Just thought I would share this.  I had a session recently with a traveler who was very well reviewed here.  As we basked in the afterglow, we got talking about what we individually do, etc.  Well this provider tells me she was former LE.

Now how do you think that made me feel?  Sent shivers right up my amygdala.

Anyway, I asked her for some tips to avoid stings.  She gave me a couple of ideas which I thought were unique and had never heard them before (lost my newbie training wheels about 1.5 y ago).

1)  Never walk into a hotel without a bag of some sort, i.e. a gym bag, briefcase etc.

2)  Pack in that case a towel - for the obvious reasons.

3)  Put your donation in a white envelope in a gift bag.  After arriving in the room, excuse yourself to the bathroom and place the bag on the counter.

4)  If busted always maintain the donation was a gift (hey it was in a gift bag, right?) but NEVER admit to it's real purpose.

Obviously this won't work well if you're visiting a provider at her residence.  I apologize in advance if this is common knowledge.  I personally had never heard of it before, and thought they were good ideas.

DC

I used to make up interesting stories once myself, but I'm a little older now and hopefully wiser.

Nevertheless, the first item is a very good idea.  There's nothing that screams "I'm here to see a hooker." louder than checking into a hotel without luggage.

Bringing a towel, sure, that's OK too.

As for three and four, they're about as effective as a St. Christopher medalion, but I suppose you can give it a shot.

Here are other essential hotel behaviors do's and don't's:

Never call the gal from a cell phone in the lobby.  You will be overheard.

Don't hang out in the lobby either.  If you must, at least bring a newspaper to read so you don't look so obvious.

Stride purposefully towards the elevators.  Think Cary Grant in the opening scene of North by Northwest.

Chain and bolt the room door unless you want to meet the maid and have a threesome.

Keep it down if at all possible.

There are more, but this will do for now.

(still not a lawyer)



-- Modified on 6/26/2008 5:04:29 AM

When I visit a provider in a hotel, I am carrying a WalMart bag with the candle set I bought in it.  I walk right to the elevators just like I belong there and no one gives me a second look, just as if it should be.

The best thing to do is look and act like you are actually a guest of the hotel. The WalMart bag tells anyone who is interested that I just went out to pick something up that I might have forgotten to bring along.  Everyone forgets something on a trip.

I never call from inside the hotel, that's just plain STOOOOPID!

sWIM

Bring your running shoes!! in case you want to make a run for it.. jk

as for #4. don't do it. watch the video with the lawyer saying don't talk to the cops at all just sit quietly and wait

I believe carrying a bag is overrated unless you act like you belong, and if you act as if you belong it is completely unneccessary.

I travel on business a lot, and I have met hundreds if not thousands of people, both hobby related and not in hotels.I am in ond out of hotel lobbies  all the time, to me it's second nature. I can't imagine an employee quetioning me about my business unless they were trying to helpful, in which case I would simply say I was meeting someone. The thought of a hotel employee interogating me is ludicrous. but that's just me.

My point is, attitude goes a long way.

I too am mystified by this idea of carrying towels in bags or pretending to buy something at Walmart.  I travel a lot and go in and out of hotels all the time.  I meet people, they meet me.  No one ever stops me and asks what I am doing there.

Hotels kind of freaked me at first...  but I've learned to ask the person I'm meeting where the elevator is.  The lady should be prepared with "through the lobby & turn left".  It's all about acting like you know where you're going.  

Yes, call from inside your car, not the sidewalk, not the lobby.  

I agree, when possible I exit through the side door, avoiding the lobby.  Many of them are self locking, exit only but that's ok.
skb

-- Modified on 7/21/2008 8:29:55 AM

-- Modified on 7/21/2008 8:38:16 AM

if you are checking in, then a bag is very much needed otherwise the desk clerk will know what's up.

(still not a lawyer, or a hotel clerk for that matter)

-- Modified on 6/27/2008 7:10:07 AM

Ahh, I understand.

I actually do it.  The candles are a gift for the provider.  The towel in the bag thing is a little ridiculous IMHO.

Swim

If it is my 1st time in that hotel I ask where the elevators are in relation to the front door. I've never been questioned either but don't want to be embarassed bumping around the lobby trying to find the elevators.

The towel in the gym bag is not going to keep you out of jail, it does save her the bother of asking for more towels or stealing them off of the maid's cart.

You can put the donation in anything you want. If it's a sting you are going down town either way. Again, you are excusing yourself to the bathroom so that she can count the donation and make sure that you are not ripping her off.  This has nothing to do with keeping you from getting busted.

What she gave you are some great tips to make her job easier. Nothing wrong with that but it won't keep you out of trouble if you walk into a sting.

Carry a bag? Spend five minutes watching people walk through a busy hotel lobby.  Many of them are empty handed. For what it's worth, I've read plenty of stories right here on TER from ladies who WILL NOT LET YOU IN TO THE ROOM if you are carrying a bag.

The best way to avoid a bust is to do your research before you get anywhere near the gal's location and make sure you are seeing a legit. lady.

Completely on target.  
There is one other thing: who gets arrested seems to depend on what LE is after.  I was visiting a lady who is a friend of mine (no kidding, strictly a friend.)  She was, at the time, running a BDSM operation with a number of attractive young women.  She had really angered the police when, after she had previous charges against her dropped, she insisted on rubbing the police officers' noses in her "victory over them" in an overt and disrespectful way. They sent in a decoy to nail her again.  I was sitting in her back room --fully clothed, with no more than a few dollars in my pocket-- talking to her while one of her ladies went into the other room to play with the man who turned out to be a policeman.  I was there for a social visit only,  The cops burst in and the scene got chaotic.  They accused me of being a "john".  I politely explained.  They checked my driver's license, saw my medical license in my wallet. Finally, one of them said to me: "Doc, you better got lost quick, the TV cameras will be downstairs in a minute." She was arrested again, her place closed again, her equipment seized again, the expense of a lawyer again,  Finally, three years later, all charges against her were dismissed again. She married a long time boy friend and left the business. We still see each other as friends.
If the police had been sent after "johns" rather than revenge against her, I would certainly have been arrested and paraded in front of TV cameras even though I was there innocently and no bag or gift bag would have protected me.

-- Modified on 6/29/2008 7:34:28 AM

Winning in the courtroom is a Pyrric victory at best.

The only way to win is to never get busted.

Lenny Bruce's obscenity conviction was ultimately reversed by the Supreme Court - after he was penniless and found dead of suicide (or was it murder?)

(still not a lawyer)

-- Modified on 6/29/2008 6:28:37 AM

and I spend more than half my nights in hotels. The only thing you need to have is a little self confidence. I have been with/without bags, I have talked on my cell phone, I have hung out in the lobby reading or typing on my blackberry waiting for someone, and I have even wandered around confused and asked a hotel employee where the elevators are. In my opinion, the most important thing is not to look nervous, like you are up to something.

I routinely check into hotels with my bag still in my car, especially if I don't have a reservation. Again it's all attitude. If someone asks me about my bag, I just tell them its in my car and I'll bring it up later. Hotel employees are trained to be polite to guests, not interogate them. If you act like you belong, trust me you'll have no problems

heres another opinion, from a ladies standpoint,
when I go to a hotel and I am not a registered guest to see a friend, I scope out the hotel from the parking lot for a minute noting the other side entrances and how far they are from my car, I then , after the appt, go out the side doors, unnoticed, that way, the clerk at the front desk, who, if they noticed me on the way in, will not notice me on my way out and hour later.
its worked for me so far.( knock on wood)

If I am hosting, then I'm polite enough to give my patron exact directions so when he comes into the hotel he's not wandering around aimlessly.

Pulling the top mattress out from the wall/headboard a couple inches reduces noise.

So what if the clerk is suspicious, that's not probable cause, and if he/she calls the cops they are not going to respond to that. No may they could make a case, and even if they arrest, it would be thrown out at the preliminary hearing.

Even if LE knocks on the door they have no evidene of anything illegal in progress, therefore, no articulable facts to support probable cause (facts that taken objectively indicate that it is more likely than not that a crime is in progress).  Your just in a room with a woman who happens to be a friend.  Mere presence at a suspected crime scene is not evidence of any wrong doing.

GT

GT

If you have a planned meeting with a provider at a hotel and you talk with her on the phone in the lobby and she then meets with you in the lobby and go to your room, that is evidence of nothing.

Once you are in your room you have a 4th amendment reasonable expectation of privacy and no one in LE with any brains at all would even think about entering your room under those circumstances.  

Quit worrying guys, LE does not chase windmills.

GT

If you know the provider or she has sufficient TER reviews, nothing to worry about.

GT

Personal experience; once I made an appointment with a provider that just happened to be staying at the same hotel I was. Just worked out that way. Shortest commute I've ever had!! (haha)
jhb

My 2 cents:
There is 2 possible scenarios:
1 You there with legit provider -  police makes bust and arrests both of you - very unlike to happen , and cops can't get anything unless one of you confesses - advice : no matter what keep your mouth shot!
2, You walking into sting - undercover cop playing provider. Well You're pretty much screwed, no matter what you do or what you say - remember cops will lie under oath in court. Of course it varries depending on jurisdiction. It may help not to engage in conversation where there is sex and money in one sentence - and words gift, donation, etc count as MONEY ! Some providers will not ask you for donation  until "after" - try to go that way. Sometimes you can get away with it if there was no discussion about the money, or no money was offered (gift bag, envelope etc. won't help)
Advice : no matter what , keep your mouth shot !!!! - Never talk to police b4 you talk to your lawyer. Cops don't even have to work for their paycheck becouse most of the arrested  guys do all the work by giving them confession !!!!

throw a couple bags in your car to save .say like  Outback or Whole Foods   and when you walk in it will look like you have been out to dinner and coming back or taking food to eat with someone there ..be safe all

The key is to look like you belong there.  I wear a suit and tie for my work and am in and out of hotels.  The trick is to walk in like you own the place.  If you look like you fit in and have the right presence, there will never be a question.  You can then  wait in the lobby, make phone calls, and do whatever.  As my father told me..."confidence is all."