# Something else I don't understand about the Vegas shooting. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050 "2017-10-05T18:49:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/1 "2017-10-05T18:49:26Z")
Didn’t the housekeeping staff ever go into his room? True he could have kept a Do not disturb sign up permanently, but wouldn’t that raise suspicions? Would they not have said something to the management had they seen the room covered with machine guns? Or are they simply intentionally blind to everything? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/2 "2017-10-05T18:53:09Z")
Does the housekeeping staff typically clean inside closets when a room is occupied? Maybe disassembled in the dressers? ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/3 "2017-10-05T18:55:24Z")
You can bet that the shooter didn’t walk into the hotel/casino with the guns out in the open. So if he kept them in the same cases, while sitting in the room? How would housekeeping know what was in those cases? ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/4 "2017-10-05T18:59:06Z")
When we’ve stayed at hotels we make it a habit of leaving the do not disturb sign up the entire time we’re there. Usually less than a week. My sheets and towels can make it that long. I’d rather they not waste the water on pointless laundering. And I’d prefer housekeeping not be tempted by laptops, ipads, phones, etc. I leave lying around. I don’t think this raises any suspicions. ---
**Author:** ![SamuelA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@SamuelA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SamuelA)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/5 "2017-10-05T19:00:52Z")
There’s 3300 rooms in that place. Housekeeping staff aren’t going to make their lives harder by ignoring a DnD sign and entering a room that the guest doesn’t want cleaned. Management doesn’t care. And if you think about it, people are doing all kinds of illegal stuff in Vegas, and management wants guests to pay for rooms and come back. It has no desire to interrogate or investigate guests about anything illegal they might be carrying or doing unless if affects the rest of the hotel. No doubt plenty of guests are doing illegal drugs, screwing hookers, drinking underage, and countless other crimes. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/6 "2017-10-05T19:03:17Z")
From [CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/03/us/mandalay-bay-hotel-room-what-we-know/index.html): > [@CNN](#): > > Housekeepers said they “saw no signs of anything” suspicious in the two-room suite, Nevada Rep. Dina Titus told CNN. > Paddock had 23 guns inside the suite, as well as hammers, Assistant Sheriff Todd Fasulo said. The arsenal “was pretty well hidden,” Titus said. IME housekeepers do surface cleaning only and go to great pains not to disturb guests’ belongings. There would be no need to enter a closet or open dresser drawers unless they were looking for something to steal. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/7 "2017-10-05T19:42:14Z")
The NY times reports that he left the do not disturb sign out for a few days. > [@](#): > > A hotel worker said that Mr. Paddock checked in on Thursday and kept the “Do Not Disturb” sign on his door for the next three days. > **[Inside the Las Vegas Gunman’s Mandalay Bay Hotel Suite (Published 2017)](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/10/04/us/vegas-shooting-hotel-room.html?_r=0)** > > His suite held more than 20 guns and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/8 "2017-10-05T19:49:57Z")
Why would having up a ‘do not disturb sign’ for three days be suspicious? Not wanting housekeeping while you’re in a hotel is common enough that they make and provide signs to signal that’s what you want, it’s not some obscure behavior that very few people do. Even if he didn’t put up the signs, why would hotel staff look through is bags or into drawers in the room? That’s not part of their job in general, and this is a VEGAS hotel, where people go to do things that are illegal or that they don’t want other people to find out about. If a hotel has cleaning staff that routinely poke through a guest’s belongings, I would expect people to avoid that hotel, even if the stuff they’re bringing is just legal but embarassing. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/9 "2017-10-05T19:52:33Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Didn’t the housekeeping staff ever go into his room? True he could have kept a Do not disturb sign up permanently, but wouldn’t that raise suspicions? No, why would it? I’ve kept housekeeping out of my hotel room for days at a time. It’s no big deal. What do they care? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/10 "2017-10-05T19:55:25Z")
Paddock was a high roller who was comped a room at no charge. Staff may have been warned not to pester him. (Just a WAG.) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/11 "2017-10-05T22:11:14Z")
Question answered. Ignorance fought. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/12 "2017-10-05T23:45:39Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Why would having up a ‘do not disturb sign’ for three days be suspicious? Not wanting housekeeping while you’re in a hotel is common enough that they make and provide signs to signal that’s what you want, it’s not some obscure behavior that very few people do. Even if he didn’t put up the signs, why would hotel staff look through is bags or into drawers in the room? That’s not part of their job in general, and this is a VEGAS hotel, where people go to do things that are illegal or that they don’t want other people to find out about. If a hotel has cleaning staff that routinely poke through a guest’s belongings, I would expect people to avoid that hotel, even if the stuff they’re bringing is just legal but embarassing. At some of the hotels I’ve stayed in, in the last few years, 3 days is the maximum they /want/ you to stay DND. They /tell/ me that they will enter after 2 days. I /assume/ that means they will enter once a week, but it may be any day in the week. But my experience is that staff routinely ignore the DND sign if no-one is in the room and they are scheduled to make up. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/13 "2017-10-06T01:15:38Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > Paddock was a high roller who was comped a room at no charge. Staff may have been warned not to pester him. (Just a WAG.) I get comped rooms. It’s not that hard. He was comped a large corner suite. Even if he had them clean the room routinely it would not have been too hard to put away the weapons so they wouldn’t be out. > [@Melbourne](#): > > At some of the hotels I’ve stayed in, in the last few years, 3 days is the maximum they /want/ you to stay DND. They /tell/ me that they will enter after 2 days. I /assume/ that means they will enter once a week, but it may be any day in the week. > > But my experience is that staff routinely ignore the DND sign if no-one is in the room and they are scheduled to make up. And our local hotel won’t go into the room until the body starts to stink. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/14 "2017-10-06T03:40:00Z")
Maids in Las Vegas are about the most distant thing you can be from law enforcement or even casino security. They aren’t going to look through your bags and I don’t even think that is legal. They are just generally minimum wage employees that supplement their income with tips from hotel patrons. They routinely have to deal with guests with prostitutes or lines of cocaine on the dresser. It isn’t their job to deal with that. It is “Sin City” after all and that is the business model. I honestly don’t know how Las Vegas is going to deal with this tragedy. The city shouldn’t even exist in practical terms except people found a way to make it a safe-haven for people that want to do things in the middle of the desert that they can’t do back home. That isn’t very compatible with intensive searches of every bag, room and person. I usually leave the DND tag on my door when I go on business trips. It isn’t unusual at all. I am just a single living out of a suitcase and I don’t make much mess for the better part of a week. I really just don’t want someone knocking on my door to give me new shampoo when all I really want is sleep. I already have plenty of shampoo but not enough sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/15 "2017-10-06T04:41:39Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Why would having up a ‘do not disturb sign’ for three days be suspicious? Not wanting housekeeping while you’re in a hotel is common enough that they make and provide signs to signal that’s what you want, it’s not some obscure behavior that very few people do. Some hotels even let you opt out when you check in to get a few bucks off the rate. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/16 "2017-10-06T07:11:09Z")
When in Las Vegas, I typically leave the DND notice on the door for a couple of days at a stretch. Nobody minds. I’ll take it down after that, because I do like a clean room, but then it goes back on the door. It cannot be easy for a hotel maid in Las Vegas. When guests party until the sun comes up, then collapse and sleep the day away, the last thing they want in the morning is a knock on the door and the call, “Housekeeping!” IME, hotel maids will obey the DND notice unless something seems seriously wrong. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/17 "2017-10-06T19:13:52Z")
LV is also host to large gun shows every few months. a dealer doing basic maintenance on his stock would not be a giant red flag. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/18 "2017-10-06T19:24:03Z")
I read in yesterday’s Times that he checked in with 10 heavy suitcases. I guess Vegas hotels are used to guests checking in with 10 heavy bags. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/19 "2017-10-06T19:31:21Z")
It think it’s more of a case of hotels just not giving a shit how many bags you have. I’ve never once been asked during hotel check-in about the number of bags I have. But in any case, hotels in places like Vegas or other locations that host big trade shows and conference probably ARE used to seeing people check in with loads of luggage. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2017, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050/20 "2017-10-06T19:32:49Z")
Hotel maids encounter \*thousands \*of clients every year. Many of them are odd, quirky folks. Some may be mentally ill, or absolutely trash the room, or bring five dogs, or something. For a guy to keep a Do Not Disturb sign on his door for a full week would hardly be anything out of the ordinary. It wouldn’t raise any eyebrows whatsoever. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/something-else-i-dont-understand-about-the-vegas-shooting/798050.md?page=2)