SAN DIEGO -- A woman's career in the hotel industry is at risk because she wanted the 10News I-Team to know what she knows.

"When you donate money, I'd like to think it went to the cause that I had I mind. This is wrong," the whistleblower said.

She said her motivation is not notoriety. She provided the I-Team with documents that indicated some hotels were driven by profit when they charged the National Red Cross for empty rooms.

"Well, because of the fires business was down and this made up for it," she said.

Bob Rausch, chairman of the San Diego County Hotel-Motel Association, said, "It was not high season. But the time the relief workers came, it was November and I think that any hotel that took advantage was truly taking advantage. I just don't think it was widespread."

Only one percent of the industry was involved is Rausch's guess. He told 10News that 54,000 rooms are available in the county. One percent means possibly 540 rooms were overbooked.

Rausch said, "I am sure you'll find three or four hotels out there, if you do your research, you'll find a few that went over the line and said, 'What the heck, let's charge them.'"

The I-Team did its research, using sources in and out of the tourism industry.

The I-Team has a list of hotels that are high on the suspect list, and many of the names were surprising.

For instance, the Hotel del Coronado, one of San Diego's most famous hotel properties, made the list.

Another high-profile hotel on the list was the Hyatt Manchester. Also on the list was another Hyatt property -- the Hyatt Regency in La Jolla.

Another older, well-known hotel landmark, the La Costa Inn in Carlsbad, was on the list, as well as a smaller boutique in La Jolla, the Empress Hotel on Fay Avenue.

Two hotels from a national chain based in Spartensburg, S.C. made the list -- the Extended Stay America in Mission Valley on Murphy Canyon Road and the Extended Stay America located on Hotel Circle South.

The I-Team began calling the hotels in question earlier this week, giving them 48 hours to respond to the allegations.

The I-Team asked all the hotels -- Did they bill the Red Cross for empty rooms and would they give the money back?

The Hotel del Coronado and La Costa Inn are both owned by KSL Resorts in La Quinta. They never answered the I-Team's questions, instead e-mailing a response saying they assisted "during the crisis by providing rooms" and "received authorization in writing for the Red Cross rooms."

Jennifer Kearny of Extended Stay America spoke to 10News by phone and said, "I'm not going to discuss the agreements with any of our hotels. I assure you Extended Stay Hotels acted in accordance in the terms of the conditions in our negotiated contract."

The Hyatt Regency never responds to the I-Team's calls.

The I-Team called the corporate headquarters for the Empress Hotel but they never responded.

A representative from the Manchester Hyatt Management Committee told the I-Team that its report wrongly names their hotel. They said, "Every room that was billed for was occupied."

Earlier this week, however, Manchester Hyatt responded with a lengthy statement detailing their extraordinary efforts during the fires.

As to the I-Team questions, though, they said, "(the) Red Cross was charged only for … services … used" besides it's a "privacy" issue.

The National Red Cross in Washington, D.C. did respond to the I-Team's first story, admitting their personnel "should have noticed the unused rooms."

Spokesperson Laura Howe spoke to the I-Team by phone and said, "We're still looking for where the breakdown in communication was in the hotel booking system."

Corporate Lodging Consultants of Wichita, Kan. did the Red Cross bookings. They have declined to speak to 10News.

The Red Cross said they are in private discussions with the hotels trying to work out a deal.

"Some hotels have agreed to at least give us room night credits. Other hotels have been less receptive to ideas," said Howe.

As far as the I-Team could tell, nothing illegal was done.

The issues are how the Red Cross will respond to the problem and will the hotels give the non-profit either money or credit for the rooms in question.