Locked out...but not freaked out!

[RachelPortugal]

The plans for one night in Vegas were made, firstly dinner for two ladies (my wife and I) at Tuscany Suites and Casino then a flutter in the casino before returning to our room at a hotel on the strip to change into something more glamorous to go to one club or another, perhaps Freezone where we had been before 2 years ago or Quadz opposite or even Charlies.

On arriving back at our hotel around midnight I realised I had left my keycard in my man wallet, so I borrowed my wife's key to let myself in while she had a smoke in garden. I picked up my key and returned my wife's key to her so she could get into the building and I could start changing in our room. Well I got back to our room and my key would not work, so I went back to get my wife's key and leave my key with her knowing that it could open the outside door. Now her key would not open the room, by which time my wife was there to try both keys. No luck, so off we went to reception to have the keys recoded. The receptionist recoded the keys and came back with us to the room, suspecting a problem with the lock. On seeing that no lights (red, amber or green) illuminated she concluded the battery needed replacing from inside the room. She called a security guard for him to try his master key. He had no luck, so another guard was called and then a maintenance man to effect a "break-in". So there I was stood in a hotel corridor "en femme"with three men whilst they tried for 30 minutes to get in. I was not allowed to leave because I had to be there at moment of entry so we could not claim things had been stolen. My wife sat calmly in the garden having a cigarette.

The battery change did not go smoothly, mismatched connectors so wires had to be cut, soldered and insulated. Keycard checked, working OK but deadbolt had jammed, another 30 minutes of waiting while they tried to fix it, another maintenance man was called until it was decided we would have to move rooms at 1.30am. Well, we had to repack 4 suitcases before a bellboy arrived to move us to our new room. By this time my wife just wanted to go to bed but I was determined to go out as planned. A quick change and back to the car to drive to Freezone, on arrival in the car park I would not say I got cold feet but realised that I did not need to hide among the gay community, so I headed back to the hotel and visited 3 mainstream casinos Flamingo, Hurrahs and Casino Royal as a solitary senior lady, sipping complimentary margaritas whilst I played the slots for an hour or more. (At the clubs it would have been tonic water with ice and lemon as I was driving.)

I have to say that not too long ago I would have freaked out if I had been locked out like that, but the guards, receptionist, maintenance men and bellboy did not bat an eyelid and treated me respectfully. This unexpected one and a half hours or more of close contact and interaction really boosted my confidence and caused me to wonder why I should expect the gay community, who have enough problems of their own, be my cover for a night out?

I will recount the rest of my exploits in Vegas with a few pictures in another thread.

[Eboni Robinson]

First, I must say you are freaking gorgeous. Secondly, you and your wife had one heck of an adventure that night. I'm glad you were able to make sure that turned into a positive experience for the both of you. I'm always happy to here of a dresser getting her confidence boosted like that. Rachel, I'm so glad everything worked out for you.
Love, Eboni

[Eemz]

> This unexpected one and a half hours or more of close contact and interaction really boosted my confidence

Oh that's really good. Well done on keeping your cool for all that time. It sounds like the experience might be really good for you in the end!!

> caused me to wonder why I should expect the gay community ... be my cover for a night out?

Maybe it's not cover? I some CDs go to LGBT venues hoping they might be more tolerant of somebody who is also different from the norm. I don't have any opinion on whether that's treue or not. But regardless it sounds like you are opening your eyes to a wider set of opportunities which is great

[RADER]

Well, you might tell Santa next year you want a box of lock picks, and the instructions on how to use them.
You had a real interesting event, at least you passed the test on how you looked.
I hope you and your mate had a good time after all. But that is a story to remember.
Rader

[Alice B]

You are in Las Vegas. No one cares and keys often fail for a variety of reasons. I have had this happen to me many times. Your situation was different, but nothing to fear.

[docrobbysherry]

What a horror story, Rachel!

U blew me away with the "had to change rooms" part!
It takes me over an hour to pack all my gear up!

I've got 2 week long T girl weeks in Vegas coming up soon. Would u mind telling me where u were staying!?

[Jaylyn]

Enjoyed reading your story, I might want to rethink Vegas..... My has been there with some of her friends and she suggested a few months ago that we should go out there for a weekend sometimes. I would have been a nervous wreck because we have lots of friends that fly there on a regular basis...

[JenniferMBlack]

I'm just wondering what they comped you for the trouble?

[RachelPortugal]

Got two of our six nights comped. Could have pushed for more, but they were so professional in their attitude to me.

Housekeeping should have picked up on the changing light sequence on the cardkey lock when entering the room to changes linens etc, then the battery change could have been effected in a less rushed manner.

[Beverley Sims]

I have been locked out many times but always just the recode of a key card.

A good exercise for you with 90 mins of interaction.

[BrendaPDX]

Sounds eventful, I would have been freaking out! Thanks for the nice read, it was fun

[CarlaWestin]

The hospitality industry is all inclusive and non-judgemental. Simple as that.

[alwayshave]

Rachel, I have had a key issue at a hotel while dressed, it was a non-starter other than presenting my ID.

[RachelPortugal]

My ID was in my handbag, locked in the room where I left it when I went out to return card-key to my wife. Thankfully, she still had her ID with her, because quite often when she stopped for a cigarette before heading to the room she would ask me to take her handbag in with me. Who know's how they would have handled a "no ID" situation?

[CarlaWestin]

Rachel, In a no ID situation, security checks the registration for unique information that only the guest will know and opens the door and waits for the guest to collect the room key or ID.
Body language and demeanor will tell them whether it's genuine or not.

[GretchenM]

Great story of Murphy's Law striking big time. (Mruphy's Law: If anything can go wrong it will.) In this case, it is getting close to the maximum. It seems you handled the situation beautifully and on the plus side, you came away with a great deal more confidence. Although stressful, you maintained your cool - not sure I could have done that.

[abbiedrake]

Good story. Thanks for sharing Rachel.
Also, are you from Portugal or an ex-pat cos your English is exemplary. (Sorry but it's a bugbear of mine that so many of us native English speakers take for granted the effort non-native speakers have to make.)

[Sarah Doepner]

I had a similar thing happen to me in Las Vegas a couple years ago at a different hotel. I had been out for the evening and headed back to my room when I found my key no longer worked. I keep my ID, insurance cards and an extra credit card in my purse when I'm out just in case something like this happens. Since I was alone I had to show my guy id multiple times, interact with several people at the desk, a security officer, the night security manager and a couple of guys from maintenance. Everyone treated me well and it gave me the chance to work up a variety of new responses when I had to share my id. My favorite has become "I'm working on a new look." Since it ended well my confidence was boosted and since it was funny I got to write a story about my night in room 1404. It may still be in the writers area of the forum.

Congrats on using that experience to see you didn't need to hide when you are out and about in LV. The confidence I've gained there has translated to more confidence at home and I'm out locally much more now that I understand most people just don't care. And it's possible those that do care aren't going to be in Las Vegas anyway. ;-)

[RachelPortugal]

Good story. Thanks for sharing Rachel.
Also, are you from Portugal or an ex-pat cos your English is exemplary. (Sorry but it's a bugbear of mine that so many of us native English speakers take for granted the effort non-native speakers have to make.)

I am an English ex-pat. It never fails to amaze me that so many non-native speakers do so well when it is such a complicated language with no real rules on pronunciation. I am always offering to help local businesses with their English material, although sometimes I let it go because the mistakes are so amusing, like "Fish and sheeps" on a menu.

[Princess29]

I "dressed up" last year in Vegas and when I came back to the room in the middle of the day, my key wouldn't work and so I had to go down to reception and get it sorted out. I didn't want to have the contact but had no choice. As others have said, they have seen pretty much everything in Vegas so we would hardly shock them but still, it can be a bit awkward

[abby054]

While en femme. I locked my keycards in my hotel room, not in Vegas, but in Phoenix. I was alone at the time. I had no choice but to go to the front desk and ask for another keycard. The desk clerk asked for ID. Fortunately, I had my purse with me. I produced my male ID, the only kind that I have. The clerk responded no differently than if I had been standing there in drab. She quickly made a new keycard and handed it to me. Then she complimented me on my outfit. Not a ridiculing comment or a smirk, but an honest compliment given in the same manner and tone of voice as I had seen her give a GG the day before.