A housekeeper at the Royal Hawaiian hotel in Waikiki said Tuesday she was grabbed and threatened by a high-profile guest and was disappointed with the lack of support she got from the hotel’s management.

Jackelyn Bautista of Waipahu said she was left scared and shaken following the Saturday incident, which she tearfully recounted to the media at a news conference at the Honolulu headquarters of her union, Local 5.

The union is currently engaged in contract negotiations with the hotel owner, Marriott International Inc., over a variety of issues, including workplace safety, and is poised to go on strike after members gave their consent in a vote earlier in the month.

Bautista, 46, who immigrated from the Philippines in 2011, said the man asked her to open the door to an adjoining room, but the door was locked on the other side and she told the guest she would call security to open it.

But the man grabbed her hand and said no, she said. As the housekeeper moved to leave the room, he grabbed her hand again, trying to pull her back into the room. The woman ducked into the maid’s closet in the hallway.

“I was crying and shaking inside the (closet),” she recalled.

Bautista said she called security and asked if she could go home, but no help came.

Later, after she warily returned to her duties, the belligerent guest spotted her and demanded that she clean his room. He was holding an untwisted wire hanger and was stroking it as he repeated his demand, she said.

“I’m scared and I’m alone,” she remembered, pausing to wipe away tears.

Threatened, she hid in the closet again. “Still, nobody came,” she said.

The next day, Bautista went to the hotel’s security office, where she described being treated gruffly. She also reported the incident to a police officer, who told her the man was part of a royal entourage from Saudi Arabia that claimed diplomatic immunity.

It was up to the hotel to take any action, she was told. But, as far as she could tell, hotel management did nothing but continue to accommodate the guest up until the time he checked out Monday.

Asked for a response, the Royal Hawaiian offered the following statement:

“The safety and security of our employees is always a top priority. We are aware of the incident that was reported and alerted the Hono­lulu Police Department immediately. Because of confidentiality issues, we are unable to discuss the details of the incident. However, we can confirm that we have safety measures in place, including providing our Royal Hawaiian Hotel housekeepers with an electronic panic alert system. And we have policies and procedures in place to assist our employees and thoroughly investigate and respond to any such incident.”

Union officials see it differently.

“Clearly, this corporation doesn’t care about the workers,” said Gemma Weinstein, president of Local 5.

As part of negotiations, the union has proposed stronger protections for workers who are harassed or assaulted by guests, she said.

“The company did nothing to protect this housekeeper or any of our housekeepers from this guest,” Weinstein said.

Neither Bautista nor union officials could name the guest or the Saudi prince with whom he was traveling.

Asked if Tuesday’s news conference was intended to pressure management during contract negotiations, Eric Gill, the union’s financial secretary-treasurer, responded defiantly.

“If anyone’s notion is that somehow the union put up somebody to attack one of our members, tell him to talk to me personally,” Gill said. “That’s another attack on her, as if we made this up. If they want to say it, say it. Bring it on. Because that’s what they do to every woman who stands up.”

On Sept. 10, Hawaii hotel workers from six Marriott-operated hotels voted to authorize a strike with a 95 percent yes vote. The hotels are the Royal Hawaiian, Sheraton Waikiki, Westin Moana Surfrider, Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, Waikiki Beach Marriott and Sheraton Maui.

Nationwide, strikes have been authorized by more than 8,500 Marriott hotel workers in nine major U.S. cities: Honolulu, Maui, San Francisco, Boston, Seattle, San Jose, Oakland, Detroit and San Diego. If a strike is called, Hawaii hotel workers will make up nearly half of the Marriott workers on strike.