A woman says her trip to New York City ended with a $500 charge she didn’t deserve—and she’s not alone.
TikToker @rhayleicy accused the M Social Times Square Hotel of falsely billing her for smoking in her room, even though she says she wasn’t there when the alleged incident occurred. Other travelers have shared similar stories online, alleging the hotel also charged them when they hadn’t smoked in their rooms.
The woman recorded a video in her room at the M Social Times Square Hotel detailing what just happened. She explained that she and her travel companion returned after being out all day to find a notice on her door.
She told viewers, “We were gone today for all day and we came back around 5 p.m. to find something stuck to my door that said they were charging my room $500 for smoking […] We weren’t even in the room.”
She added that the hotel’s manager refused to check entry logs or security footage, even after she offered photo proof with timestamps that they hadn’t been in the room at the time. The TikToker said that the manager insisted it was the end of the discussion. They told her to dispute it with her bank.
Hidden comments and growing complaints
At the end of her video, @rhayleicy shared screenshots of other reviews describing similar experiences. One traveler posted on Facebook that the hotel hit them with the $500 smoking charge despite being non-smokers.
Another Facebook commenter said, “This just happened to me. We were not even in the room at the time they claim we were smoking there. I asked to review key card logs, to have someone inspect the room, have time stamped photos proving we werent even there and management refused any of it, said this was final, to dispute with credit card.”
A one-star TripAdvisor reviewer said the hotel charged them after they ordered room service.
“While we were eating our food (pizza literally in hand), we received a phone call from the telephone in our room. When I went to answer, I was greeted by a hotel employee who accused us of vaping or smoking in the room, saying that a sensor had gone off and alerted them of there being vape or smoke-like substances in the air.”
They added that the front desk showed them a graph produced by a third-party system called Rest, which allegedly detects smoke particles. The guest said the printout looked meaningless, and that staff admitted many reviewers had posted about similar charges.
Meanwhile, on Instagram, folks noticed something unusual: the hotel’s page appeared to be locking down its comments by hiding negative responses.
When toggled, dozens of hidden replies appeared, many referencing the alleged scam and warning about future lawsuits. Although Instagram makes it easy to unhide these comments, casual users might miss them at first glance.
M Social Times Square Hotel responds
The hotel’s general manager replied to the above-mentioned TripAdvisor review, insisting the sensors were accurate.
According to the response, “The device in your room collected and analyzed smoke particles from your room and confirmed they were smoke particles that violate the hotel and NYC indoor smoking policy, which is why you were charged.”
The manager also wrote that the detectors could distinguish between smoke and other substances, such as steam or hairspray. However, multiple reviewers said the hotel accused them after they used a blow dryer or were out of the room.
@rhayleicy and M Social New York Times Square did not respond immediately to the Daily Dot’s request for comment via TikTok comment and Instagram DM, respectively.
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