Chain hotels often have separate check-in lines for loyalty program elite members. At times that can be awkward, because some other guests may think that they’re being cut. A situation that unfolded last week at a Hilton property in Brazil is on a different level, though, in terms of the reaction of other guests.
Diamond member attacked for “cutting” line
Newsweek has the ridiculous story of a Hilton Diamond check-in gone wrong. According to reports:
- This situation unfolded on December 30, 2021, at the Hilton Rio de Janeiro Copacabana
- A Diamond elite member was trying to check-in via the elite line, but was then attacked by a couple that thought he was cutting the line
- The couple started yelling at him (using racial slurs), claiming they were there first, and then things became physical; it’s reported that at least the man was drunk
- Security was called, but they did a horrible job restraining the violent couple that was attacking the Diamond member
- The woman then grabbed the Diamond member by the neck, and then the man approached as well, at which point the Diamond member punched the man in the face and knocked him out
You can watch the video for yourself below. Interestingly this was taken by someone who had no connection to the Diamond member being attacked. He allegedly just witnessed this as he exited the elevator, saw the violence and heard the racial slurs, and started recording.
The Diamond member who was attacked says he couldn’t spend the night at the hotel because of the incident. Interestingly he only connected with the guy who took the video because it started going viral on Twitter. At that point he asked him for the video, and responded with the following:
“Because of this security failure the couple had the police waiting outside looking for me for hours. I couldn’t stay at the hotel that night because they lied saying I attacked them. Thanks for recording.”
Hilton employees did a horrible job here
I don’t even know where to start with this:
- How completely useless are the security staff and/or employees at this hotel? They just stood there and did very little as the woman attacked the Diamond guest
- One has to wonder how this would have played out if the Diamond guest were white, in terms of the couple thinking they were being cut, in terms of the complete inaction of the staff, and in terms of how the police handled the situation (never mind the fact that the couple was allegedly using racial slurs)
- Even worse is that the hotel seemingly did nothing to defend the guest when the violent couple got the police involved
Bottom line
A situation unfolded at the Hilton Rio de Janeiro, whereby a couple thought they were being cut in line by another guest, when in reality he was using the elite check-in line. Things got violent, as the Diamond member was physically attacked — without any help from the staff, he fought back, and knocked out a man. What a disaster…
What do you make of this Hilton check-in experience?
(Tip of the hat to View from the Wing)
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