A routine trip to Syracuse turns out to be potentially dangerous

by Kanietonkie

An Akwesasronon traveled to Syracuse with her daughter and two granddaughters. Nothing unusual about that. What happened next was very unusual and potentially life altering for everyone involved.

They arrived in Syracuse in the late evening, without having made hotel reservations, they had to call each hotel and ask for an available room. At that time of the evening and with people returning to travel, they were having a hard time finding a room. They usually stayed at a Holiday Inn on 11 North. As they turned toward the hotel, they saw a tarp over what they thought was the Holiday Inn, when in fact the sign read ‘Ramada Inn’ – but with a ragged tarp over it.

The Mom stopped anyway and went in through the entrance. At the desk was the usual hotel clerk, the clerk told her – yes, we’ve got a room for you. She registered as a guest, paid by credit card but didn’t receive a receipt. The Mom thought – oh I’ll pick up the receipt in the morning. She was given room 518 – with the instructions of take a left at the elevator on the fifth floor.

Once in their room, her daughter takes off to go buy toiletries. The Mom and her granddaughters gathered their swimming gear and headed to the pool. There are a few other people in the pool area and noticed a group of older men sitting off to the side.

While at the pool, a girl enters and starts talking to the Mom and her granddaughters.

During the conversation the girl says – ‘I’m thirteen years old’.

That’s odd thought the Mom, ‘she looks at least twenty, maybe even twenty-five years old.’

The young girl asks how old your granddaughters are, and the Mom answers with vague numbers.

The young girl persists and asks – ‘what are your numbers?’

The girls suddenly said, ‘I have to leave’.

The Mom and her granddaughters leave the pool area.

Meanwhile the daughter is upstairs in the room ordering pizza. Once the pizza order is placed, she gives the hotel address and the pizza guy tells her, that hotel is closed, it’s not open. After an exchange of addresses the pizza arrives.

Since they forgot to order drinks, the Mom leaves the hotel to walk to a small convenience store close by. While walking back to the hotel the Mom notices there isn’t any outdoor lights to the hotel. None. She hurries inside, goes to her room. A bit unsettled, they try and eat their pizza. Just as they are getting relaxed one of her granddaughters goes to turn the TV on and it doesn’t work. The Mom calls downstairs to have it checked. At this point she tells her daughter I don’t feel safe here and all the red flags she’s ignored up to this point. Just as she says that, the lights go out in their hotel room. The room is blanketed in total darkness.

Her daughter quickly turns on her phone light and tells her Mom to pack up their bags. She grabs her daughters and heads into the bathroom for safety. Suddenly a knock on their door. The Mom opens the door not knowing what to expect. A man is standing there – no uniform, no name tag. The mom asks, ‘What is going on and are you going to fix the TV and the lights are out too.’

The man says everything will be fixed soon.

At this point, the Mom grabs her daughter and granddaughter from the bathroom, they grab their bags tells the man they are leaving.

The man say, ‘No, no, no stay back in the room. Stay in the room.’

As they arrive at the elevator, she can hear the man on a cell phone saying – ‘No they are leaving. They are out of the room and they are leaving.’

At the elevator, they notice there are no lights in the elevator and no lights on the panel. They take off to the stairs and rush down five flights.

As they cross the hotel lobby, the Mom is yelling to the hotel clerk – “We are leaving, and I don’t feel safe here.’

They pull out of the dark parking lot and head to the Holiday Inn. After the Mom shares her story, the hotel clerk tells her the same thing – that hotel isn’t open. And, we are sorry, but we don’t have room for you. They try two other hotels and are told the same – no available rooms and the hotel they were at, isn’t open yet.

They finally find a room at a Super 8 and the hotel clerk tells them the exact same thing – the hotel you were at, isn’t open. They also tell the Mom she and her family are safe here.

They leave early the next day. Once they arrive at home the Mom calls the Ramada Inn corporate head office. The Mom tells them their entire experience and how they felt like at any moment, they could have been or were going to be abducted. They offer her a full refund. She filed two formal complaints, one at the corporate head office and one at the complaint office.

The Mom also called the police to file a complaint and to have a record of her experience.

A week after her trip, the Mom still doesn’t feel safe. One police officer said they could have been abducted. The scenario could have run like this; the Mom would have been disposed of, her daughter would have been drugged and sold, and her two young granddaughters would never be seen again – in all likelihood, sold as well.

The Mom wanted to share her story to protect others from this happening to them. She said not to ignore ‘red flags’ of danger like she did. And when traveling, know where you are going to stay ahead of time. Let other family members know of your plans. Hotels and motels parking lots, rooms, and hallways should be well lit.

If strange things like this happens, don’t hesitate to call authorities immediately.