I like that first story!  It reminds me of a memorable night in Wales when we didn't lock our room, but should have.  We were awakened sometime around pub closure hour by a scantily clad, very buxom, very inebriated woman who was sure we were in her room.  Neither of us sleeps in PJ's, so we had a quick discussion about who should do the honors and muscle the woman back out the door.  Rachael drew the short straw, fortunately.

In many of the cheapo guesthouses we stay in in SE Asia, they attach the key to giant pieces of wood so you WON'T forget them. In Vietnam they also keep your passport so you will be sure to return the key to the front desk. No stealthy 4 am leaving when that's the case unless you're willing to wake up the guy sleeping behind the front desk (why yes, yes we are). Leaving Hanoi we were ten blocks or so into the mayhem and realized our passports were back at the hotel. Bruce dutifully returned to get them. Two days later we were in very rural Vietnam and discovered we had the key to the previous night's guesthouse with us. That owner had been so kind and sweet that we felt awful for leaving with his key. No worries, our host for the night said. He handed it to a bus driver heading back in that direction and we could only hope it made its way back to the right place. Since then we've been hyper-vigilant about keys but no doubt there will be more slip-ups in our future.

Ever since we have had key locks. Lyle has a copy of my key and vis versa luckily we haven’t needed them. But it is fun playing the game can get their keys first. 

I have also had several memorable "lock" experiences during bike tours. Like Graham, I once had to delay a departure from the historic hotel in Williams, Arizona because my bike was locked in a conference room. There was no staff at the hotel in the morning, so I called and waited a long time before somebody came to unlock the door.

Last year I had a lock problem at a remote lodge in northern California. My room had a typical old electronic lock that activates when you insert a magnetic card. Until then, I never thought about what might happen if the lock fails. My bike and I were in the room when the lock quit working. It was impossible to open the door from the inside. I could easily climb out the window, but the window wasn't big enough to get my bike out in the morning. I called the manager who fortunately was on site. She disassembled the lock and replaced the AA batteries, but it still didn't work. So she put duct tape all around the latch so that the door couldn't lock. That was one of several issues, such as no AC power or food because their generator died.

My final anecdote isn't about locks, but is related to Greg's comment. Last year I stayed in a small motel in Bridger, Montana that only accepts cash payment. When I arrived, my room key was in an envelope taped to the office door. A note in the room said to put $85 cash in a particular drawer. I dutifully did so, and left the next morning without ever seeing the manager. I was long gone before the manager found out if I actually paid for the room, but at least she didn't give me access to every room in the motel!

Keeping on theme with locked doors. I was on an ACA tour in Alaska, many years ago. A tour participant locked the women's bathroom door as she left. That caused a bathroom shortage, as we all had to share the men's room. She also left some belongings inside. This prompted the male members of the group to try and jimmy the door. Testosterone got the better of them, and they completely disassembled the door frame before being able to open the door. The tour leader was also a leader in the door project. He stuck around the next morning, waiting for the management to arrive, so he could ask for the appropriate tools to reassemble the door. It was quite a story around dinner the next night.

On the subject of keys and locked doors....When we were in Costa Rica last fall Steve somehow got locked into the toilet in a restaurant. There was a bolt on the outside of the door which some helpful person threw so he could not get out. Resourceful as ever Steve phoned the in country emergency number for our tour group and they sent someone from the group (at the table) to let him out.

On my Northern Tier adventure, my traveling companion Doc and I left Westfield, NY enroute to Conneaut, OH.  Along the way we encountered a couple riding the route in the opposite direction.  We chatted a bit and discovered that they had stayed at the same hotel last night that we would be staying at tonight.  They had forgotten to turn in their room key, so we took it and presented it to the surprised owner as we were checking in!  He was very happy to have it back as it was a real key and not one of those electronic cards used by modern hotels today.   This simple act made his day and (hopefully) helped to elevate his opinion of touring cyclists. 

I remember reading about this at the time, thinking what a serendipitous event it was.

I remember that story at the time, and how much it reminded me of some of our own experiences.  I even read it outloud to Rachael.

That's so responsible!   Our only comparable experience was the time I locked Rachael in an outhouse in southern France and had to free her by carving out the lock with my Swiss Army knife.  We didn't wait around to see if we could rectify or compensate for the damage.  We just biked fast before anyone noticed.