HotelChatter

We had already noticed that these sliding doors seemed flimsy—they slid fast and hard under our fingertips, and the latch did seem a bit fiddly. But absentmindedly, we flipped said latch anyway, only to find that it wouldn't unlatch when we tried to get out.

The calm and methodical approach to getting it unstuck failed so we took a shower to kill some time. Since our husband was downstairs in the hotel gym, we weren't in full-blown panic mode but OMG what if we were staying here alone and no one came to our room... for hours?!

The lemon-sage Bliss toiletries could only soothe us temporarily and then we were playing with the makeup mirror and employing breathing techniques, waiting for our husband to return to the room.

Ordinarily we'd agree with commenter Steven Hartstein who told us that phones in hotel toilets are unnecessary—but for the first time we found ourselves wishing for one. (No, we did not bring our cell phone with us into the loo.)

At last, our husband came back, and after some yelling through the flimsy door and dramatic face pulling through those glass panels in the peekaboo shower window, he called the front desk and summoned help.

To the W's credit, the maintenance guy arrived—and worked—quickly. He figured out that unlatching the door from the other side with his fancy tools wasn't going to work so just pulled the whole lock apart and immediately asked if we were OK.

The 'after' shot.

Indeed, we were fine—just thrilled to be freed. The phone rang barely two minutes later, with the Whatever/Whenever staff apologizing for "what had just happened" to us, and asking if there was anything they could offer us.

Our husband had brought back free coffee from the lobby so we were all set—just eager to get the hell out of the hotel.

But there are a few lessons in this tale: be careful with cheap latches and sliding bathroom doors, consider taking your cell phone into the bathroom if you're traveling alone, and always make sure there's a spare towel or robe to throw on for when the repair guy appears on the other side of your broken door to grant you your freedom.

Now you've heard our Trapped in a Hotel Bathroom Tale, tell us: Has this ever happened to you? Share your hotel claustrophobia nightmares with us in comments below!