‘Big naked mess’ ends couple’s Myrtle Beach vacation

A woman who visited the Myrtle Beach area got a rude awakening this weekend.

Kennitha Hammond of Monroe, N.C., was staying in Myrtle Beach at the Lancer Motel Saturday night with her husband. Hammond said she comes to the area “about 20 times a year,” and was visiting to enjoy the beach before the weather turned cold.

But last weekend was different. Hammond was surprised when, around midnight, she had just exited the shower and the door to her room opened.

Another guest, with a working key to the room, was on the other side.

“Another guest walks in my room because the [motel] gave her the wrong room key,” Hammond said. “I’m literally naked and another guest is walking in my room.”

She added, “It was a big naked mess, okay? It was crazy. I had these people I did not know standing in the doorway looking at me.”

Sachin Patel, a manager at the motel who was working at the time, said that a new employee was being trained and accidentally noted that Hammond and her husband were in room 208, not 209, the room they had received a key for.

When the next guest came in, they were also given a key to 209.

“This is not the way we do business, it was a legit mistake,” Patel said.

Then, Hammond said her husband went to the front desk to complain, where Patel was, with the employee that had made the original mistake. He said that the couple was extremely angry after the incident, and declined his offer to move them to another room.

“They just weren’t having it—I really am sorry—and kind of rightly so,” he said.

Patel ended up refunding the room. Hammond said she had thought the couple would be able to stay in the room after getting the refund, but she said he husband’s key no longer worked when he walked back upstairs, forcing the couple to leave immediately.

Patel said he regretted the incident, but was not able to let the couple stay in the room after the refund.

“My boss would have had my head if I had let that happen,” Patel said. “We didn’t force anybody to check out.”

Hammond and her husband planned to drive straight home, she said, but ended up stopping in Dillon to stay the night.

“Somebody has to do something about this little hotel,” she said.

Patel said the worker who made the mistake has left the Lancer Motel.

“She’s no longer an employee. She didn’t even make it past training,” he said.

The Lancer, located on Kings Highway in downtown Myrtle Beach, has previously been filmed by the reality TV show “Hotel Impossible,” in which the host tries to help fix up ailing hotels and motels.

This story was originally published September 19, 2016 at 4:22 PM with the headline "‘Big naked mess’ ends couple’s Myrtle Beach vacation."