At around 1:30 AM in a Munich hotel the phone rang at reception. The call came from a phone located in a bedroom corridor. I picked up the phone and a man said he had locked himself out of his room and required urgent assistance. Because I was attending to other guests, I couldn’t go up right away and he had to wait about 5-10 minutes.
What I found surprised me. When the elevator doors opened on the 4th floor I saw a naked man trying to hide behind a pot plant. He said that he had locked himself out of his room because he was sleepwalking and he woke up outside his room. He said that this was very embarrassing for him and he apologised for the inconvenience.
Very few rooms on this floor were occupied at the time, and it was late at night, so no one else was aware of what was going on. In this case, I was glad I knew the guest name and his room number. I was able to let him back into his room without asking for his ID. Otherwise, I would have had a major security problem on my hands.
This was the first time I had to deal with somnambulism. Somnambulism, also known as noctambulism or sleepwalking, is a sleep disorder where sleepwalkers arise from a slow wave sleep stage and perform activities that are usually performed during a state of full consciousness. Sleepwalkers often have little or no memory of the
incident.
Another night in a different hotel a woman was found wandering naked in a corridor. She was still in her sleep. This time I was better prepared after the incident in Munich. We had to wake her up very carefully to find out who she was and her room number. She was profoundly embarrassed to be found like this.
The next day we received a complaint from her husband who had not noticed she had gotten out of bed and left the room. He was very upset because we had no female staff working at night that could have dealt with the situation and preserved his wife’s dignity. He had a good point, but as you know, hotels usually hire male staff for the night shift.
During my time working in hotels I came across somnambulism a number of times. Night Managers should know how to handle guests with somnambulism, including and importantly how to help the naked sleepwalkers in a dignified manner.
I still haven’t figured out why so many hotel guests suffering with somnambulism sleep naked, knowing that awkward and embarrassing situations like these can happen.
My advice for every Night Manager in a hotel is to have a bathrobe within easy reach to ensure naked sleepwalkers can retain their self-respect.
About the author
Stefan Vito Hiller is the Founder & Managing Director of Sky Touch – Global Hotel Security Consulting. He has over 20 years international experience in the hotel industry, including five years specifically in security.
His hotel experience includes rooms division management, pre-opening, fire, health & safety, risk management & cost control. He has worked for leading hotel brands in Munich, Frankfurt, Bremen, Berlin, Cork, Edinburgh and Doha in the Middle East.
He graduated in 2002 as a Hotel Management Consultant at the Steigenberger Hotel Management School. He gained valuable experience as a Cost Controller at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers at Frankfurt Airport. He worked three years in Ireland where he built on his experience as a former volunteer fire officer and became a qualified IOSH Health & Safety Officer. He effectively combined the field of Health & Safety with his Assistant Manager positions.
Stefan now consults to hotels to implement innovative and affordable strategies to raise their level of security to meet growing global demands.
