The other day, when I was in New Orleans on a conference, I went out with some of the guys in my group for a drink on Burbon Street. They wanted to go bar hopping and since I really didn’t want to do that, I decided to call it a night.
I asked one of the guys to point me in the right direction of the hotel and said my goodbyes. I ended up walking back to the hotel alone.
When I came home, my husband asked why didn’t anyone walk you home? I answered, I didn’t think about it. He told me that he would never let a woman walk alone, especially in a city she was unfamiliar with.
So my question to you is, if you are out on a business trip with people you know, is it proper etiquette to walk the woman back to the hotel and go out again or do you just say goodbye?
It would be proper etiquette no matter if the walker or walkee is a man or a woman. There is just safety in numbers, especially when the hotel is an an isolated area.
I think men particularly are leery of offering to walk a woman to a hotel room for several reasons unless its in a group setting. They are afraid that their act could be misconstrued by onlookers or the woman as an advance. Even if the two parties are both strictly professional, there are a lot of magazines, polls, blogs, news stories that reinforce a man walking you to your hotel room wants “more.” So some guys avoid it like the plague to not appear improper.
Also, some men have had experiences with women who rebuffed them from opening doors, etc for them barking, “I am physically capable of it myself!” When that happens many times, men refrain from walking women they are not dating to their door, opening doors for women who are strangers, etc.
If the hotel were at a different location and a cab were involved to get you there, then it is implied that there is a driver there to see you walk into the lobby and no “walking back” is required or implied. But sharing a cab would be also appropriate.