Hotel workers see the very worst of us. Staying somewhere else while other people take care of us seems to trigger something in a subset of hotel guests. They go hog wild. It isn't just about letting the maid see the secrets in the sheets or ordering room service when you're hangry and disheveled. The following hotel workers (and some guests) have seen horrors that you can't even imagine. What do you think the most disgusting guests get up to in their rooms? You won't believe it even after you read it—except for the toilet stories. No trouble believing those.
35. Now That's A Party
Worked at a large hotel. Every year a group of old men rented the top two floors of the hotel for a few days. These were all retired judges, lawyers, business owners, etc. They would wear thousands of dollars of jewelry, bring in tons of their own beverages and other stuff.
Basically would have a huge party in every aspect. I would have to tell them to stay on their floors but would have old guys with no clothes be spotted in the elevator or on other floors freaking out other guests. They were big tippers and made for an interesting weekend each year.
Photo by Andrew Worley on Unsplash
34. Monkey See, Monkey Do
Stayed in a resort where it was a series of clay huts that comprised the hotel - this was in Namibia. You booked a hut, chill and go about your life.
When I arrived I found the door to my hut with scratches on the outside and several bolts. A sign saying "do not open at night". Strange.
I didn't sleep that night as I could hear a child wailing outside in pain and scrabbling at the door. Once I heard the door trying to be wrenched open.
The next morning I spoke to the other guests who had had a similar experience. Turns out that it was monkeys that mimicked human sounds to make people open the door and attack them. Stranger than fiction.
Photo by Shashank Sahay on Unsplash
33. Owners On The Run
I don't work for a hotel but for a hotel reservations website - once got a call from a client who was staying in Thailand, asking to be relocated. When we asked why would he need that he told us the police were there because the property owner (it was a villa, not a hotel) had disposed of her husband and buried him under the villa. When he called us they were there with an excavator and a coroner's crew.
On top of that, the villa owner ran away with the client's passports so they also required consular assistance.
32. A Bad Situation
Worked in a gross restaurant that offered gross accommodation. A guest rightfully lost their mind after they climbed into bed and found a soiled pair of men's underwear. They fired the housekeeper after that.
31. Heck Of A Time
I used to work as a quality supervisor for a 5-star hotel. Basically my job was to make sure that both the staff and the guests have no ongoing issues.
One morning, I was around the reception area, guests were leaving in masses. I asked a few of them about their stay, took positive and negative feedback. Suddenly, one of the receptionist girls waved me over. A guest couple was checking out, I think they were Irish, age around 24-26, completely normal couple. The receptionist girl pulled me over and said that one of the cleaning crew notified them to send me up to the couple's room immediately. A bit puzzled, I go up to their room.
It was trashed.
Like COMPLETELY trashed.
Among a hundred other things: Broken chair. Broken TV. Pillows and sheets all over the place. Curtains were torn down. The bathtub was clogged with the bathrobes and the floor was completely drenched. The table seemed like some sort of makeup and other unknown things were used to paint all over it. A pack of wet Asian noodles was slammed on the ceiling. Things inside a lamp. And so on.
Completely in shock, I went down to immediately talk to the couple. I questioned them, but they acted like they don't know what I'm talking about. Called in the higher-ups, in the end, they were forced to pay a considerable amount of money for the damage they caused. The strangest thing was they were genuinely acting like they don't know what happened at all, not just trying to lie or make up a ridiculous story.
After they paid (still acting like they did nothing wrong) and left, I went on to investigate the issue a bit more. I ran into some of the other guests from the floor they stayed in and asked them if they saw or heard anything strange. As it turned out, the couple acted like they were using something strange the night before the accident. Like something HEAVY. They stood in the hallway for 30 minutes, just staring at the wall, for example. They left claw marks on the inside of the door, which I didn't even notice at first. The staff did not get called because other people thought they were just moderately inebriated tourists.
To this day, I do not know what they took, but that room left a permanent mental image in my head.
30. A Sheet Show
A guy passed away by his own hand in the hotel room and the maids found him. It was a chain hotel that sent their laundry to the hotel I worked for and days later we received the bedsheets from said room. Obviously covered in blood and my boss just said: "It is just blood, we won't throw away sheets just because of a bit blood". Little did she know that I threw them away behind her back.
29. Feel Bad For The Dog
We were a small pet-friendly hotel in a medium-size NC town. There was a guest in town for a few months that was covering for someone at one of the local plants. This guy was traveling with his dog and generally seemed like a pretty alright guy, even if he was a recluse. This guy said we didn't need to go into his room for housekeeping since his dog wasn't the friendliest and he liked to do the cleaning himself. This isn't really an abnormal request and we never had trouble with people doing that in the past, so we were happy enough to save our girls a room on the housekeeping boards.
After two months, the guy checks out and we go into the room for the first time in that span; what we found was a smorgasbord of disgusting. Opening the door we were assailed by the overpowering stench of dog, okay, that happens sometimes. Taking the first step into the room our shoes are greeted with a squish and literal dog waste coming up over the top of our shoes. This was obviously worse than we thought it would be!
Exploring the room further, we found that the mattress and chair were completely soaked through with dog waste and growing literal mushrooms and mold. The wood on the tables and dressers was split and peeling, beyond any kind of salvage. The bathroom had number two stains on the floor and in the tub, but the tub also had a temporary bed of blankets and pillows set up in it. This dude was literally coming back to his room every day and sleeping in that mess, the only thing he bothered to clean up was the dog's number 2 (mostly). This was for TWO MONTHS.
We had to completely strip the room and rehab it because it was so bad. This also prompted us to create a policy where we had to enter every room at least once a week, no exceptions.
It amazes me that guy slept in there and supposedly went to work each day. I don't know how he managed to hold down a job if he lived like that.
28. The Grieving Guest
I used to work in a restaurant attached to a hotel and would be responsible for room service calls. There was the one older guy who was staying alone, visiting his wife in a hospital as she was dealing with a sudden and terminal cancer diagnosis. At first it was fine, he would just order dinner and a bottle every night. Then it became two bottles. Then three, spaced throughout the day.
His wife passed and then it became four. The hotel staff was starting to get worried, but he wasn't really breaking any rules. He would just stay in his room all day eating and drinking. Until one time I went to deliver his daily dinner (he didn't even call in orders anymore, he got the same thing every day) and he didn't answer the door. I thought I heard a cry from inside, like a pained groan or something, so I put the food down and went to tell the front desk. They said they'd handle it.
I later found out he tried to get out of bed and just collapsed. He had been there for hours and was laying in his own filth. They kicked him out after that, and ended his 3 month stay. I felt really bad for the man, he was going through heartbreak and was struggling to cope.
27. Plant Food
I've worked in a fair few of London's most famous hotels as a gardener and have some weird stories about people there.
I found a huge log of human waste inside an interior palm; it was literally tucked into the crown of the plant like a vigilant guard. No idea why someone would feel the need to do that but hey people are weird.
26. Clean-Up In Aisle Two
Obligatory not me, mother, ex-hotel manager: some guy went and then pulled some out the toilet and rubbed it on the wall. Known because the wet toilet paper used was all over the floor.
The cleaning staff weren't allowed to clean it, had to get specialists in...human waste removal.
25. Fish Or Foul?
Not from me but my sister works in the hotel biz and a colleague of hers told her about a time when a man checked in, and wouldn’t let anyone go into the room for over a week. They were all suspicious of what he must be doing as the corridor outside the room started to smell really bad. One day he went out, so the staff snuck in to see what was going on... I bet they wish they hadn’t. He had dead fish hung up all around the room. I’m not sure what happened but I’ve never heard anything like it...
24. Can't Believe It's Not Butter
A stick of butter in the bathroom on the soap holder. Opened. With hair in it.
23. When You Gotta Go
I work front desk at a hotel. I wasn't there for this but heard it through a coworker. An older man about 40s or 50s apparently needed to use the bathrooms very badly and didn't have time to make it back to his room or even to the lobby bathroom. So what does he do? He finds the nearest housekeeping closet that's open then proceeds to squat and go in a random bucket. The worst part? One of the housekeepers was in the closet getting linens.
22. Baring It All In The Elevator
Had a guy wander into our employees' only kitchen without any clothing on. I sent him back to his room. He gets on the elevator and I think that's the end of it until I have to use the elevator a minute or two later. He's just standing there, so at that point I call the police to help sort it out.
21. Ice Ice Baby
I worked at a hotel that had ice machines on each floor. Our ice machines were not the type where you push a button to release the ice. Instead, you opened up the bin and scooped the ice out. Every month or so, maintenance would remove all the ice and thoroughly clean the bins. One month, we found used contraceptives in the bin.
20. A Bowl Of Nails
Friend used to work at one of the big hotels in Stockholm as a cleaner. He was just about to finish cleaning the room, only had the bathroom left, and then looked into the shower and saw a bowl of human nails. Just a bowl of toenails and fingernails. Like not even just the top part, but whole nails, some even with some of the part that connects them with the skin left. He called management but they didn‘t mind it and just threw it away. I wish I knew what they were used for.
19. Rubbers Everywhere
Not a hotel worker - but I was staying in a central London budget hotel one Sunday evening whilst working away.
The poor receptionist was extremely busy dealing with complaints as I was waiting to check-in, felt sorry for the poor guy.
I got my key and headed up to the room after a busy day traveling/working. Got to my room to find something wasn't quite right.
The bed wasn't made, I was like, OK, no problem, I will make it. Turned the light on to find used and dirty things EVERYWHERE. All used, in the bed, on the floor, in the sink, toilet, kettle.
I went back downstairs and explained the deal to the poor stressed receptionist. Got a new room.
18. Baby Blues
In our carvery dinner room (Sunday roast dinner restaurant set up).
The woman changed her baby’s dirty nappy on the white tablecloth and LEFT IT THERE for me to clean up.
Then complained that I didn’t clear her dinner dishes promptly enough for dessert.
I went on break and got the heck outta there.
17. Down the Drain
I worked in a hotel for about 2 years and saw so many disturbing and odd things.
One of the worst, a man was staying in a room by himself during the week on business. He was well dressed, very polite, typical businessman. He checked out and the housekeepers went to work. Nothing unusual from the room until she got to the shower.
She sprayed and wiped it down and turned on the shower to get the excess cleaning solution. Then she noticed it wasn’t draining. Our tubs all had the stoppers that you push to close, push to open. She pushed it to see if it was just closed, pushed it back up to open and up came excrement.
She continually had to push the stopper up and back, getting little bits of human waste here and there and then got the handyman to take the stopper completely out. It took hours to clean the pipes of all of the number two the man shoved down the drain.
It was disgusting, but also impressive that he did such a good job getting it all into the drain that she didn’t notice until the tub wouldn’t drain.
16. That Time Of The Month
When I was in university back in 2010 it was a bit harder to get a job so I ended up working as a housekeeper at a chain hotel for a couple of months.
Anyway, it's about mid-morning and I'm cleaning away when one of the lads I worked with knocked on the door and said he had a question for me. When I asked what's up he said he couldn't explain - he was Indian but spoke really good English so I was a bit confused. He told me to follow him to the room he was cleaning so he could show me.
I walked into the room he'd been in and there was a really weird smell. Then I noticed it..... used absorbable things for that time of the month everywhere. I mean everywhere. Stuck to the ceiling, the walls, the TV, all over the floor. I noped the heck out of there and told him to ring the managers, we didn't get paid enough to deal with that.
15. Naked In The Snow
Current Night Auditor, I was working at a hotel in Montana during the winter a few years back. Had a pretty bad blizzard one night (-30s in temp) and I found footprints in the snow outside during a walk. They led me to a man without clothing who had busted into our housekeeping room. I quickly contacted police who happened to be around the block.
Found out the next day that he had broken into someone's garage and been uh.. enjoying some choice magazines before the owner of the house's garage caught him and chased him out where he ran to the hotel.
14. Rod Stewart Ruins Everything
I heard this one in a podcast once and it’s my favorite story. A guy called a travel agency wanting a refund because this happened.
He was getting intimate with his girlfriend and wanted to try something new. He puts a Rod Stewart’s song on his phone on replay. Then he ties up the girlfriend, he then changes into a Spider-Man costume. He then stands on the counter and falls off and breaks his leg and is immobile in the corner. So now the guy can’t get up, the girl can’t get up, and Rod Stewarts is playing on repeat for like an hour.
Funniest story I ever heard.
13. Wine Always Wins
I’m a police officer and got a call to a hotel where a woman wouldn’t leave her room after checkout. Got staff to unlock the door and the woman was sitting on the bed and had relieved herself everywhere... it was even on the ceiling. There were skid marks of it on the floor where she’d slipped in it. There were about 5 empty bottles so I guess she’d consumed so much her bowels just said: “forget this I’m done”.
As I opened the door she slowly slid sideways, landing her face on the pillow... also covered in you guessed it, more.
So that was special.
12. Not Microwave Safe
Not a hotel worker, but a hotel story...
Guy I knew was a BMX stunt rider and would travel with his buddies to different parts of the country to ride. One guy in the crew was obsessed with number two's. He would take a dump in a Pringles can and walk around offering to people who thought nothing of it until they pulled their fingers out covered in his waste.
As the story goes, he comes out of the hotel bathroom with a plate of it. Says he'll be right back. Comes back to the room without the plate and tells everyone he's ready to go. The group figured he left it in front of someone's room or on the concierge counter... whatever it was, they go on riding. They come back hours later to a lobby full of people, complaining and yelling at the staff. The stench hits them the minute they walk in. Turns out he put the plate in the microwave used by the guests for a few HOURS! The staff brought in fans and air fresheners to rid the smell as best as they could.
11. Chasing A Rat
I worked at a larger hotel/event space. Someone accidentally let loose a lab rat in one of the rooms. The guest at least had the courtesy to call down to the front desk and let us know that they needed help catching the weasel. Maintenance and the guest, after looking for hours, could not find the rat and eventually gave up. We had multiple call downs to the front desk over the next few weeks from terrified guests who spotted our naked tailed friend. I don’t know if they ever caught that giant rat. This is one of many absurd stories that came out of that place.
10. A Gruesome Discovery
I was about a year into my job at a downtown hotel that was known for its “craziness” to say the least. It was nuts. It actually was so known for everything that went wrong there that media crews often stayed in the area and they were ALWAYS the first to respond to an incident.. over medics/police etc.
Well one day while working it was realized a customer hadn’t checked out. This hotel sent the front desk staff to investigate rooms when people didn’t check out on time which I absolutely dreaded because clearly the best citizens stay here. I “rock paper scissors” the newer employee (probably a week old) for who was going to do a room check on why this person hadn’t checked out..
Anyways, long story short- when the employee walked in, a 50-year-old man was no longer alive and with us. The new employee quit on the spot.
9. A Family Affair
Once worked at a hotel. Family came to stay in the place for ages. Must have been there for months. Turned out their home was under reconstruction due to flooding or something.
Kept hearing rumors about how bad the room looked. When the family finally left the room had thousands of pounds worth of damage.
The room needed new wallpaper, new carpet, new beds/bedding. The bathroom needed to be fumigated as mushrooms had managed to grow all around the toilet and bath itself. There was stains EVERYWHERE. Like, Charlie Sheen level stains.
Don't know what happened to the family after they were evicted from the hotel... Just hope they cleaned up their act.
8. Offering A Hand
So I was working with a coworker on the desk who is a very close friend and a car pulls up and a woman gets out and immediately falls to the ground. We go outside to help and this woman is a mess. She's old as dirt and smells like a garbage can. We grab her a wheelchair and bring her into the building. She came in a cab and the driver drove off leaving her there.
We do the normal check-in process asking for an ID and credit card and she has neither. Typically we don't check you in without these things but this woman wasn't all there and had nowhere else to go so we check her in with just cash. She needs help to the room so we wheel her down there.
Get her in the room and she needs help in the bed. This is the gross part. She puts her hand on my coworker's arm and she must have had severe frostbite or something on her hands because they were black and she was missing parts of her fingers and it basically looked like decayed flesh and she really held on when getting in the bed and went out of her way to shake his hand and touch him as much as possible.
It was very hard to not laugh but I kept a straight face the whole time. He washed his arms and hands after that.
7. Putrid Pizza
So a few years ago I worked at a Hilton. Because of the name I thought things like this would happen. Now I lol. I was back after a few days off and doing my nightly floor check. I smelled something awful in one of the stairways. Opened the door to one of the fire dept. water valves to find someone had stuck a frozen pizza (in the box thankfully) and left it there to rot. Probably some teenager who thought it would be funny.
6. Abuse Of Amenities
We have washers and dryers for our guests to use. A few months ago someone washed a load that uhh, also had a load in it if you catch my drift. They must have realized their error, since they also got excrement all over the floor... They put it all into the dryer anyway.
5. Mammary Money
I worked in a super high-end hotel resort where we transported people around the property in golf carts. There were plenty of incidents but the worst was when I had to transport a client from the spa back to her room. Now the spa was literally next door to this woman's room, however, she still wanted a ride in the cart. I parked in front of her room and walked to the door about 15 feet away to open her door. When I turned around her robe was wide open. Now with some of our clients I would not have complained, however she was probably 80 years old and close to 400 pounds. She walked by me, grabbed a $5 from who knows where and handed it to me as a tip. It was not a pleasant experience.
4. The Classified Section
I was running room service up to a room one evening. They'd placed the order half an hour before and knew the wait time so normally people were half ready for the knock at the door.
Got to this woman's room and all I can hear is giggling and whispering. Eventually, she opens the door a crack and I tell her that her food's arrived. She shut the door again and more giggling, then opens it slightly wider. I tell her I need to come in to put the tray down and for her to sign for the food and same again, giggling, door closed, she then opens it wearing a towel.
Get in the room, she signs and that's when I see it.
A man in a chair in the corner, casually covering himself with a single page from a newspaper.
Like this guy had over 2 minutes to change/hide/cover-up and instead just opted for the front page of The Times.
3. Diaper Duty
There was a man who was staying long term in a mid scale hotel. Each week he would come out and pay for the next week in cash. Finally he started not coming out so employees had to chase him down but at the door he would shove them cash for another week. After a few more weeks of this he wouldn't answer the door and there was a deathly smell that started building (he would turn down room service daily). Hotel management eventually said ok time to "evict him." When they opened the door they froze in shock as this man ran past them in a diaper and left the building. When they searched his room it was full of dirty adult diapers, take out food containers. The hotel called the cops since it was a crime scene at that point and a special machine had to be used to re-purify the room and get rid of the stench.
2. The Midas Touch
After high school, I worked in a hotel on Miami Beach. I was a bellhop in the hotel down there. One day we got a call to move a guest out of his room. I went up to the room, knocked on the door and when I opened it, the guest has spray painted the entire room gold. He said it was 24 karat gold because he stayed in hotels in Saudi Arabia that were solid gold. So he wanted to make his room look like that. He spray painted the bedsheets, light bulbs, bathroom, everything in that room was gold. They moved him into a hotel down the beach and didn't tell them.
1. Broke When They Got There
I work the night shift. Got a call from one of our guests saying that the toilet was leaking water. So I went up to their floor and was greeted with water in the corridor outside their room. Knocked on their door and when they opened I saw that there was water in the whole room. The man showed me the toilet, which was basically broken in half, and said that it was like that when they checked in.... As I tried to shut of the water his wife came in, without clothes, and proceeded to be sick all over me. Not my best night I might add.
