With numerous guests checking in and out every day, there’s always that one individual who can make your life miserable with their unreasonable demands or behavior. Nevertheless, despite dealing with such unpleasant personalities on occasion, hotel staff have an opportunity to share some fascinating stories about these encounters later on!
1. Don’t Leave Your Windows Open
Three guys in one room left ALL their windows open and all the lights on overnight in the summer. I have never seen so many different bugs flying around a room — it was terrifying. We ran in spraying bug killer like our lives depended on it, then ran out and left the room for an hour. We came back to a floor that was almost black with dead bugs. I can still hear the crunching.
2. Pizza Everywhere
An entire pizza — and not a single slice of it in the box. The first red flag was the slice of pizza smeared all over the TV. Then we saw two slices side by side on the floor like they’d worn them as slippers and dragged their feet across the floor.
Then, we found one slice in the dresser, one in the nightstand, one in the sheets, and one in the bathroom sink. As I was doing the final check after cleaning the room, it still smelled like pizza. I flicked the lamp on to look for the final slice. I finally found it — inside the lamp shade. This individual had smeared the last slice on the inside of the shade.
3. A Nightmare
Someone pooped in the nightstand. It had been there long enough to dry out, so it took nearly an hour to scrub it clean. Another room had bloody menstrual pads stuck all over the walls at random.
4. $7,000 In Damages
It was a family gathering and a kid’s birthday party. The adults were getting sh*t-faced while the kids were in the presidential suite raising hell. They had decided to have a fully-stocked ice cream bar and allowed the kids to do what they wanted with it.
There were M&M’s crushed into the carpet, chocolate footprints on the walls, whipped cream everywhere, and fruit punch spilled on the bed. In total, we had to charge them about $7,000 in damages, which they took to court because they thought the cleanup would be included.
5. So Disgusting
Our hotel allowed dogs and even had a whole floor reserved for people traveling with pets. This family came, refused housekeeping service for a couple of days, then checked out. I got a call from housekeeping asking me to document something, so I went up to the room.
The family had hidden a dog in their room. They didn’t want to take it out of the room, so they had it climb on top of the AC unit and poop into the vents. The entire unit was full of dog sh*t. They also had the dog piss in the space between the AC unit and the bed. They had slept in that room for three nights — two adults, three children, and I’m guessing a large, healthy dog.
6. There Was Someone In The Cupboard
My dad works for a hotel and told me they had an older couple complain about hearing movement in their room at night.
They didn’t know what to say and assumed they were just hearing things, but later they found clothes and shoes in the cupboard under the sink. Apparently, a person was staying in the cupboard and would go use the bathroom when he thought the guests were asleep.
7. Footprints On The Ceiling
Worked in a motel when I was 17-18 years old. I was at the front desk not working when the housekeeping guy called me to check something out in a room that was being cleaned. I go up there and the housekeeping guy is standing in the middle of the room, pointing up to the ceiling.
There was a set of bare footprints on the ceiling, which is at least 10 feet high. Bare. No shoes or slippers, and only in the middle and nowhere else. There’s no way he jumped that high upside down and left no prints on the walls either. Also, he left a single bullet on the bed.
8. Not a Homeless Guy
Worked as a chef for a Hilton. Remember speaking with one of the managers of a different downtown hotel, very high end, and he told me this story:
The manager was on his way out of the hotel after work one evening and saw a homeless guy a ways out sleeping on the lawn. He decided to walk back in and tell the front desk employees to try and get him off the property.
Came back in for work the next morning and saw the same homeless guy still sleeping on the lawn, so he ran in to chew out the front desk manager about how the employees didn’t do as he asked. They both walked out to get the man to leave, and they found the man was wearing a nice suit coat.
Turns out it was a wealthy businessman who had jumped off the 12th-story balcony and had just been no longer living there all night and half the day. Turns out no one saw him fall.
Sad story, actually.
9. Holiday Inn Ghosts
I worked at a Holiday Inn years ago and only can recall a few weird cases. One was that every now and then we would get complaints that a young girl was screaming in the pool area. When checking it out, you would find that nobody was around. Management reported that a young girl drowned in the pool years earlier.
One night, I was working the front desk and received a call from a room complaining that the room above them was stomping around and being noisy. Nobody was checked into that room and nobody was there when I checked it out.
Guess a wife slayed her husband in the room. Also, after that… the room was turned into storage, and despite it being empty, the front desk would get random calls from that room. I’m sure all of it is explainable, but it was weird to me.
10. Room 303
My wife used to work night audit at a hotel on the Oregon coast. She experienced quite a bit there with guests and the unexplained. Mostly room 303 was their least rented room. Whenever she walked past it at night, the alarm clock in the room would go off. Housekeeping would claim that it was unplugged.
The front desk has a logbook of guest complaints, and most of those complaints were about room 303. Some examples are: pounding on the walls, feeling watched, seeing people, phone or alarm going off, TV turning on or off, bathroom light going on or off, hearing whispers or breathing, and many more.
Not of the unexplainable, but she had creepy guests try and pull her into their rooms, invite her to parties, call her at all hours of the night. I can’t imagine how stressful it would be to be there alone at night.
11. Mental Decline
I worked at a hotel for about a year. It was usually pretty good. Some people would stay at the hotel for weeks or a month at a time for business reasons. But there was this one old lady that had been there even before I started working that just stayed in her room all day, occasionally leaving to go down the hill and pick berries or something along the street. Maybe get food or other supplies. Idk. She really wasn’t a problem other than not letting people into her room.
About January of 2015, she started acting weird. Like yelling at people walking by her room, calling down to the front desk, and being angry about things that had never happened. This goes on for about a week, and then she just goes off the deep end.
She starts standing outside of her room, yelling at people that entered her sight, no matter how far away they were. She would call down to the front desk, but now she would say eerily creepy things like, ‘You shouldn’t have done that. You’ll be sorry for that. I can find you.’ And then she’d hang up.
Eventually, after about two weeks, we forcibly ejected her after her credit card was declined. She threw a fit and had to be removed from the premises by her son. Let me tell you, going into that room was like entering hell.
Stains all over the carpet, blood, and feces spread across the walls in the bathroom, blood on the mattresses, empty cans everywhere, jarred foods that stank to high heaven, boxes sealed shut, some with black ooze dripping out of them. Light bulbs stacked in the corner, all in perfect condition but not used in the lights. It was horrible. Found out she went off the deep end because she had been denied her pills for some kind of mental thing.
12. Cockroach Attack
I worked at a hotel in Florida, a fairly upscale place. One day after a particularly bad string of thunderstorms, I went to clean the pool. They had an actual pool guy they called from time to time, but only when the pool was really bad. When I first looked at the pool, I brought the manager outside and told him I felt like it was out of my scope. The pool was covered in debris. Leaves, plants, mulch, dirt, etc…
He told me he thought I could handle it, though, so I was like, whatever, guess I’m scooping this thing out with a net all day. So I start scooping, probably had been scooping for an hour or so, when this girl comes to the pool in her string bikini and asks if it’s swimmable. I ask her if she really wants to swim in that, and she just kind of shrugged and decided to lie down in a sun chair until I finished scooping the pool out.
We started making small talk, and finally, she said she just wanted to dip her legs in. She does so and after about 10-15 seconds, I notice some weird-looking things swimming around in the pool, and they’re coming RIGHT FOR HER FEET. I scream ‘YO GET UP… GET OUT. GET OUT NOW.’ She looks at me like I’m crazy, but gets out.
I point and she looks down and about… oh.. 10-12 of these giant cockroaches are now gathering near the wall where she was soaking her feet. She freaked out and ran off, and I assume went back to her room.
I went and got the manager, told him to either call the pool guy, or I’d do it himself because I wasn’t working with these monsters. He actually opened one of the pool filters and came across about 15 or so MORE of them in the filter. It was a sight you don’t really unsee.
13. Room #8
Before I was born, my parents decided to move to the coast and open their own little seaside hotel. The first thing to do when they moved in was to clean all the rooms, so they took half each to speed things up.
My mum told me this story when I was little: She was in room #8 doing some vacuuming when the whole carpet started ‘rippling’. When I was little, I didn’t think this sounded scary at all, as I just thought that maybe the carpet had got caught on the vacuum or something, and so I never really thought about it again.
Fast forward to about a month ago: I remembered this old story and made fun of my mum a bit for thinking it was creepy when it was obviously explainable. She looked confused and told me I must not have understood her when I was little…
Apparently what had actually happened was that the entire carpet had rippled in a constant fluid wave-type motion, and all the furniture AND HERSELF had been lifted up and down off of the floor for about 10 seconds.
She then screamed bloody murder at my dad down the hallway and told him they were selling the place before it had even opened… He managed to convince her otherwise, but she never went back into that room.
It scares me more because my mum doesn’t believe in the supernatural or anything like that, and she doesn’t have any other creepy stories at all, just this one that she doesn’t like to talk about often.
14. I Was Being Watched
I was typing up an email to a customer and saw something out of the corner of my eye. I ignored it for a moment and kept working. Then it sunk in: It was a person just staring at me through the window.
As I turned my head, they slowly walked out of my view toward the parking lot. So I hauled ass outside to confront them, and they were gone. Not a soul in sight for miles. I couldn’t shake the feeling I was being watched the rest of the night.
15. Spooky
Not me, but my cousin worked in a pretty popular hotel in New York City. There was a particular room that was always unoccupied and the hotel workers would use it to take naps.
My cousin threw her coat on a chair that was facing the window and took a nap in the bed. She said she felt the weight of someone getting into the bed and she immediately sat up. There was no one in sight, but her coat was now on the bed and the chair that had been facing the window was facing the bed. Could’ve easily been her co-worker creeping but still spooky.
16. Apparently, I Wasn’t Alone In The Elevator
Got into a lift from the top floor to head down. Lift stopped at the 4th floor, door opened, saw people outside standing still, making no attempt to come in despite me being alone inside and there was room for them. The automatic lift door then closed and before it was completely shut, I heard someone outside say, “Why is the lift so full of people?”
17. Mysterious Poop
Walked into a hotel once and it was nice until we got to the room and there was this horrible stench once we opened the door. We walked in and saw that there was a human sh*t on the middle of a freshly made bed. The hotel apologized profusely and sent us a fruit/gift basket. No one ever figured out how it could have happened.
18. What an Asshole
I worked in a hostel in Miami. I’ve learned to deal with a lot of different people. Some are eccentric, some are reserved, and some are just plain stupid. I’ve had a guest the past few nights who is obviously gay and sometimes tries to flirt with me. I personally have nothing against this—I actually find it flattering that he’s attracted to me.
But I do find it a little odd that he knows I’m straight and he still finds the need to flirt with me. I am a 6’1″ straight male and happily engaged to the love of my life. I am comfortable enough with myself and my own sexuality to not be at all bothered by this…but this other guest clearly struggles with that. At one point, the gay man came by and complimented my beard before heading into the guest-area kitchen.
Soon after, a man with a Scottish accent came to me with a complaint: “What the heck was that, mate? That queer just got all feely on you and you don’t have a problem?” I responded, “I’m sorry, sir, but how is that your business?” He said angrily, “Because a man like yourself shouldn’t have to be flirted with like you’re a pixie, mate.”
I stood back a bit, then told him, “I’m sorry that that bothers you, sir, but that is none of your concern. Please, enjoy the rest of your night.” That’s when things got really heated. “Oh, so you ARE gay,” he blurted out loudly.
At that point, I just give him the ultimatum. “Sir, here we tolerate people of all backgrounds and sexualities. If you do not respect that, then you are welcome to find other accommodations for your stay here in Miami.”
He proceeded to flip me the bird and walk away to the guest area. Moments later, the man who was being a flirt came out and said that the guest came to the kitchen and called him and his friends’ names before he went to his room. I went after the guest to kick his dumb butt out, and he told me: “It’s fine, you queer-lover. I’m leaving anyway. This place doesn’t deserve my money.”
I proceeded to get his passport photo from our system and uploaded it to the group chat I was in with the other night auditors in the area. My new gay friend bought me some pizza and wings, so that was cool. After that, the rude guest tried to check into other hostels in the proximity and got rejected.
19. Superhero
The other day, I had a woman call me from Nevada asking about weekend rates. She wanted to come out and see her man who had been locked up in our town. He was recently transferred from another facility and it was more for economical to visit. When I did a quick check, my heart instantly dropped. Our room rates were ridiculous and I had no available discounts that I could offer her.
She gasped when I told her the price. I told her about a few hotels that she could most likely afford that were even closer to his location. We talked about how she was thinking of taking the Megabus to San Francisco, which was four hours away at minimum, and I also told her about an airline that could fly her for the same price. She’d be able to touch down 45 minutes south of where she wanted to be and still be able to take public transport into town to save her some cash.
She finally stopped me and said, “Girl, why you being so cool with me? I’m not even staying with you!” I said, “Ma’am I’ve done some time myself and I understand going to jail is expensive. I feel you because some of my friends have been locked up in places I can’t get to, so if I can help, I’ll help.” Her response lit up my day.
She started laughing and said, “You know what? You’re the nicest person I’ve talked to today. I said ‘prison’ to some other clerk and they hung up on me. My man was run up on a small charge, It’s some stuff I’ll tell you, but he’s getting out next year. When he does, I want you to plan my trip so I can pick him up. You’re really sweet and you know your stuff.”
I laughed and said I’d be honored. I wrote my name down for her and promised she’d get her a better rate when the summer was over. I then called the cheaper hotel that I suggested and let them know that she’d be calling. My girl V over there hooked the nice lady up. Sometimes, I can be a superhero.
20. Public Land Owner
I had a winner today. You know a customer is going to give you trouble when they strut in wearing a shirt that reads: “Public Land Owner.” My hotel is located inside a national park, so people like that always think they own the place. He went up to me and said: “I know the county has a burn ban going on right now, but since the lodge is on federal land, it doesn’t apply. So I can start a fire on the grass just outside my cabin, right?”
Me: “NO. NO, YOU MAY NOT. I’m not selling you any firewood now that you’ve established yourself as a fire risk in the middle of the forest.” Him: “WHAT?! I WANT TO SEE A MANAGER.” Me: “Well, I am manager, so it’s still no” Him: “Y’know, since this is federal land, I shouldn’t have to pay state and county sales tax. Take it off, or get me a manager who can.”
Me: “I’ve already told you—I’m the only manager on duty right now. If you look on that wall behind me, you’ll see that our business license is from the county, so you do need to pay sales tax because we are required to charge it.” Him: “But I’m from Oregon and we don’t pay sales tax there.” Me: “Well, you’re not in Oregon right now.”
Him: “Well, Washington State lets businesses waive sales tax for Oregon residents! Can you do that for me?” Me: “Do you have a tax-free ID from the US State Department?” Him: “No.” Me: “Then that’ll be $98.73. Will you be paying at the register, or charging this to your room?” Him: “Actually, I’m just checking out early. I don’t care what the policy is, just give me my deposit back. This place is a dump in the woods. I want something classy and this place is just embarrassing.” I was already annoyed at this point, but it just got worse.
Me: “Well, I can definitely break the cancellation policy for you, sir. I sincerely hope you find a hotel that meets your standards. But, uh, there’s an agricultural festival, a big bicycle charity ride, a baseball game, and a fishing tournament this weekend. It’s not like any other hotel the area would have rooms available on a summer weekend.”
I told him to have fun searching for another place that would have him. I guessed that the next available place was probably a two-hour drive away, but I may have forgotten to mention that to him. So anyway, four hours later, he came storming back in, demanding to know why his keys weren’t working. He demanded I give him his room back.
Unfortunately for him, I had already sold that room 15 minutes after housekeeping cleared it. I told him to get out before I called security. There was nothing else he could do, so he finally left me alone and that was that.
21. In The End, Everyone Was Happy
This was many years ago, in a tiny town in Redwing, Minnesota. It’s a swanky river hotel that is usually fully booked a year in advance during high season. A couple came to the front desk (still in their wedding regalia) to check into their room along with other members of the wedding party. Well…nobody had remembered to book the room for the bride and groom.
Luckily, they did not blame us, as the best man acknowledged the lapse. We felt terrible as we were completely full, but we knew we weren’t about to send them away. Instead, we came up with an ingenious plan. We turned the library into a bedroom that night, complete with champagne. Housekeeping went over the top to make it beautiful.
In the end, they LOVED it and all were happy. I still remember how overjoyed they were that it worked out. Anyway, just wanted to share a “feel good” story from the front desk. We all have had so many bad ones to share.
22. The Audacity
Each Sunday, the hotel hosts an afternoon tea for the grey set. This started after my shift ended. All was well when I left, but when I came in the next day, I heard about an older lady who had a heart attack and passed at the afternoon tea. My manager called me into her office, I assume to ask if I was okay, etc. Nope, screw that.
She actually said, with all seriousness, “Why did you leave so early yesterday? We could have used your help with the medical emergency. The other manager struggled to cope.” I was SHOCKED. I bluntly said, “Are you serious? How was I to know someone was planning on having a heart attack and passing an hour after my shift ended?!”
She responded, “Well, you could try and make a habit of staying back a little in case we need help…” I noped out of that and walked out. I finished my shift exactly on time that day.
23. Come Again?
This was my experience as a guest at a hotel in rural Georgia. I was traveling for work and my husband needed to bring me some paperwork that I forgot halfway across the state. We are both men. Me: “Hi, I am leaving for work now. My husband is bringing me some paperwork, but I will not be here because I’ll be working. He will be here in about four hours. Can you please let him into room 123?”
Front desk: “Huh?” I repeated my statement. Front Desk: “Oh. So your boss is coming with paperwork?” Me: “No, my husband.” Front Desk: “Oh okay, did you mean your co-worker?” Me: “No, it’s my husband. The man I am married to. We are gay.” Front Desk: “Okay, I’ll let your friend in when he gets here, no problem at all. Have a good day.”
I mean, I know it’s rural Georgia, but have they never had a gay hotel guest? Am I crazy? Anyway, the rest of the hotel staff was very lovely. I just found this both confusing and amusing.
24. He Was Looking For His Girlfriend
Night auditor. This big ol’ facepalm happened a couple of nights ago. A dude came down around 2 am, on his phone, pacing back and forth. I poked my head out of the office and asked him if I could help with anything. He said, “Naw, I’m just trying to find my girlfriend. We left the casino and agreed to meet back at the hotel, and she said she’d be in the lobby, but … ”
Both of us looked at the empty lobby. I said what I knew he was thinking out loud: “…Clearly, she’s not.” “Right,” He replied. I told him that I’d be around if he needed anything specific. The conversation continued, and eventually, I got to hear his side: “Babe?…No, Babe, I’m in the lobby, you’re not. Babe?…Babe. No, babe, I’m in the lobby…Okay, honey, I am literally standing where you paid the bill for our hotel room. Ya. I’m standing here, with the night clerk…Yup, I am staring at our car. So, where are you?…No? We can’t BOTH be in the lobby.”
At that point, I suggested to him that perhaps she was in our south building. He walked down then came back, still on the phone. “No, I don’t know where you are either…Nope…Ya know what? Just stay where you are, wherever you are. I’m going to find you…No, I’m not driving. Yes, I know, I know…Because I’m going to find you and get you back here before you wind up in China or something.”
The dude took off on foot and I guess he just started visiting hotels. He returned 45 minutes later. On the vestibule phone, he said he found her at The Sandman, a property about 10 minutes south of us. He led her, a very pretty blonde lady, towards the elevator. As they walked, he asked her, “So, does this look a bit more familiar?” “Yeah…” she replied, dreamily. “Ya know, I wondered why my room key wouldn’t work…”
…I’ll bet you did, lady. I’ll bet you did.
25. No Bed
I once booked a room for a romantic weekend in San Francisco through hotels.com in a nice 4-star hotel. When we arrived, they put us in a parlor room, which is a room designed to host a cocktail party.
Sure we had a minibar and a great view, but no bed. Complaining to the front desk went nowhere. The clerk actually had the nerve to say “We charge $300/night for that room, you’re getting a great deal”.
I called hotels.com and they gave me a refund and assured me our 2nd night would be in a real room. It was. Their “refund” ended up being a voucher for a free night’s stay. As a result, I don’t use hotels.com anymore.
26. Your Children Are Not My Problem
Our hotel is at the end of the road in a national park. There’s no Wi-Fi, no cell service…not even any AM radio. Our lone amenity is our location. We advertise the fact we have no amenities on our website. It’s a “Enjoy an unplugged experience free from modern distractions!” type of place. One time, this guest came up, furious about the lack of Wi-Fi.
On top of that, they were expecting DVDs to borrow from the front desk, but there wasn’t even a TV in his room. He said, “How are they supposed to entertain themselves and their children?” Blah blah blah. I helpfully pointed out that our gift shop had playing cards and board games. Their response was shocking. I am quoting verbatim: “You expect me to spend time with my children?”
I’ve never seen somebody voice so much horror and disgust into such a compact sentence.
27. Never Again
I stayed at a hotel in Sakhalin, Russia after an emergency call for work offshore near there. I had 8 hours before my flight and I needed some sleep because I was going to be working straight off the flight.
My room was about 3 meters by maybe 1.5 meters and all that was in it was a bed and a tatty rug. Not even a fucking bathroom. The mattress was made of what I can only assume was sandpaper filled with nails, broken glass, and asbestos.
Needless to say, I didn’t get much sleep. Work was hell. Being awake for 60 hours can really lower the quality of your food. I’m a cook on an oil rig in case I didn’t already say that.
28. “Karen”
I finally did it. I stood up for myself. I had an angry Karen harassing me and I straight up told her she’d be denied service. She told me I couldn’t do that, and I told her we had the right to deny service and that I was exercising that right. She pulled out her phone, hoping the threat of her showing it to my boss would get me to submit.
I told her on camera that she couldn’t harass the staff. She went off about how she couldn’t wait to show this to management. I told her to have a great night. Of course, she put the phone down so she wouldn’t record the things she’d say afterward. I told her to have a great night even after that. Then, the unexpected happened.
She just gave up and left. I didn’t get in trouble. I hope denying service to these Karens becomes a norm. They’re only this bad because we allow them to be. They’ve likely done it before and still got rewarded with apologies, rewards points, and free breakfasts. Service denial is a RIGHT and we should use it. Treat employees better.
29. Bad Luck
After a house fire, I had to live in a hotel for 4 months. The maids placed over $2500 worth of long-distance phone calls to Mexico from my room during that time which my insurance (which covered the hotel stay) refused to cover.
I had to pay this out of pocket. To add insult to injury, employees from the company hired to empty our intact belongings (the fire was in the garage so damn near everything we owned survived) out of the home before the electrical wiring could be replaced decided to steal my family’s stereos, our vacuum, 3 television sets… etc.
30. VIP Guest
So first of all, I work for a budget hotel chain that overuses the color purple a lot. I was working the front desk and at about 11 pm, a middle-aged lady came in. Now, she didn’t have a reservation and we have a general rule that if any night staff accepts a reservation after the night shift starts, they would have to take responsibility for that customer should they cause any problems.
She seemed nice enough and we had a lot of empty rooms that night, so I thought sure, let’s give her a room. Her total came to about $75 and she got out her card to pay. I watched her put it into the machine, as a few of our guests sometimes miss the little slot or try to swipe. She saw me looking and said to me, “Oh, yes, this my Halifax Ultimate Reward card. It looks smart doesn’t it?”
Making idle conversation, I replied, “Yeah, I’ve got one of those as well.” To my surprise, the woman said, “Oh you must be mistaken—this is an exclusive card for valued customers of Halifax. They don’t give them to people like you.” This threw me for a loop. Feeling defensive—and admittedly, I may have been in the wrong here—I pulled my identical card out of my pocket to show her.
This woman flipped her lid. “YOU CAN’T HAVE THAT, THAT’S NOT YOURS. YOU’VE TAKEN THAT FROM A GUEST. FETCH YOUR MANAGER RIGHT NOW.” I was utterly bemused by this turn of events, so I went into the back office to get the night manager, who couldn’t quite grasp the weird situation I’d gotten myself into. He came out front and she went off at him.
Now, our night manager has been there for years, so he was used to this stuff. He just stood there while she ranted and raved until she was out of steam. Then he said, “I’m very sorry, but due to the attitude you have displayed towards my team, your reservation is canceled and you are no longer welcome in this hotel.
Also, I feel like I should inform you that Halifax will give one of those cards to anyone who will pay $15 per month. You are not special. Please mind the revolving door on your way out.”
She gaped at us for a while and then left while muttering about complaining to head office. So yeah, definitely one of my weirder check-ins.
31. My Little Secret
Traveling for some 18 hours with my young family before we get to one of the nicest hotels in Leyte in the P.I. We’re all dead tired, so I head to the room, open the door, and see several cockroaches scamper as I flick on the light.
But, nothing I can do, nowhere else to go. I just kept my mouth shut and was glad the wife didn’t see them, she would have never made it into the room.
32. Never Again
My boyfriend and I drove up to Philadelphia for an interview of his. He’d been abroad for much of that year, and I hadn’t seen him in a while. Not only do I find out during the drive that we are not dating, but I find out on the porch of the b&b he’d booked that he’d told the owner that we were engaged.
Also, it was Valentine’s Day, a fact he was unaware of. For some idiot reason, I stayed. There was only one bed. We changed our clothes in the bathroom, now awkward in front of each other.
On Valentine’s night, we were awakened at 2:00 a.m. by the owner screaming at a guest for coming in late and waking everyone up. We could hear every word of the fight. Eventually, the owner kicked the guy out (who didn’t seem drunk or disorderly or anything), and the guy had to wake up his wife and leave in the middle of the night. This while I’m sharing a bed with my ex-boyfriend.
I don’t make plans for Valentine’s Day anymore.
33. The Staff Quarters
I stayed at a hotel in Nice, France in 2005. I don’t remember the name of the hotel but from the outside, it looked very relaxing and well-kept. I was also on a guided tour with my high school so I thought that the hotel rooms we were being given would have been in good shape.
Myself and two of my friends were sent to the fourth floor of this building and into a room with sticky laminate flooring and strange stains on the walls and the sheets. We stayed in the room for a night but after realizing that our skylight was jammed open and accessible from the rooftop and found a bag of mysterious powder in a hole in the wall we decided to tell the tour guide.
Apparently, we had been sent to the staff quarters because the hotel was full the night before. Everyone else in our tour group had been given a warm, clean, and modern room. The hotel apologized and for our second night, we were set up in the presidential suite, with two king-sized beds, a jacuzzi, and two balconies. It all worked out in the end and the rest of my time in Nice was amazing.
34. What a Creep
My mom was traveling for work and sat next to a man (fellow business traveler) on the plane. They had a casual conversation and exchanged business cards. Later that evening she’s in her hotel watching TV and gets a phone call from the front desk that her husband is here and they want to know if they can give him a key to the room. Turns out the creep on the plane was pretending to be her husband to try to get into her room.
35. “Maintenance”
Found a hotel in Yangon (Burma) for the day we got there for pretty cheap. They mentioned the rates were low because maintenance was being done on several floors. We sleep fine, wake up and head to breakfast.
At breakfast, we met some Germans who had also stayed the night in our hotel. They said they had not slept well because during the middle of the night, someone woke them up to move them from the floor they were on.
We (us and the Germans) found out later that they had been moved because they were on one of the levels reserved for maintenance, and part of the maintenance included gassing the rooms for bugs.
During the middle of the night they were just going around the rooms shoving the gas nozzle or whatever under the doors and letting them run; wound up killing the two people next to the Germans before they realized they’d accidentally booked people on that floor. We weren’t on that floor thankfully but it has always stuck with me how seemingly easy it could’ve been to have gotten mixed up in that.
36. Creepy Host
A friend and I once stayed at a pretty fancy B&B for the night. The lady who owned it was absolutely lovely but would appear out of nowhere. We’d be sitting alone in a large room with one doorway and suddenly she was in the room with us.
Either this joint had secret doors or something really creepy was going on. She seemed to know things that we’d said or done as well. The thing that tripped us out the most was hearing someone trying to open our door during the night. She was super lovely and the building was beautiful, but we were relieved to check out the next morning!
37. The Turd Kept Following Me
I toured around in bands a lot in my twenties, and not once but twice came back to my hotel room to find a turd in my shower. I was the only person with a key to the room. One was in Germany and one was in Belgium. Two years apart, completely separate tour and crew.
38. An Unforgettable Night
I work the weekday night audit shift so my nights are pretty tame. But the worst I’ve had was probably the bachelorette party. At the start of my shift, I was greeted by two shirtless men leaving the hotel (a fireman and a policeman), which was funny if nothing else.
Then the girls needed something, from the front desk, where they proceeded to spill rockstar and vodka all over the lobby floor. Which is hard to clean up when it dries apparently. Then for the rest of the week, we were finding penis confetti throughout the hotel.
39. Paranoid For A Reason
My mother and I were on a road trip to San Diego and she was always really paranoid about staying in hotels, mostly that someone might be watching through a camera or two-way mirror.
It was a long drive and we had to stop so we stood at a local bed and breakfast which I thought was much creepier than a hotel. We check in with this older man and get to the room. My mom is a really paranoid person, she had kind of a routine when we stayed somewhere.
First, she checked the restroom, looking in the toilet and shower for cameras. Second, she checked the fire detectors for them or any audio recordings. Last she would check the mirror by turning off all the lights in the room and turning a flashlight to the mirrors.
That’s when she saw the small room on the other side, only about the size of a closet. We left immediately before even saying anything to the man. We slept in the car that night.
40. Strange Night
I went to a hotel to visit a friend once years and years ago. I went with my SO and we brought a donation (of drinkables). All I remember is that we left the hotel for about an hour and I woke up slowly as if I was out of the body and in bed in our friend’s room.
My SO was nowhere to be found, so I left the room and started walking down the hall. After a few minutes, I came to a door where my SO was standing on the outside staring in with face pressed against the glass. I went out and we took each other’s hand and left. To this day, I still don’t know what in the world happened that night and how it led to that point…
41. Haunted Room
Stayed in the Tudor house hotel in Warwick England for an anniversary date with the hubby. It’s very oldy worldly. Around since the 1500. Walking distance to Warwick Castle.
It’s known to be haunted. Don’t believe in really. My hubby and I were getting ready for dinner while watching TV & we heard knocking at our door & the sound of a man mumbling outside. I open the door, but no one was there.
Then we heard the knocking again but it sounded like it was coming from the bathroom door. This time my husband went in to check out. As he went in we heard a man mumbling and this time it was right next to my ear I freaked out. We tried to get our room changed but couldn’t. The lady from reception then told us it was normal and not to mind it. I had to drink so much wine to take my mind off it & spent most of our time sightseeing in town.
42. A Crazy Day
I just came from the craziest shift I have EVER worked in a hotel. That’s an understatement. I work mid-shifts for my hotel. When I went in the morning, my manager notified me that our system was down. I couldn’t check people in or out, give receipts, make reservations, etc. He was already on the phone with IT creating a ticket to get it back up and going.
An hour later, it started working. At that point, I was backpedaling and checking people out, helping the executive housekeeper change room statuses, etc. Out of nowhere, my system shut down again. I was locked out and couldn’t do anything. As this happened, the maintenance guy came to the desk with a bloody hand and said, “I just cut my hand on the roof. I’m going to the hospital to get it stitched up and I’ll be back.”
My whole management team had also gone to our sister property next door for a meeting so it was just me manning the desk. I texted my direct manager and let him know that everything had shut down again and that I’d been calling IT to get it back up. I called IT on the hotel phone so we could get rolling again. As I was on the phone, a guy walked in and said, “I have the meeting space booked, could you let me in?”
I switched to the handheld phone and walked over to the meeting space to open the door with my master key. It didn’t blink. Oh, God. Our maintenance guy was at the hospital. All of our managers were gone. IT was talking my ear off and the next thing I knew, the executive housekeeper called me on the walkie and said, “None of our doors are opening.”
So, at that point, I had: A guest trying to get into the meeting space, a broken system, and no master keys for opening doors. My next move was to call our sister property’s maintenance guy next door for help. He came by and immediately started working on the meeting space door. My managers then came back and also started helping where they could.
After about another hour, we finally got our system back up and in another 30 minutes, our doors were working. Great. I started playing catch up at 2:30 in the afternoon, trying to get everything done before the 3 pm check-in. Here’s where things went CRAZY. I was replenishing the coffee (this is important), then I went to check in a few guests.
This guy walked into the lobby and said, “Hi, I need to check on the status of my application.” I told him to wait a moment and grab the manager. She then explained to me that a homeless man named “Bob” often came in posing as an applicant so he could come in and take our cookies, breakfast cereal, bananas, coffee, etc.
He’d already been removed from the property multiple times and banned from returning, so at that point, he was blatantly trespassing. She came out and asked him to leave while she was on the phone with the authorities. He tried to argue back and forth with her until the officers arrived. They told him that he could not be on the property.
The man flipped out. He threw the coffee I had just made AT A GUEST. There were cookies and bananas all over my lobby floor, and a soda hit the lobby wall. Officers restrained him and took him away. I was about ready to pull out my hair in frustration, so I went outside. Just as I was exiting the door, my other manager came in on the walkie and said there was a man wearing jeans, a grey hoodie, and a grey hat on the property who just tried to attack a housekeeper on the elevator.
She told me to take one flight of stairs up while others were outside checking the parking lot and the first-floor common areas. By the time I made it to the third floor, my manager got on the walkie and said that the man had been restrained and that we could go back to our regular duties.
The maintenance guy and I happened to be on the same floor, so we both got on the elevator to go back down to the first floor. As it was going down, it stopped to let someone on. When I saw him, I nearly gasped. The man was wearing jeans, a grey hoodie, and a grey hat. The maintenance guy and I were looking at each other in disbelief. I just stood there thinking, “This has to be a coincidence.”
I asked the maintenance guy if they were sure they got the right guy and that’s when the worst happened—THE FREAKING ELEVATOR GOT STUCK. Right then and there, the grey hoodie man started chanting: “The United States. Suicide. Suicide. Suicide.” I LITERALLY CANNOT MAKE THIS UP.
So, of course, the maintenance guy grabbed me and pinned me in a corner in case the guy tried to attack. The maintenance guy was tall and well-built, so I knew that if grey hoodie man were to attack, he was going to have to go through him first. I got on the walkie and said the elevator was shut down and that the officers had the wrong guy.
Then, all hell broke loose. The manager was now freaked out and standing outside the door trying to pry it open. We were on the elevator with this guy for 45 MINUTES while the fire department tried to get us out. Grey hoodie man sat there and chanted the same statement over and over again. He never moved, he never looked at us. The man didn’t even know we were there.
I have NEVER been genuinely afraid of a guest. FINALLY, they got us off and I bolted to the back office to have the freaking panic attack I’d been holding in for the last hour. At that point, I had an hour left of my shift to go. I definitely needed the freaking hours, so I collected myself and went back to the desk.
Grey hoodie man was escorted off the property. We all assumed he was going to be taken to a hospital to be checked out because there was genuinely something wrong with him, but nope. I didn’t know this. Neither did the other staff members. We kept working, just trying to wrap things up so we could all go the heck home. Near the end of the night, I went to use the bathroom.
Y’all. I opened the freaking bathroom door and the grey hoodie man was SITTING ON THE BATHROOM SINK chanting the SAME statement. He came in the back door this time so the front desk did not see him. Needless to say, I lost my mind. I walked back to the lobby to find it FULL of high school students who had arrived for a school function.
All I could think of was, “Great, let’s call the authorities and freak out a bunch of teenagers.” I grabbed the maintenance guy again and told him that the grey hoodie man was back in the bathroom. He went to guard it while I called 9-1-e. in the back office. Finally, they came by and took the man to a hospital.
It turned out, grey hoodie man was a veteran who had just undergone a severe PTSD episode. My heart broke for this him. Thankfully, officers were able to take him to get the help he needed. Overall, I am done with today. I will be taking a very hot bath, drinking a full bottle of red, and then getting back up in the morning to go back to a literal dumpster fire.
43. Didn’t See That Coming
I had a female guest staying for a while, and she needed help looking for an apartment. She was recently separated from her husband. I have a lot of downtime so I figure sure this will give me something to do.
So my next shift, we’re looking at places and just kinda having a nice conversation. The next day I get to work, and my co-worker is all, hey that lady left this here for you. It was an envelope, with 3 pages front and back saying how much she loved me and was wanting to move in with me.
44. The German Guest
There is a very persistent German guest where I work who keeps coming to the counter to ask me out for lunch. Seems pretty harmless but I have rejected him 14 times, including two times just today. Asides from the usual, “Nobody has to know” and the “Well, you can just say I happen to stumble upon you at (insert name) restaurant.”
When he first asked me out, he said he was new to my country and needed someone to bring him out to sightsee. Then, he said he wanted to bring me to a park to hike and go on a tree-top walk which provides a bird’s eye view of the forest from a suspension bridge. All that was going through my head was the number of ways he was gonna murder me, and probably push me off the bridge.
45. Poor Guy
My boyfriend is a housekeeping manager and he told us that last week he went to a room on the 15th floor and found a man sobbing outside of a room. He said he was locked out and just having a really bad day, something about a business deal that fell through. My boyfriend radioed down to the front desk and it was the man’s room so my boyfriend used his master key to get him into his room.
3 hours later, he broke the first layer of the window with the office chair but couldn’t break the tempered glass that leads outside. That has him on camera, covered in blood, leaving the hotel room and leaving the hotel.
They found him, barely alive, in the harbor the next morning. He jumped off a bridge but it wasn’t high enough to kill him. I think he was released from the hospital last week.
46. That Escalated Quickly
I have practical lessons in a hotel because I’m still in school. So one day it was pretty busy and I was doing as much as I possibly could to help the receptionist. And there is a guy in his late 20s-early 30s and I’m 18.
He started chatting and I’m trying to be polite and talk to him while simultaneously doing one more thing. Nothing creepy until he asked me to come with him to the Bronx. He went full-on about how life there is great, that I could be a stripper, make huge money, and do all sorts of drugs.
I somehow managed to escape that conversation but later he asked the receptionist for my number and my name etc, basic info. I freaked out and I made sure to switch my schedule so I wouldn’t have to work while he is in the hotel.
47. Greg
I work at a two-star family hotel. In the winter, we close only for Christmas, which is when we get our three-week paid leave. During the colder months, there are times when there are local events, and since the surrounding islands have no good infrastructure, many guests book at city-center hotels like ours.
It was almost November when this happened—we had no rooms available on one particular night, but a guest came in. For the sake of the post, let’s call him Greg. A thin, tall, businessman type of guy with a mafia mustache and glasses. He looked to be in his mid-50s with grey hair. From the way he spoke, I could tell he was very educated. He walked in just half an hour before my shift ended.
Greg: “Good evening, I have a room booked for me and I know I’m early but I can wait.” Me: “Not at all, the check-in desk is 24/7.” Greg: “Magnificent, I can check in now then?” Me: “Of course, your name please?” Greg: “Greg McGregor.” Me: “Hmmm, I can’t seem to find your name…” Greg: “Oh, it’s there for sure, I booked just an hour ago while I was waiting at the bus terminal at the airport.”
At that point, I vaguely remembered the fax that was sent in. Me: “Oh of course, but your reservation is for… tomorrow?” Greg: “That’s correct, that’s why I asked if I could check in now.” Me: “I’m afraid you cannot check-in now, as the reservation is for tomorrow, and I don’t have any rooms for tonight to extend your reservation.” Greg: “It doesn’t matter, I can wait a few hours until it’s ready then! Can you point me to an outlet so I can plug in my laptop while I wait?”
Me: “Sir… the check-in time is after 2 o’clock of the day you have reserved. Not midnight the day before.” Greg: “I respectfully disagree. I am taking the room at 1:01 am just like you promised me.” At the time, I did not fathom what he was trying to say. I have had guests that believed they were entitled to the room at midnight…but why 1:01 am?
After much thought, I decided to check his reservation form directly. The request was auto-approved as we have configured auto-approvals for non-chargeable check-in or check-out times, but they are strictly for checking-in after midnight of the next day, not the previous.
Me: “This is an auto-approval message. It clearly states here and here that it’s for the next day, not the previous.” Greg: “No problem, I can check in at 2:01 am then.” Me: “I’m not sure you understand what I mean.” This is when he started getting spicy. Greg: “You think that you’re the manager here?” Me: “Actually, I am.” Greg: “I will post a negative review then for not keeping your word.”
Me: “Please exit the hotel now or I will call the authorities.” Greg: “Well, okay…I’m afraid you lost ONE MORE GUEST NOW. You may cancel my reservation for tomorrow.” He left as if he thought that all was well. Well, needless to say, he is not getting a refund. Don’t tick off the front desk, people.
48. Locked Inside The Hotel
When staying in an apart-hotel in Athens, Greece, the front desk was closed between midnight and 7 a.m. We had a flight at 6 a.m so we had the front desk schedule a cab and we asked what to do with the hotel keys. They told us to leave them in the room and close the door behind us. Cue 4 a.m. wake-up, pack our stuff, leave the keys behind as instructed.
We get to the lobby try to open the door to LEAVE the hotel and meet our scheduled cab. Locked. Literally locked in the hallway. Can’t get back in our room and can’t get out the door. No windows. Instant panic. We made sure there was no other way out. We tried EVERY door and EVERY door was locked. Turns out you need a key to LEAVE the hotel … and ours is now locked in our hotel room (as instructed). We start knocking on all the guest room doors until someone answers. They were so mad at us, but did let us use their key to get out.
49. Bed Bugs
I stayed in a bed and breakfast outside of Venice, Italy the night before I flew back stateside. When I woke up I was a little itchy and noticed a few bites. By the time my flight landed in the states I was in agony.
I had to get up frequently to go to the lavatory to scratch all over my body to get some relief. The dermatologist said she’d never seen such a bad instance of bed bug bites and asked if she could get a consult and take pictures.
50. Monkey Attack
I was in India, a little south of Delhi. I was sitting in bed looking out the window kind of in a jet-lagged haze. Suddenly a dark blob jumped out in front of the window and rammed into my window. I about had a heart attack. It was a monkey, and every morning it would do the same thing. Basically jump at the window and bang on it to get a rise.
51. Roaches On Walls
Had a room reserved at a place in Tampa (can’t remember because I’ve repressed all memories of it). It looked nice online and it had some good reviews. Driving in the nearby area and it was a little sketchy but I wasn’t worried. We get checked in and we opened the door and turn on the lights and the walls were covered in roaches of all size.
52. A Bed Inside The Gym
This one lady came into the lobby around 11 p.m., asked for the workout room so I opened it back up for her figuring she was one of those 24 hour workout people. I went back in around 3 a.m. to close it up again, and she has set up a bed for herself on the treadmill. Ended up giving her our last room after she had a fight with her husband and was refusing to sleep with him.
