In person wouldn’t happen. She refused to leave her house until room was booked, and didn’t mention anything about money prior or I would’ve ignored her
Appreciate you sharing this particular burn. Depending upon how she phrased it (Just let me know when you've booked the room and I'll head right over vs I won't be leaving my place until you book the room), I could see others falling for the same trap.
Personally I like to have a first date to evaluate them and see if they check out, looks, personali, etc., so booking a room for the first meet wouldn't be on my mind. That said, it would be a pretty big red flag to book a room for someone (a stranger at this point) who states they wouldn't leave their room until you secured it.
I had a somewhat similar. An 18 year old chick from Manhattan, Athena, telling me she needed money for an Uber, to and from our meetup spot in midtown, after I texted that I was on the train into the city. I was pissed but we had been texting enough and the amount wasn't crazy so I went through with it. Had a really fun time with the girl, but she had a curfew to abide by so we eventually made plans to meet up again when her mom was out of town and she could stay overnight in a room. Freaky but flakey and a bit ghetto.
The experience did change how I approached future meetups though.