a bathroom with a shower and a door
Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Brian Cohen·
ExperiencesHotels and Lodging
··4 Comments·2 min read

Trapped in the Toilet of My Hotel Room in Egypt

I t is said that there is a first time for everything — and being trapped in the toilet of my hotel room in Egypt was definitely a first time for me.

Shortly after checking into my hotel room in 6th of October City west of the pyramids in Egypt, I decided to use the toilet; and when I say toilet, I mean bathroom or water closet — not the actual commode itself.

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
The door to the toilet which eventually trapped me is open in the photograph. Notice that it is a stained wooden door with moulding, which would have been a shame to destroy. Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

After I thoroughly washed my hands and dried them, I went to open the door. I turned the door knob. Nothing. I turned it the other way. Nothing. I never locked the door; but I somehow could not exit the toilet. The latch was stuck for some reason.

At one point, the door knob came off the door while in the palm of my hand. Oh, joy. This is going to be an interesting trip to Egypt, as I just might spend my entire time trapped in the toilet instead of seeing pyramids, sphinxes and tombs. Now what do I do?

Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.
Finally — I have found a useful purpose for the telephone in the toilet, which is located on the right side. Photograph ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

I finally found a useful purpose for the telephone located in the toilet: to call for assistance from members of the hotel staff. I put the door knob back on the door in the meantime, hoping to try to get out on my own.

A few members of the hotel staff arrived in the hotel room within minutes. Not long afterwards, I saw the door knob jiggle multiple times; but the latch was still stuck. Apparently, they were stumped as well as to what happened.

The door eventually started to bow inwards somewhat as I heard loud noises on the other side of the door. At one point, I noticed the latch move but then return to its locked position. It happened again as I saw the door jamb start to bend inwards as well, as it seemed that they were in the process of breaking down a finished wooden door.

“Stop!” I yelled. “You got it! Just push!”

I do not believe they understood the meaning of the word push, as they kept banging in the door.

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“Push! Just push the door!” I again yelled, as I did not want for them to unnecessarily break the polished and stained wooden door.

Finally, the door pushed in; and I was finally free after approximately 30 minutes of being stuck in a rather spacious toilet room. The door itself was slightly damaged due to one of the members of the hotel staff using a screwdriver to attempt to manually force the latch open from the bedroom area.

The screws to the door knob were on the inside, so they could not be accessed from the bedroom area of the room for the simple removal of the door knob.

It was an experience about which I could laugh now — but it was also an experience I would rather forego and not repeat at all in the future…

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4 Comments

    1. I think you may have given a good argument as to why using the deadbolt of the door to the hotel room may not always be a good idea, Joey.

      Reply

  2. I also got trapped in a hotel in Egypt. When I was working in Cairo, I went for a relaxing weekend in Taba, just to escape the city. Anyway, after driving after work on Friday, I arrived at the hotel around 3am. Checked in, and went to my room, a good distance from the main building. Decided I wanted a cigarette, so went to the balcony for a cigarette, and shut the patio door behind me to prevent the smoke going into the room…..however, the patio doors automatically locked when shut, and could only be opened from the outside.

    Of course my phone was inside…..nobody was around outside as it was now 03:30…..oh yeah and the best part…..I was naked!

    So after 20 mins of shouting and hoping someone would hear me……nothing. So I decided I would just have to lower myself down from the balcony and go to get help. Of course, I was tired, it was the third floor, I lost my grip and landed naked in a bush with a damaged ankle….JUST then a group of drunken British tourists happened to be staggering past, and found me, much to their amusement.

    Spent the ‘relaxing’ weekend being taken to Sharm Hospital for my ankle, and then when I finally made it back to the hotel the next day, was know as the naked guy in a bush!

    Reply

    1. I personally would have been mortified, Al. Thank you for sharing that story and being so good-natured about it!

      I think you have given me an idea for an article in the Stupid Tip of the Day series — and no, I am not calling you stupid. Rather, there are people who may not realize that doors to balconies at hotel and resort properties can latch shut automatically for security reasons.

      Reply

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