I work the front desk at a hotel. A guest booked a room for two for a week. They checked in, which must have been done through the app, and then asked for a key, because otherwise we would never have let check in happen, and got the room. On the last night of their stay, I realized that only one of the two had ever shown up, and she was 16. She had been staying here alone and that the person who had booked the room, her sister, never showed up. Huge problem.

By this time, it was already 2am. Of course I know the policy. Minimum age to rent a room is 21+, no exceptions. The policy says that once an unaccompanied minor situation is discovered, the guest(s) must be kicked out immediately. However. This girl is 16, completely by herself, and it is 2am. We're in a rural area with no public transportation outside of normal business hours. Ubers aren't even reliable here. Where exactly was she supposed to go if I booted her out?

Her check-out time was in the morning. From the phone call I overheard, her sister, who booked the room, was clearly coming to get her then. The situation was clearly not amazing for this to have been the best option, and where the **** are any of the parents that they don't care that their kid has been gone for at LEAST the week?

I was the only one working (not typical, we just had a lot of callouts). I called my manager to check what to do. He didn't pick up. My boyfriend did, and he thought I would be a "major POS" to kick her out. I ultimately decided that with her check-out time being tomorrow and no registered complaints or comments, technically, I only knew she was there alone if I decided I did. I let it go, and she left without incident before 11am.

I've brought this up to my friends and they're less convinced that I did the right thing. They're big on parental rights, and are convinced that I should have not only followed policy and kicked her out, but I needed to call the police and not just let her "slip out" to "do whatever she wanted". I'm not so sure.