Viral: Mother with Stroller Barred from Using Lift at 5-Star Hotel, Forced to Take Escalator

A social media post by user @lidyaarrahman recounting an unpleasant experience at a five-star hotel in Jakarta has gone viral. She claimed she was prohibited from using the lift despite pushing a stroller with her sleeping child. The staff reportedly barred her from descending via the lift because a private event was taking place, forcing her to use the escalator instead. “I still can’t accept the treatment from the five-star hotel staff who forbade me from using the lift even though I had a stroller and my child was sleeping. My stroller was forced to go down the escalator backwards, which is very dangerous. Just because there was an event near the lift area and regular guests were not allowed to pass,” @lidyaarrahman stated in her post, quoted on Friday (17/7/2026). According to Lidya, a staff member initially assisted her with the stroller and child on the escalator. However, due to safety concerns, the staff ultimately decided to carry the stroller down the stairs instead. “It was clear that even the staff weren’t confident they could bring it down using the stroller. It was extremely dangerous. Regardless of what happened, I am grateful that God kept my child safe, because they ended up carrying him down the stairs as they thought the escalator was too hazardous,” she said. The post was immediately flooded with comments from other outraged netizens. One user commented that if a lift is closed for an event, the hotel should still provide safe access for all guests, especially those with babies, the elderly, or wheelchair users. “I really don’t understand this lift blockade. Even if there was an event, there should be another lift that other guests can still use. This is a matter of child safety,” said a user with the account @ffann**. Using a stroller on an escalator is fundamentally discouraged due to the high risk to user safety and the escalator’s mechanics. Singaporean professional engineer S Yogeeswaran explained that an escalator is a machine with a complex working mechanism, and strollers are not recommended for escalator use. “One of the important rules in escalator usage is the prohibition of bringing strollers, trolleys, or other wheeled objects, including folding bicycles, as they can endanger users and the escalator’s working system,” he said, as quoted by Mothership.