La Quinta Inn & Suites by Wyndham Naples East in Naples, Florida on Monday, Jan. 27, 2020.
Pete Sager recorded this remote check-in at a La Quinta hotel in Sunrise, Florida in July 2025.

Pete Sager had anything but a normal check-in when he arrived at a La Quinta hotel in Florida last month.

Instead of staff greeting him from behind the front desk, a single candle burned on the empty counter. Taking to social media to share, a single video of his abnormal experience has garnered millions of views.

Sager, of Frisco, Texas, checked in to the La Quinta Inn & Suites in Sunrise, Florida on Friday, July 25, according to documents Sager shared with USA TODAY. Rather than making small talk with a front desk employee, Sager said he was greeted by a man on a tablet, who was helping guests remotely. Seizing on the abnormal moment, Sager said he recorded his interaction with the man on the screen using a pair of AI glasses.

While Sager posted the video to his own social media, it gained traction after it was reposted by another social media user on X (formerly Twitter). As of Aug. 8, the reshared video had more than 2.1 million views.

What happened?

When Sager arrived to the La Quinta Inn & Suites, he first saw a group of people arguing with a tablet at a kiosk. The tablet, as seen in the video, sat under a green banner that read, "Check in and out here!" Sager said members of the group were asking for more towels and were told by the remote worker they would arrive the next day.

Sager said when it was his turn to step up to the kiosk, he began recording, joking with the man on the other side of the screen that he took his job. Sager said when he asked the man where he was based, he was told Florida.

In addition to the tablet, Sager said the kiosk included tech for guests to tap a debit or credit card and scan an ID. The tablet, which displayed the remote worker, also allowed guests to sign the necessary documents as they would traditionally do at a hotel front desk, he added. The kiosk also had an output that distributed room keys.

During his two nights at the hotel, Sager said the only staff he saw on site were cleaning staff.

"The lack of staff could be concerning for someone who's paying for a visit," Sager told USA TODAY. "It's not a four star (hotel), but it's not a two star, and it's in a part of Florida where it's a destination area. It's not like an Iowa on-the-side-of-the-road, where you're just stopping to sleep and get going."

Two nights at the hotel cost about $150, per Sager's receipt, which he provided to USA TODAY.

A concern of safety

Sager said he also found the lack of hotel staff concerning in relation to guest safety.

"When I was at the pool, there were some kids out there and I thought, 'You know what, if anything happened, there's no staff here to come out and attend to an emergency,'" Sager said. "Say someone cuts their foot, a kid hits his head ... What are you going to do? Run to a screen and it's going to be like, 'Okay, I'll call somebody.'"

Wyndham: Kiosk not approved, to be removed

The La Quinta where the incident occurred is a franchised location, meaning it is independently owned and staffed, Robert Myers, Wyndham Hotels & Resort external communications vice president, told USA TODAY.

"That said, this franchisee’s use of this equipment is not brand approved nor is it being marketed to other franchisees. Further, our brand standards require hotels to have a team member physically stationed at the front desk at all times," Myers added. "Upon learning of this matter, we immediately reached out to the hotel’s owner who has since informed us the hotel will be removing the kiosk."

What are people saying online?

Largely, online users have expressed their discomfort by the remote staff.

"This is getting way out of hand. This is 100% absurd," one TikTok user commented on Sager's video.

Another commented: "This should literally be illegal."

But others cited remote check-in options at other hotel branches, implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, guests at select Hilton hotels may check in without talking to a single employee, checking in on a mobile app and using the same app as a digital key to unlock their room. Wyndham, in fact, offers mobile check-in, too, rolling out the initiative to about 9,000 hotels across the globe in December 2020.

Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at gcross@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No front desk staff, just a tablet. Guest's hotel check-in video goes viral.

Reporting by Greta Cross, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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