I really like climbing stairs for exercise (not an exercise machine though - makes me batty going nowhere). My apartment has tiny baby stairs and are circular, so it makes me too dizzy to to it enough for exercise.

I was wondering if anyone knows if it would be okay for me to go to a nearby Holiday Inn and just take their stairs up and down a few times. I wouldn't be bothering anyone, I don't think. And I'd probably dress in regular clothing to not attract attention.

Anyone have experience with this? Please share.

Any opinions on this? Yay or nay?

Thanks for the help!

-- Lianna

I guess if the hotel staff have issues, they will simply ask you to stop doing it. I can't imagine they would be too heavy handed or ban you or anything! You won't be doing any harm.

I say go for it. If they say something, just be honest with them. The worst that could happen would be getting the nickname of 'crazy stair lady' or being asked not to come back!

My guess is that if you ask, they might say no, for liability issues (if you got hurt, they'd say you were "trespassing' so that you couldn't sue them - well you could sue, but it would be less likely for you to win).

Though they also might say yes. I had a friend about 25 years ago who swam at a local hotel pool after getting permission from the owner (who was a friend of a friend of a friend). She had offered to pay, as she would for a gym membership, but instead his attorney adviced that if he charged, he would be responsible for any injuries - so instead he didn't charge her, and had her sign a release promising that she would swim at her own risk, and wouldn't sue him in the case of an accident).


However, you can always just do it, and stop if they ask you to leave. They probably will eventually notice that you're coming in, but they might assume that you're visiting a guest (of course if you visit regularly, they might also assume you're up to some nefarious business).

Another option that might be less troublesome for you or the hotel would be a public building and/or building open to the public (a hotel would be considered private property, even though anyone can walk in off the street).

I'm thinking museums, courthouses, malls, public libraries, hospitals, medical arts buildings, office buildings that contain businesses open to the public....


You could always try the hotel and see how long it takes them (if they ever do) to talk to you about it, or you could pick a different location each time, so the odds of being asked to stop would be lower...

Remember Rocky !

I wanted to do this at our local hospital but I never got up the nerve.....

Thanks guys! I tried to look this up online, but there was zilch out there.

1987: Haha! Crazy stair lady. And yeah, I guess they would just ask me to leave if they didn't like it. I don't think they could, like, sue me for trespassing (could they?!).


Kaplods: Hmm, you have some good points. I wouldn't sue if I just slipped or something (that'd be my own idiot fault), but they don't know that. And I don't want them to assume I'm up to something no good. I may want to ask them for permission anyway just so that we can avoid misunderstandings.

I would LOVE to climb stairs in a public building, but where I live it's incredibly flat. The vast majority of places have only one floor. The few others have like, 2 short ones (even our hospitals). I might go run around town to find someplace with a couple floors if I have to.

That's why hotels are ideal - several floors and almost no one uses the stairs.

Changing up locations is a good idea! I think we have a strip of road with like 50 (or 3) hotels on it. I might hit those up in a rotation.

bargoo: Rocky was lucky - he had a city with huge staircases in it.

You can't be "sued" for trespassing, but you could be "charged with" the crime of trespassing (that is they could call the cops). Lawsuits are about civil damages (money).

Now, I doubt that the hotel staff would do so without asking you to leave first (that is only if you refused to leave, or came back in the future after being asked to leave, would they normally call the police).

Even if they did call the police without speaking to you, I doubt you would be charged with trespassing unless the police asked you to leave and you refused.

It wouldn't hurt to call the local police dept or sheriff's department to ask, or maybe the city attorney's office to ask the hypothetical question.

These are just educated guesses from working tangentially in law enforcement as a probation officer, so someone with more pertinent legal knowledge may want to correct me, if I'm wrong.

Have you thought about doing bleachers at a local high school?

That's what I was going to suggest.

I used to work as a security guard for a Holiday Inn up in Fargo, ND part time. Honestly we never had to run anyone off for exercising on the stairs. They also probably have a small gym that you could exercise in as well. Ours didn't require a keycard to get into the gym. Talk to the GM and see if he/she will let you come in to work out.