Can a Vampire Enter a Hotel Room?

Question

In many of the variants of Vampire lore, they cannot enter a home uninvited. So what then defines a "home"? Can a vampire enter an apartment building but not an apartment? what abut a hotel room? Many vampire stories include hotels which vampires seem to be able to enter with no issues. But if a person is a long term resident of a hotel, then would the room (if not the building) be that persons home?

Answer 1

The answer is going to depend on which work of fiction you're reading, since not all vampires work the same. However, there are primarily two ways that most authors approach this topic: the legal approach and the spiritual approach.

Legal Ownership

In some cases, vampires are prevented from entering a home unless one of the legal property owners invites them in. This links into the the idea that having official ownership of a piece of land somehow ties you to that land in a deeper way. In other words, being allowed to invite vampires into a home is one of the "rights" that carries with a deed of title.

A good example of this type of setup is The Vampire Diaries, which has seen multiple cases of one character signing over the deed to a house to another character specifically to give the recipient the power to keep vampires out. For example, in Season Two, Damon and Stefan sign over the deed to their boarding house to Elena; despite the fact that she doesn't live there (yet) she immediately gets the power to refuse entry to vampires.

Typically, in this kind of situation, there would usually be no problem with a vampire entering a hotel room. The reason is that the owner of the room is actually the hotel, and the hotel has issued a blanket invitation to the public to enter their property. The boundary that the vampire needs to cross isn't the door to the room, it's the front door to the hotel. Once they get past that barrier, they can move freely inside the building all the want.

"My House is My Home" Approach

The other option takes a more spiritual approach, and sounds more like what you were envisioning with your question. In this scenario, it's the act of living in a place that grants the residents power to keep out vampires. Exactly how this works also varies from one work to another, but typically the stronger a person's ties to a place, the more likely they are to have the power to forbid vampires.

A good example of this is the Dresden Files universe. Here, a person who lives in a place develops a bond with the place, which grows stronger the more powerfully the associate that place with home. Over time, a boundary developes around the home that acts as a deterrant, or even a barrier, for all kinds of supernatural beings to enter. For example, Karen Murphy's house has been in her family for generations, and Harry notes that the boundary around her house is incredibly powerful.

Typically, in these cases, the "no-entry" rule is not black and white. Rather, the barrier acts as a "shield" that repels vampires (and often other creatures, like demons or ghosts) who try to enter. A sufficiently strong or determined vampire could potentially break through anyway, but they would suffer for it. The stronger the person's bond with their home, the more power it takes to break through. Harry, for example, can walk into Karen's home uninvited, but he forfeits his entire ability to do magic while inside if he does so.

In these kinds of universes, a person living in a hotel room would eventually develop some level of protection. Again, it would be very weak -- the room is a public place and has had countless people temporarily living there, making it hard for any one person to grow attached. But if, for example, you lived in an extended-stay hotel for months or years, over time the protective barrier around your door would get stronger.

Answer 2

One notable interpretation of the rules is the Fright Night reboot. The rule and exceptions presented are:

1. A Vampire cannot enter a house unless invited.

2. False pretenses are valid entry.

3. Unless said house is normally unoccupied or under construction.

4. Or they burn said house down. You don't need an invitation to enter a smoldering pile of wreckage.

In general, there is no hard and fast rule. A hotel room could need the occupants invitation or the hotel owners, or any guest's invite. It could be time sensitive, or the room has to be paid for and not delinquent, or it has to be a long term rental and not day to day, etc. True Blood for example allowed house guests and owners to be brainwashed or glamored to be valid, which imoh is cheating the spirit of the rule.

Answer 3

The Buffyverse seems not to observe the Legal Ownership principle.  In Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode 44 (Season 3, Episode 10), “Amends”, Angel visits Giles in his apartment.  In Angel episode 38 (Season 2, episode 16), “Epiphany”, Angel visits Wesley in his apartment.  In both cases, Angel cannot enter the apartment until the resident invites him (although he seems to have had no problem entering the apartment building).  And remember, Buffy and Angel took place in the United States (specifically, California).  In the U.S., the term “apartment” refers (almost) exclusively to a residence that one rents from its owner (the landlord).  In some countries, it is possible to “own” an “apartment”.  While that concept exists in the U.S., such a residence is (almost) always called a “condominium”.  TL;DR Giles and Wesley (probably) did not own their homes; Angel needed their permission to enter simply because they lived there.

A couple other data points: In Angel episode 2 (Season 1), “Lonely Hearts”, Angel goes to Cordelia’s apartment, where Doyle is already visiting.  Cordelia opens the door, and Angel just stands there until Doyle says, “Invite him in!  As long as you’re alive, vampires, they can’t cross the threshold unless you…”  And In Angel episode 24 (Season 2, episode 2), “Are You Now or Have You Ever Been”, Angel goes to a bookstore.  The owner attacks him with a Bible, a cross, and a stake, and says (yells?) “… I'm thinking very seriously about putting down my bedroll right here, so you bastards can’t just walk in here uninvited!”  This suggests that, if a person so much as intends to reside in a place, considers that place to be his home, or goes through the motions of living there, then it immediately becomes protected.  There doesn’t seem to be any requirement to grow attached to the place or develop a bond with it.

OK, this is not cut and dried; but these statements seem to suggest that, in this universe, all a person has to do to be protected is to move into a place with the intention of staying at least one night.  Hotel rooms are probably covered.