Here's how we do it. Lets say Mr. Anderson walks in and asks for Mr. Smiths room but doesn't know which room he's in. I ask for Mr. Anderson's I.D. to confirm that he is who he says he is and I then contact Mr. Smith and inform him that Mr. Anderson is currently in the lobby. We aren't allowed to give room numbers out loud so as long as Mr. Smith acknowledges that Mr. Anderson is okay I ask Mr. Smith if he can come down and meet Mr. Anderson in the lobby. If Mr. Smith cannot meet him in the lobby then with Mr. Smiths permission I write down the room number and hand it to Mr. Anderson.

On the other hand we see our fair share of people running from an abusive spouse and have had that spouse come looking for them, in those situations the guest should have made us aware of who the abusive spouse is so we pretend we have no one staying by that name but if they didn't inform us then we follow protocol as normal and then we inform the abuser that they need to leave or the police will be called and they will be escorted off the property. We then make a note for everyone to be on the lookout for that individual. It's not unusual for us to have friends, family, or coworkers of a guest ask for the room number.

While there is a concern when confirming that a guest is in house it's up to the guest to notify the front desk that they don't want anyone knowing they're in house. And even if we do confirm they're in house there are many rooms they could be staying in and the person looking won't be able to find them.