Sorry blondie  but you cannot bi pass reception if you want to be put through to a room there is only one switchboard . And they require a name .

Do you travel outside of Woolongong a lot Suze;

You must stay at some shonky hotels ... most modern hotels have direct numbers LOL

but I travel to Sydney .... are you inviting me to lunch ?

No I only stay at the , what I consider the best, I can assure you none would allow incoming calls direct . Anyway check Snoops about this "Scam" . 

I would love "dinner "...

I tend to avoid tourist hotels and stay at boutique .. Such as Goodward Park in Singers .. 

Or Browns in London ....but mainly in London I stay at the "Navy and military " or it's nickname is the the Olde In And Out...

 Browns hotel I london shouldbe easy . The naval and military is a club . 

 " Dinner " on ...

Thank you for the link ... but if you read the advice at the conclusion of the thread

"However, the advice about not giving out one's credit card information to anyone who telephones to ask for it is always worth heeding. The fact that a protective outside call policy may be fairly standard throughout the hotel industry doesn't necessarily mean that every hotel in existence observes it or that a particularly charming scam artist couldn't occasionally succeed in wheedling a gullible hotel switchboard operator into putting through a call on the basis of a bare room number and nothing else. Also, some hotels allow guests to direct dial to other rooms, which means a con artist who took up residence in such an establishment could potentially run this fraud on others staying there by simply placing calls from his room rather than an outside line. It is therefore a good idea to always be mindful of the potential for fraud and to make it your own personal policy to never give out credit card information to anyone who calls asking for it, no matter who that person claims to be. In the case of hotel stays, that means not providing such information to the caller, but rather making a trip down to the front desk, or at the very least placing your own call to that facility to ask if there's a problem with your card". It seems quite obvious that that a particularly charming scam artist such as yourself couldn't succeed in wheedling a gullible hotel switchboard operator.......
However I was unable to find anything about your scam  " Dinner " on ..." ???What should a rather naive blonde be aware of in that situation ?

Thanks for that info Suze, best to be aware of con men and play it safe, always.

I think in regard to the Dinner on scam one should always be in control of the situation . 

I would advise a naive blonde to ensure she arranges the venue and ensures the other party settles the bill ...