On or about 0630 hrs (CST) on October 25th, 2025, I was sitting on the bed in my room (113) at the Spark by Hilton (205 Kimball Crossing Dr Kimball, TN 37347), when I heard someone attempt to access the door to my room. I heard the deadbolt unlatch and the room door open and hit against the safety latch. The door immediately closed. The individual(s) who attempted to access our room did not knock or make any attempt to announce who they were.
I jumped up, grabbed my pistol (I am former law enforcement and carry legally where I can) and ran to the door. By the time I unlatched the door and opened it, the hallway was empty. I went back into the room and told my wife (who was awake by this time) what had happened. I told her that I was going to the front desk to check and see who had attempted to enter our room either by surveillance camera or by room key access transaction report.
When I went to the front desk. I was greeted by a tall white male with a beard, who I now know to be the desk manager. He was accompanied by a white female of slight build, who I now know is in training. I told them what had happened and asked them to review any CCTV footage. Henry told me that there was no manager on duty yet and he did not have access to the CCTV footage. After pressing the issue, he told me that the manager would not be back on duty until Monday. I told him that this was a serious incident that needed to be investigated, and he needed to have a manager contact me. He told me that he would try.
I further asked if there could be a room key transaction report ran to see who could attempted to open my door. Henry stated that was a possibility and that he would run the report and get back to me. I left my phone number with the trainee who wrote it on a Post-It note pad in the drawer in front of her.
Being on vacation, with planned activities paid for, my wife and I decided to leave the Spark by Hilton and give Henry the opportunity to contact management and
investigate. After waiting approximately 10 hours from the time I left the Spark by Hilton, I had still not received any communication. I decided to call the front desk to see if a manager had come in and if anything was discovered and to see why no one had called me.
Upon calling the front desk, at approximately 1630 hrs (EST), I made contact with a desk agent. I explained my situation to her. She advised me that it probably was not housekeeping, because they did not arrive until 0800 hrs. She advised me that a manager was on duty and asked me to hold while I she located him. After a short time, a man who identified himself as a front desk manager came on the line.
He advised me that he was familiar with the incident (but did NOT advise me that he was the man who I had contact with that morning), and that he had looked into the matter. He stated that he did not have access to the CCTV footage, but he had run a room card transaction report and stated that it appeared to be a housekeeping card that was used. I asked why housekeeping had attempted to access my room before 0630 hrs and without knocking and announcing themselves. He stated that he did not know, but he assumed that it was a new housekeeper who was very new and barely spoke English.
I asked if housekeeping worked that early and was told that they did not arrive until 0800 hrs. I made an offhand remark that I supposed that it could have been someone who found a lost housekeeping card and used it. Henry responded that housekeeping cards were kept locked in the office and had to be checked out. Henry also stated that he had attempted to contact the general manager, but they had not responded to his message. I asked Henry if no one was there to access the CCTV footage, could it be accessed remotely by the GM or if temporary access could be granted to him? He stated that he would check and get back to me. He assured me that he would follow up that evening, and I ensured that he had my correct contact information. No further contact was made with me.
After hanging up, I remarked to my wife that nothing was making any sense. 1. How could housekeeping use a card to access our room 1 ½ hours before they arrive for work? 2. If they did come early, why would they fail to knock and announce? 3. If it was housekeeping, once they found they couldn’t open the door, where did the maid and the cart go? 4. If the housekeeping cards are kept locked in the office, how did one get out unnoticed by the front desk? 5. Shouldn’t it be noticed if a housekeeper is 1 ½ hours early to work? Would this not be questioned? Wouldn’t the front desk tell me if a maid happened to be that early when my room was accessed without cause or permission? 6. Why would housekeeping come to our room anyway when we had just checked in the previous evening?
After taking all these questions into consideration, we began to feel like the desk personnel were not being entirely truthful with us. Because of this, we decided to call local law enforcement to make a formal police report. This was done at approximately 1626 hrs (EST) on October 25th, 2025. I spoke with a Marion County (TN) deputy and made report 1025251624 via telephone (423-713-4203).
When I arrived back at the Spark by Hilton, I went to the front desk to get some additional information. I wanted to get the names of the people I had contact with. Upon contact with the front desk personnel, I learned that the person I was talking to was Brandy and she was the same person that had answered the phone that afternoon. I described the individuals that I had contact with at the front desk and found that they were Travis Henry and Alissa. Brandy advised that Henry was the front desk manager.
I immediately questioned why Henry would have told me that there was no manager on duty, if he was, indeed the manager. Brandy stated that she did not know, but she knew that he was the front desk manager and only the general manager had access to the CCTV footage.
We wound up staying at another hotel that night and a couple of days later (after calling Hilton's corporate number several times) the General Manager of the property called me. After pointing out several flaws in the story, she finally admitted that the staff had been lying to me. She told me that the manager had given the master key to the cook who was there to make breakfast. The lobby bathroom was in use, and he gave her the key and told her to go to room 114...instead she went to my room, 113.
She apologized, but I told her that I still wanted to see the CCTV footage and see the key access log, because I was not convinced that this story was true and that the management or staff had not accessed my room at any other time. She finally admitted that the CCTV system was not functional and told me that she did not know how to access the key log. She approved a refund, which we received.
When I insisted that she find someone who could access the key log, she stopped returning my communication attempts. Corporate Hilton is no help either. They view this as a security issue, which is handled by the property. This incident left my wife and I highly disturbed. In over 50 years of staying in hotels (some a lot "lower class" than a Hilton), I had never had an incident like this.
If you stay here, expect the security to be subpar, expect the staff and management to lie to you, and expect the upper management to not care. Not to mention, the desk manager making the racist accusation that the person coming into my room was the new housekeeper that barely spoke English. Take my advice, spend a few more dollars and stay at a nicer place closer to Chattanooga.
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