Been there and will say that if the situation was completely right for you (the little head too), you would have gone for it. I used to travel 75% in my old job and found myself in different cities all the time. One of the nice things, my company paid for nicer hotels and I routinely made my way to the bar. A couple of times, I know I am meeting pros and I just passed because she really didn't do it for me, though I might have called her had I see her ad online. At any rate that happened a couple of times and I chalk it up to trusting my intuition. I could have been wrong, but then again, I stop second guessing things like this. She could have very well been bait for a sting too. That's happening more and more because LE doesn't have enough to do than to bust hobbyists and providers whose only aim is to have fun and make a little cash respectively.

in the "real world" i do not have a reputation for being aggressive with the ladies unless it is very casual and there is ZERO LTR potential. in fact what i hear is that i have absolutely no clue when a lady is interested in me. (as i get older this is a rarer occurence to be sure!) all of my LTRs in the civy world have bitched and some _still_ complain about how much effort it took to get my attention. thing is it wasn't that i wasn't interested, i just need an invitation on a silver platter if it's looking serious. if it's not serious i'm more casual and easy.......

anyway i've been working too hard lately. (that means i post here too much in mini breaks. LOL!) so i went to a favorite watering hole for a very late dinner and a drink on the way home. i approach the bar and it's starting to get thin. i notice this attractive young thing, very slender nice curves, blond dressed sensually, femininely and cleanly hot, if you get my drift.

(this is NOT a type preference. my _types_ run from Keira Knightley though Dolly Parton, Grace Park and Tyra Banks)

i order. the waitperson chats me up. he asks my status so i bitch about work being too heavy and he asks if i've found a suitable GF yet. (a little drama about a pretty young red head played out in plain view in that bar but that is an old story.) i respond vaguely about being in between.....

ascertaining that i am temporarily single the attractive blond perks up and starts making conversation. several factors lead me to believe that she is a provider.

1) she is too attractive to be alone in a bar on a Friday night.
2) in conversation she is very evasive about her means of support but is also very obvious about having large maintenance requirements
3) she describes _one_ of her abodes in a way that indicates the plumbing is set up for especially kinky water games to be played by 2 or perhaps more

i consider all this. i consider that i have no way of screening her. she has obviously screened me and found me satisfactory. so i decide to pass. i don't focus on her conversationally. (she seems uncomfortable when i respond to the waitstaff and don't ignore them.) eventually she gets tired we exchange first names only and she leaves while i close down the place.

no research possibility.... too much work.... i'll screw up the situation because i'm not going to be led by the little guy.

but if she reads this.... please send a PM! LOL!

last time something like this happened i went for the gusto. i was traveling and had an wonderful encounter that started with flirtation in an elevator. i posted it under an alias since i out myself if i do travelogues. LOL!

maybe i am getting more cautious because of documentable local LE activity. i'm sure that's part of it. but also i am SO damned happy with my small circle of friends, the risks just seem high.

whether civvie or P4P, I don't get off on all this extended research and planning far in advance. I like the "hotness" of meeting a lady that hits my buttons and fucking her a few minutes or hours later. Maybe it reminds me or the "free sex" days, where hookups and one night stands were commonplace. and I was younger. lol

Of course I will concede your point that if it feels like a setup, passing is the wisest choice.

See, I CAN disagree without being an asshole, just don't get used to it. lmao

Picking up an escort in a hotel bar has always been a fantasy of mine .... if she was hot, I would have totally gone for it.  Even if the subsequent experience was less than optimal, I would have at least been able to check a box off my lifetime "to-do" list ...

Is this type of thing really that common?  With the advent of the Internet, I can't think that hanging out at a hotel bar is all that effective of a business method for a smart lady ...

Picking up women this way is common practice. I probably have slept with at least dozen women this way in the last month alone. Of course I took two trips to Bogota, Colombia in the last month. lol

just kidding. I have a reputation to uphold you know. lol

Don't worry yet, I don't see any envelopes in my immediate future.

She had the opportunity to help you screen if she was indeed pro.   She did not take it.   If she does not believe in YOUR ability to verify her then it would be a risky meeting indeed.  TER guys are supposed to be smarter than that.
I think you made the right call.  
skb

but when i hear that you start using envelopes, THEN i'll start worrying.