 
Dacinom said:
The operative word being “if” because we don’t know that they are.

Of course it’s wrong if they are stealing. I don’t think that is in dispute, stealing is stealing. The dilemma here (as I see it) is that there is not enough proof of theft to justify calling the hotel manager since the original poster wasn’t there, doesn’t know if the employee asked for permission and could damage their reputation by reporting them.
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Yes. If the op wanted to know-she can ask how much they charge for the pass, and wait for the answer, or ask if it is a perk. If they are sneaking, I would remind her it’s wrong.

I would not report them.I would mind my own business. But if they are crashing, it would tell me a lot about my friend.
 
Sorry to come late to the pool party!

Anyone who says this is “just fun” is all wet – pun intended!

Having extensive experience in the hospitality industry, I like to think I have a unique perspective on this. Some ruminations:
  1. Very few (not all of you, but few) have commented on one perspective often overlooked: That of other guests. If people are paying maybe $200 per night, they are paying for perks including a pool, and, frankly, have a right to expect there are no extensive crashers who are not guests. Perhaps a pool is full at certain times of day or on certain busy weekends…but full of guests, not kids jumping in, splashing, and certainly not people who show up with a cooler. No one likes a 13-member, multi-generation party going on in a pool they are paying to be in.
  2. That said, it is 100% possible – likely even, IMHO – that this is unsanctioned and the management really doesn’t know. I speak from experience. Management can’t be everywhere, and management “is” its employees: translation, the same employee who may be allowing this may be the same person who’s supposed to stop it! Moreover, as anyone who has ever been in a hotel pool area on vacation knows, hotels, pool areas, etc., are often full of kids wandering halls in flip flops and wet suits, maybe going to and from rooms, or whatever. In other words, a group of 13 people may quite frankly get overlooked.
  3. Awwwwww…boo hoo hoo, the public pool is crowded. Cry me a river: these folks will be the first people to sue the hotel when one of them falls and hurts themselves.
  4. Although true that some hotels have “deals” where locals can use a pool for the day, they ALWAYS charge for the use. Vegas hotels may charge $5-25 per day per person for locals to come use the pool. This is not that.
  5. A pool is one of the costliest, and most liability-inducing areas of a resort. Again with Vegas…why do you think all the latest pools are 3 feet deep? Liability costs. A pool also costs a fortune to maintain and to provide liability insurance for.
IMHO, this is theft, and should be reported immediately. Anonymously? Probably, so the little thieves/poolcrashers don’t get in a snit and sue the reporter for violating their civil rights or some such nonsense. But it should be reported.

PS I don’t even want to THINK about what the kids are leaving in the pool while they’re in…all kids do. Some adults too. Think all that chlorine is just for the nice aromatic smell??
 
Sorry I dropped off the radar (I was at work.)

Well, this person has often told everyone at work that she regularly “buys” her daughter’s food stamps when her daughter is low on cash (“What’s the big deal?” she asks) and that her son routinely downloads movies illegally (which infuriated her when I told her that it was piracy.) So the possibility that she knew this was wrong or might be and didn’t think it was “a big deal” is very real.

She made the repeated comment that it was “so Mexican of them” to do what they did. I find the implication that Mexicans (and I am Hispanic, as is she and her family) are gate-crashers offensive. She thought it was hilarious, “like a bunch of Mexicans in a George Lopez act!”

I don’t think this was cleared with management. She must have seen some look on my face (shock, probably, that someone would have the audacity to bring a dozen members of the family and friends into a hotel pool when they’re not a guest) and said, “Oh, calm down, what’s the big deal?” which is her usual response to anyone who questions her actions (see above re: food stamps.)

She can be quite vindictive when she feels someone crosses her. Of course as stated it’s all hearsay and I have no proof other than her comments that they “crashed” the pool. However I have decided that if she mentions it again or if she says she’s going to do it again, I will notify the hotel management after telling her it’s taking advantage of the business (and her relative) and that I will take action. My days at this job are probably numbered anyway (I’m actually considering a job at this particular resort) and I don’t want to be considered complicit in anyway by knowing this is taking place and saying nothing. They apparently did this without problem this time but I will say something should it happen again.

Thanks to all who replied.
 
bluerose said:
Sorry I dropped off the radar (I was at work.)

Well, this person has often told everyone at work that she regularly “buys” her daughter’s food stamps when her daughter is low on cash (“What’s the big deal?” she asks) and that her son routinely downloads movies illegally (which infuriated her when I told her that it was piracy.) So the possibility that she knew this was wrong or might be and didn’t think it was “a big deal” is very real.

She made the repeated comment that it was “so Mexican of them” to do what they did. I find the implication that Mexicans (and I am Hispanic, as is she and her family) are gate-crashers offensive. She thought it was hilarious, “like a bunch of Mexicans in a George Lopez act!”

I don’t think this was cleared with management. She must have seen some look on my face (shock, probably, that someone would have the audacity to bring a dozen members of the family and friends into a hotel pool when they’re not a guest) and said, “Oh, calm down, what’s the big deal?” which is her usual response to anyone who questions her actions (see above re: food stamps.)

She can be quite vindictive when she feels someone crosses her. Of course as stated it’s all hearsay and I have no proof other than her comments that they “crashed” the pool. However I have decided that if she mentions it again or if she says she’s going to do it again, I will notify the hotel management after telling her it’s taking advantage of the business (and her relative) and that I will take action. My days at this job are probably numbered anyway (I’m actually considering a job at this particular resort) and I don’t want to be considered complicit in anyway by knowing this is taking place and saying nothing. They apparently did this without problem this time but I will say something should it happen again.

Thanks to all who replied.
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With all due respect, I don’t think this is about your co-worker sneaking into a hotel pool half as much as it is about your personal resentment against her.

I can see how a person like this can easily get on your nerves and must been horrid to work with. Nonetheless, I think it is time for YOU to learn to accept that not everyone we meet is pleasant and some people will make us pray daily for patience

Angie
 
Anglewannabe said:
With all due respect, I don’t think this is about your co-worker sneaking into a hotel pool half as much as it is about your personal resentment against her.
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I can see how a person like this can easily get on your nerves and must been horrid to work with. Nonetheless, I think it is time for YOU to learn to accept that not everyone we meet is pleasant and some people will make us pray daily for patience

Angie

How considerate of you to turn a blind eye at someone blatantly cheating, and instead to criticize the one who objects to the cheating. Have you ever heard the quote, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”? Welcome to the club.

Bluerose,
Considering that you’re applying for a position at the hotel, I expect you could be seeing more of this woman and the card-issuing employee. Reporting her is the right thing to do, but it should be done in a way that will not expose you to her vindictiveness. I recommend that you do NOT say anything more to the woman. If she brags about her actions, just be nonchalant. Don’t criticize her, warn her or threaten to report her. Just make the report.
 
bluerose said:
How would you feel if you were a guest and discovered this was going on? Would it bother you? Should I say something to my co-worker or her friend if they bring it up again?
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Can’t say I would. In the business world, you call that having good connections. Family connections count (at least it still does in some countries). Can it be exploited? Abused. Maybe. That’s usually where management starts drawing lines and policies. I mean, doesn’t McDonald’s offer free meals to its employees? Might not be on the same level as a fancy hotel but I would think being just able to work in a place like that logically implies some similar privileges. 🤷
 
bluerose said:
However I have decided that if she mentions it again or if she says she’s going to do it again, I will notify the hotel management after telling her it’s taking advantage of the business (and her relative) and that I will take action. My days at this job are probably numbered anyway (I’m actually considering a job at this particular resort) and I don’t want to be considered complicit in anyway by knowing this is taking place and saying nothing. They apparently did this without problem this time but I will say something should it happen again.
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It’s one thing to say “Oh wow, I’m surprised management allows that” and quite another to actually insert yourself into someone else’s business. If I were a guest at the hotel and knew about this it might bother me, but probably not enough to complain about it. However, you’re not even staying at the hotel and the situation has nothing to do with you. Are you planning on calling DHS to report her food stamp fraud too? I think unless someone is in actual danger, there’s really no need to concern yourself with situations that do not involve you, especially when all you have to go on is hearsay.
 
As long as they were behaving I would not care.
I certainly would not go out of my way to cause trouble for people. I generLly mind my own business in these situations.
 
I would be bothered if someone admitted this to me.

I would be very annoyed if I spent money on a hotel room and my kids wanted to use the pool but it was filled with pool crashers with a cooler. (most if not all hotel indoor pools that I have been to have a sign, “NO food or drink permitted”)

Perhaps, call the hotel and ask, “Hello, I understand that your hotel has a policy if letting non guests use the pool. I was interested in visiting and using the pool, how do I go about that?”

If there is in fact a policy of allowing non guests to use the pool (13 of them) then fine. If not say, Oh I must be mistaken, I was told that it was possible."

Which might lead to stricter enforcement and monitoring of the pool.
 
Nan_S said:
How considerate of you to turn a blind eye at someone blatantly cheating, and instead to criticize the one who objects to the cheating. Have you ever heard the quote, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”? Welcome to the club.
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We don’t know the hotel’s policy so we don’t know if they are really cheating. I see lot’s of people run red lights but I don’t call the cops on them. It is not always our job to police everything
 
Gotta say…I am singularly unimpressed by the attitudes of “mind your own business,” and “we don’t really know the hotel rules!”, for several reasons:
  1. The human race is our business, isn’t it? I like the approach that evil triumphs when good people do nothing, and “minding one’s own business” can just be paraphrased as “do nothing in the face of a likely wrong.”
  2. If we don’t fully know the hotel rules, let’s also not be blind to a chance to put right a (likely) small wrong. If I see a person appear to steal something small in a store, I can say, “I should mind my own business!” I can also say, “Uh…I’m not sure, but maybe there’s a chance he actually paid for it and forgot it to bring it to the register,” and basically try to find some way, any way to hold my tongue – or I can put right a small wrong, and do something about it.
  3. As to the notion that we, for example, don’t call the cops on speeders - that attitude leads directly to, “I won’t call the police when I see a car accident,” which quickly becomes “I won’t call the police when I see an assault,” which is absolutely many people’s (wrong) attitudes these days.
  4. Studies show that stopping crime isn’t just ending bank robberies or murders, but rather all crime is reduced when petty crime is cracked down on. We never know the big stuff we end when we do our part to stop small stuff when we see it. This is petty small stuff – but stop it anyway, as it’s right is right, big or small.
One thing I cannot stand is people who are all ready to castigate others for “mortal sins,” yet won’t take small steps on behalf of what I call “practical Christianity.” That’s the sort of practical steps anyone can take to make the world a bit more civil; decent; law abiding; and where people who bend the rules of “mine and thine” get taken to task a bit more for doing so. I continue to think “doing something” is absolutely the right response. What some call “minding one’s own business,” I call “burying your head in the sand.”
 
PolarGuy said:
Gotta say…I am singularly unimpressed by the attitudes of “mind your own business,” and “we don’t really know the hotel rules!”, for several reasons:
  1. The human race is our business, isn’t it? I like the approach that evil triumphs when good people do nothing, and “minding one’s own business” can just be paraphrased as “do nothing in the face of a likely wrong.”
  2. If we don’t fully know the hotel rules, let’s also not be blind to a chance to put right a (likely) small wrong. If I see a person appear to steal something small in a store, I can say, “I should mind my own business!” I can also say, “Uh…I’m not sure, but maybe there’s a chance he actually paid for it and forgot it to bring it to the register,” and basically try to find some way, any way to hold my tongue – or I can put right a small wrong, and do something about it.
  3. As to the notion that we, for example, don’t call the cops on speeders - that attitude leads directly to, “I won’t call the police when I see a car accident,” which quickly becomes “I won’t call the police when I see an assault,” which is absolutely many people’s (wrong) attitudes these days.
  4. Studies show that stopping crime isn’t just ending bank robberies or murders, but rather all crime is reduced when petty crime is cracked down on. We never know the big stuff we end when we do our part to stop small stuff when we see it. This is petty small stuff – but stop it anyway, as it’s right is right, big or small.
One thing I cannot stand is people who are all ready to castigate others for “mortal sins,” yet won’t take small steps on behalf of what I call “practical Christianity.” That’s the sort of practical steps anyone can take to make the world a bit more civil; decent; law abiding; and where people who bend the rules of “mine and thine” get taken to task a bit more for doing so. I continue to think “doing something” is absolutely the right response. What some call “minding one’s own business,” I call “burying your head in the sand.”
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If I had just stepped in and stopped Hitler or turned my work associate in for getting a free swim.

I still don’t think it’s a big deal. I’ve stayed at many different hotels, this type and up. It was rare that there were more than 4 people at the indoor pool. If management isn’t doing their job, I still don’t care. It’s neither my problem or concern.
 
PolarGuy said:
I continue to think “doing something” is absolutely the right response. What some call “minding one’s own business,” I call “burying your head in the sand.”
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What you say sounds nice on paper but I wonder if you’ve ever seen a boss’s kid enjoy the privileges of being one. I tell ya, it’s not something you can argue against. 🤷
 
LostWanderer, the way the world is and the way it should be are 2 different places. Trying to turn the former, into the latter, a bit at a time, is not a bad thing. It’s certainly better than copping a “who cares!” attitude as is all too frequent these days.

And laugh all you want, Brandall, but LOTS of people in New York City still love how Rudolph Guiliani, when he was mayor, curbed crime across the board by cracking down on the “squeegee men” who would spit on windshields and then demand money to clean the spit off with a squeegee.
 
PolarGuy said:
LostWanderer, the way the world is and the way it should be are 2 different places. Trying to turn the former, into the latter, a bit at a time, is not a bad thing. It’s certainly better than copping a “who cares!” attitude as is all too frequent these days.
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Yes it is a bad thing if it’s going to get me fired! I see no use for morals when they just enable another breed of injustice.

That’s the problem with your kind of thinking. You’re probably tired of hearing this but it’s too black-and-white. So someone is a friend of a friend and they use that to get a free swim or a couple extra beers. Lucky them! That’s what friends and family do. I’ve experienced this myself. Keeping things strictly business is just anti-business. It makes you hate your job. It makes life bitter for yourself and the people around you.
If you’d come to me in friendship, this scum who ruined your daughter would be suffering this very day. And if by some chance an honest man like yourself made enemies they would become my enemies. And then, they would fear you. - Don Corleone, The Godfather
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I’m sorry LostWanderer, either I’m very confused or you are.

“My kind of thinking?” “my kind of thinking?” If “my kind of thinking,” advocating “practical Christianity” is somehow bad to you, then I guess your screen name fits.

But then, I’m not the one basing morality of an act upon whether it gets me fired; talking about becoming old and embittered (huh?) or appearing to quote Don Corelone in a positive way.

So go ahead! Be my guest – throw your hands up; say, “that’s life,” and don’t do something when you had the chance. But again – I rather like Edmund Burke’s comment from a few posts up.

And while you’re at it – stay out of my swimming pool!
 
PolarGuy said:
I’m sorry LostWanderer, either I’m very confused or you are.

“My kind of thinking?” “my kind of thinking?” If “my kind of thinking,” advocating “practical Christianity” is somehow bad to you, then I guess your screen name fits.
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Nice ad hom. It must really hurt to know your ‘practical Christianity’ didn’t work too well for other people on the planet. 👍
PolarGuy said:
And while you’re at it – stay out of my swimming pool!
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Must be nice being your kid. :rolleyes: (Assuming you ever said this to them.)
 
Gee, LostWanderer, I don’t think there’s anything “ad hom” about i) pointing out what your screenname is and ii) calling attention to the fact that some of your comments about “my way of thinking” come across as harsh.
 
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