When it comes to hotels, safety and security are paramount. Being able to feel safe is essentially the bare minimum that a hotel should provide. However, for TV show host Egypt Sherrod (@egyptsherrodofficial), this expectation wasn’t met.
“OK, so here’s why when you’re traveling on the road, you’ve got to pay attention and be astute,” she began.
Sherrod detailed to users how, after arriving at her room, she went straight to a speaking engagement. But when she returned, something was amiss: the door latch was gone.
What did she notice?
“I know it was there earlier because I always lock myself in, and if it wasn’t here, I would have asked for another room,” she explained. The presenter then pointed to the scratch marks on the door, situated where the rest of the latch should be.
A GSA then intervened, and the pair exchanged a back-and-forth until Sherrod turned her attention back to the audience. “You know, as a woman travelling — anybody actually— […] this is a red alert; this is a red flag. Be conscious when you’re checking in these hotels. Pay attention to your surroundings, have your habits that you do, and the discipline that you do.”
She continued, “You know, when you go in a room every single time, make sure it has a lock, a latch, make sure you can secure the door. Make sure you can secure the memory of what you did. That way, when I came back immediately, I realized it wasn’t there. And I did still see it, but I didn’t know what it was. I’m still standing here like, was it? No, but it wasn’t there because I have my habits and my discipline.”
In the video description, Sherrod issued an update: she made the manager aware, and they’re investigating it. The clip has amassed 486,900 views.
@egyptsherrodofficial *Update, the manager Michael came to talk to me this morning, very nice and professional. He is investigating the incident fully and was extremely apologetic.* Stay alert! Pay attention to your surroundings at all times. Take photos of how things “were” so you can reflect if ever in doubt. And by all means, follow your gut instinct. Something makes me feel like this lock may have been removed for a much more nefarious reason. I cant be sure, but I’m not taking any chances. I’m OUT! #scary #scarytiktoks #hotelroom #safetytips ♬ original sound – egyptsherrod
Commenters were shocked
Commenters were very alarmed by Sherrod’s experience. “Pack up and leave,” one wrote. “It’s no longer safe there.”
While another shared that they always travel with their Ring camera. “I always plug it in and set it up to catch the door!” they explained. “If someone enters my Ring alerts me & they’re recorded.”
Worryingly, a third pointed out, “Hmmm, so if the latch was gone, they actually got in.”
And a fourth exclaimed, “Another room!? I’d get another hotel!”
Elsewhere, commenters were also suspicious of the hotel worker. “She’s smart to have recorded this and the hotel worker. Most times these are well-orchestrated inside jobs,” a fifth pointed out.
“Heck, I don’t even trust him,” a sixth echoed.
Then a seventh added, “He’s acting so nonchalant. Giving weird vibes.”
Sherrod didn’t immediately respond to The Mary Sue’s request for comment via TikTok comment and email.
More worrying behavior
Ashley Tosh (@thatfitfoodiemom) recently went viral after discovering that a man who was ‘stalking’ her during a conference found her hotel room. She shared that the man violently knocked on her door, sharing that he was hotel ‘security,’ though a call to actual security verified that this wasn’t true.
“I guess I’m just telling the story because it p—ed me off,” she told viewers. “It still makes me mad that I have to be scared to travel. I never travel alone. I never go to work things alone. And this is the first time I have ever stayed in a hotel overnight, and it’s because I didn’t want to drive. Like I always drive back the night after the show, then I drive back the next morning, and like, I just wanted to have a calm, enjoyable night, and it was ruined.”
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