Most of the time, the best policy is not to think about the weird stuff that might have happened in your hotel room. After all, you're only renting it, and hundreds or thousands of other people have done the same before. And some of those people were undoubtedly weirdos. Best to put it out of your mind.
But if they leave evidence behind... it's kind of hard not to wonder what exactly you've wandered into.
These hotel guests and employees from around the world recently went online to share the weirdest things they ever found in rooms. Full disclosure: there's some pretty strange stuff...
20. Three's Company
Three women, none of whom were related to me or were friends of mine.
I had traveled to Kansas City for training for my job. The company paid for my hotel room.
When I checked in, the hotel did not have my name on the list along with my classmates. They weren’t expecting me. I made a few calls and the company called the hotel and confirmed I needed a room. Turns out that the hotel had dropped the ball and forgot about me.
Usually people double up on rooms, but because I had been forgotten, I ended up with a room to myself. And because of my inconvenience, they upgraded to a nicer room.
The next day after class, all I wanted to do was get out of my suit and into some comfy clothes, get something to eat, and relax in my room.
I unlocked my door and went in. My suitcase was still on the dresser, and my clothes were hanging nicely. I took off my suit coat and turned to the bed.
There was a woman sitting on it, looking at me with wide eyes.
I asked, “What are you doing in my room?”
She said, “Actually, it’s MY room.” She then proceeded to explain her and her friends had checked in a couple of hours before and this was the room she was given.it
“Didn’t you question WHY there is a suitcase here, and clothes in the closet?”
“I guess we didn’t notice them.”
By now, I was going through my stuff to make sure nothing had been stolen or missing. It was all there.
Another girl came out of the bathroom wearing nothing but two towels, one around her, and the other worn like a turban. She stopped dead, then asked what was going on. I filled her in.
I called the front desk and said, “I know your hotel comes with wonderful amenities, but I didn’t realize you provided women with your rooms.”
Turns out that they had only put me down for one night in the room instead of three.
A third woman entered while we were sorting out the snafu. The front desk asked if I was willing to move. I informed them that the company was paying for the bungalows, not the regular rooms, and I refused to be an afterthought. I was here first, and the ladies would have to move, as they hadn’t even unpacked yet. The one got dressed, and they grabbed up their stuff to leave.
I told them they should tell the front desk how they were inconvenienced and see what the hotel would do for them, so they did. They were refunded half of their money, and given a suite.
As they left, the girl from the shower said, “You know, we could have ALL shared your room. It would have been fun.” She winked at me and left.
“Yeah, it would have.” I thought. But then again, my wife wouldn’t have been happy if she found out.
Dang it.
19. Help Me: Don't Help Me
18. A Stain That Can't Wash Out
My mom worked at the front desk of a nice hotel for a few years and she was allowed to get a discount on rooms through that hotel chain. Since her boss really liked her and it was their slow season, my boyfriend and I were able to get a room for half price.
The first thing I noticed when I walked through the door was an odd smell. It wasn't overpowering or even awful, but it lingered on the room and was noticeable. It was weird since it was a reputable hotel, but I shrugged it off.
Later that afternoon my boyfriend and I were watching T.V when I noticed the sun hitting the wall behind us. I noticed how it looked like it was staining the wall, but it looked weird. I stood up on the bed to get a closer look and realized the wall was off colored in some areas behind the bed.
We joked about it being funny because they probably had to paint over something and laughed about what would have stained a wall in a hotel room by the headboard. Love related perhaps?
We decided to order delivery before going down to the pool. Pizza and salads, yum.
I don't remember what I dropped — I think it was a paper plate — but I scooted down to retrieve it off the floor. It had fallen just under the bed and when I reached for it my fingers touched something cold and metal. I grabbed the item and looked at it.
A bullet casing …
We started to put everything together; the bullet casing, the stain behind the bed and the odd smell. I called my mom and asked her if anything weird had ever happened in the rooms and explain our thoughts. She got quiet and finally admitted that a woman had taken her own life in a room while she worked there but she didn't remember which one.
Apparently, this is not uncommon. In the few years my mom worked at the hotel they had over a dozen people do this, but only one had used a gun. People worry about their loved ones having to be the one to find them or clean the mess so they rent a room instead of doing it at home.
We asked to switch rooms but didn't tell them why because I didn't want to get my mom in trouble. I never did find out if that was the room but all signs pointed to it.
That was a weird discovery but finding out how common that was was even weirder. Imagine how many hotel rooms you stay in over your life and how big the odds are that you have stayed in one where something terrible has happened.
17. The Poop Gideons
16. Slither In
I am a maintenance technician for a hotel. I've been there just over a year now.
One night at about 10:30 I get a call. It is the front desk. Our front desk girl is frantically telling me go to this room. There is a snake in there! I thought to myself something must have been miscommunicated between the guest and the front desk. I go into the room to find three people absolutely terrified out of their minds.
Now this room is a two bedroom with a pullout sofa. This snake was wrapped around the pullout sofa, get this… right where you have to grab to pull it out. I did everything I could do to help the guests retreat to a new room, all of them in their PJs. I carted all of their luggage and what not.
Anyway, back to the snake. I go back to the room where the snake was and start researching it. Come to find out it's a rubber boa, not native to where I live. And it was illegal to own. We caught the poor thing and found a facility that specializes in exotic animals and reptiles.
The guests were comped their stay and one more stay in the future. Once I got over the initial shock, the snake was actually lovely. It was the most gentle snake I have ever come across. This was by far the most unusual thing I have ever found in a room though. By far.
15. Gently Used
14. Free Art
I have a good one. I wasn’t working at the hotel at the time, but I’ve seen the pictures.
A couple arrived at the hotel (fancy beach resort) for just one night. They looked like hippies and weren’t exactly clean, so they attracted everyone’s attention. Still, they got treated with great service, as any other guest would.
The next morning they asked for the general manager to go up to their room. They insisted upon it and said they wanted to show him something. Worried that it was a complaint, the on-duty manager went straight up and knocked on the door and was invited in.
He was surprised when he came in and saw the wall against the bed completely painted in graffiti! It was a big disaster of color and shapes of body parts.
Then the guests proceeded to explain that they were artists and wanted to offer their service to paint all rooms in the hotel! They said this one was a courtesy and for free.
The general manager had to go up and explain that their services were not required and that the guests would have to pay for the costs of getting the room returned to exactly how it was before, since they hadn’t received permission to alter the room in the first place.
The guests got upset and yelled. They just couldn’t understand why the hotel didn’t want to keep the mural. They ended up paying just part (as they didn’t have enough money) and left pretty upset.
It is considered a myth in the hotel, but I have seen the pictures. It was horrifying!
13. She Can't Be That Afraid Of Germs
12. The Bag Men
I was a housekeeper at one of the well known motel chains. We were told not to touch any of the guests’ belongings. If they had something on the bathroom counter, we were to clean around it as best as we could without disturbing their things.
I’m in the bathroom and all I see on the counter is an empty toilet paper roll. So I pick it up to throw it away so I can start cleaning and all these little tied up baggies fell out. I was flabbergasted at first and a bit shocked. I ran out in the hallway to get my co-worker and have her come to my room and she informs me those baggies are full of illegal substances.
At this point I am in a mad rush to shove them all back in the roll before the owner comes back to his room and sees me. I get them all picked up and leave without cleaning a thing. At the end of my shift, the manager says he wants to talk to me. I go into his office and he wants to know why I didn’t clean room 201 (apparently they complained). So I decided to tell him what I had found and he decided to call the police. I have no idea what happened at that point as I got the heck outta there.
11. Glitterati
10. Stoop And Scoop
I was on my honeymoon, 23 years ago. My husband likes spontaneity, while I like knowing where I will sleep each night. I found some nice hotels and B&Bs in advance, and he had the remainder of days to find a place on the fly.
On one of our “spontaneous” honeymoon evenings, we found ourselves in Santa Fe over a holiday weekend. The town was completely booked. This was in the pre-google era, so we drove from lodging to lodging, continuously being turned away. On the outside of town, we were excited to see a lit vacancy sign. It was hanging over a run down motel, but were mad to get a room, so we grabbed it sight unseen.
We knew it was a bad sign when the porch AND the room’s floor was covered with green indoor-outdoor carpeting, the kind that looks like plastic grass. The room was dingy and dated and smelly, but beggars couldn’t be choosers right?
Then I saw it. A large dog turd under a side table in the corner. We were disgusted, of course. We explained the situation to the manager, and asked for another room. Not that we were confident it would be any better, but why not hope?
We got the last room, apparently, which was as bad as the first, but no turds from what we could see. We peeked out the window and saw a hotel worker enter our old room with some paper towels and what appeared to be a bottle of windex. Mere minutes later, a new lucky couple moved in. We spent the night sleeping in our clothes, on top of the sheets, trying not to touch too much in the room.
9. I Don't Wanna Know
8. Slice Slice Baby
Pizza. And not just like leftovers. An entire pizza. And not a single slice of it in the box.
7. Batter Up
6. Keeps You On Your Toes
I've cleaned hotels before and found a lot of sketchy stuff in my time.
One day I found some pot sprinkled around a toilet seat. Why? There was enough on the toilet seat to roll one. I won't lie. I thought about it.
Another time I found the guests had left the fridge and cupboards completely stocked with new, unopened groceries. A full bottle of wine. That was a fun find! If we can't get hold of the guests or they don't call, it's finders keepers rules so I took my loot home.
The most bizarre and disgusting thing I ever found was a small plastic bag that had been tied to the slats underneath the bed.
Inside the bag was birth control floating in a brown sludgy liquid. I don't know why anyone would bag that and then tie it under the bed but it was a great week for speculating. It certainly broke up the monotony of cleaning.
Hotel cleaning is a huge bummer sometimes.
5. The Cheese Stands Alone
4. A Happy Ending
My boyfriend and I buy Penn State football season tickets every year (he’s alumni) and a few years ago we decided to stay over because it was a late game and it ended around 12:30am. We book a hotel about 30 minutes away and I knew from the price it was going to be sketchy!
I’m not afraid of sketchy so we checked in around 1am. The gentleman who owned the place was super sweet and assured us that we would enjoy our stay.
We got to our tiny little room and it was GROSS. Obvious stains, hadn’t been cleaned for the past few stays, no TV, AC, or windows. Also it stunk like cat pee. After tailgating for 6 hours and gaming for 5, we were exhausted and didn’t bother complaining to the guy. We slept in all the clothes we brought and on top of the comforter with a knife in sight.
I woke up like 3 hours later to what sounded like yowling from the bathroom. I investigated, and found nothing at first. Checked again, and there was a cat in the corner of the shower.
Soaking wet, skinny, young kitten panting and yowling. I immediately put her in a blanket and went down to the front desk. The man denied everything and said it was probably a stray.
My boyfriend left at like 4am with the kitten, and we made the decision to keep her in the long run. She’s happy with us, and we’re so glad we got her out of there!
3. Red Bed Redemption
I was stressed out, frustrated and tired! I was a Corporate Trainer for decades and the class I was teaching that day had not gone well. Unfortunately, I had to face the same students tomorrow.
I returned to my hotel, sat at the bar and had a burger and a drink. Up I went to my hotel room. It was your typical ubiquitous room with two beds. As is my habit, I pulled back the covers of the bed nearest the bathroom and prepared to enjoy those crisp clean sheets.
OMG! My blood pressure went up fifty points. My bare feet had slid into something cold and very, very wet. What the heck! As you might imagine I came flying out of the bed. In about one half second, I was standing beside it.
OMG X 10! I looked down at my feet and they were covered in something red! Blood pressure up another fifty points. Rapid breathing. What in the world had I gotten myself into? My head swiveled and I looked at the bed. It looked normal. Just sheets, blanket and a heavy quilt. There was no big lump or anything obvious. What the heck was down there?
I began to calm down and examine my options. Should I just call hotel security or should I look first? If I peeled back the covers would I be destroying evidence? My curiosity got the best of me and I decided to look. Should I throw back the covers quickly or peel them back slowly? My brain voted for slowly.
So I grabbed a handful of sheet, blanket and quilt and began pulling slowly. Nothing, nothing and still nothing. Wait a minute. Some red was starting to show.
OMG X 50! What sick, perverted son of a gun would do such a thing? There, deep into my bed, right where your feet would rest, was an ice-cold pizza! That’s right a pizza!
I sat in a chair and laughed hysterically for five minutes, then called security. I told him my story much as I have just told you and he soon joined me in laughter. Then he called the manager. He showed up and now there were three of us laughing like fools.
The previous occupant of the room was easily identified. It was one guy. He must have been a bit of a prankster. As best we could figure out he must have slept in the other bed and carefully slipped the pizza into the unused bed. The heavy quilt hid the evidence. He did an excellent job because the maid assumed the bed had not been used and didn’t strip and change it.
Needless to say, my room was comped and I was moved into a suite. I received a very nice letter of apology and a bunch of frequent stayer points.
So the next time you are in a hotel room with two beds, choose very carefully!
2. Adam West
It was early 2017 in Lagos, Nigeria.
I had returned to my room after a long day and settled into bed to watch a movie around 10pm. That's when I first heard a scratching noise.
Thinking nothing of it, I continued to watch TV. But the noise got louder.
Now I was curious, so investigated behind the bedpost and the curtains but found nothing. Then the sound started again and I figured it was coming from the false ceiling.
So switching on all the lights I was finally able to find the source.
It was a bat!
What ensued next was funnier.
So I called reception and I said I have a unique request.
Before I could say what it was that I needed the lady said she'd be delighted to be of assistance.
In very clear and slow English, I said: “Please send someone to help me remove a bat that is in my room”
After a moment's silence she screamed and put the phone down.
I called back and another colleague of hers answered and said, "Sir, it's not funny."
I had to convince them that there really was a bat in the room.
All of 15 minutes later, 4 men from housekeeping knocked on my door. They had brooms on poles some towels and a bucket. They wouldn't enter the room and were very visibly panicked.
Figuring this wasn't going to help, I took the pole mounted broom and struck the bat. It fell to the ground still alive. Smacked it again with the broom and then had housekeeping take it out in the bin.
Suffice to say, the GM sent up a whole load of complimentary items.
Over the next few days all the staff knowingly smiled and I heard later they had dubbed me Batman.
1. Complimentary Baby
A baby. Yes, a living, breathing, tiny baby asleep on our hotel bed. But the dear little thing almost got me arrested and ruined our holiday.
It was around 5.30 p.m. We arrived at our hotel for a five-day holiday, checked in at reception, and were given our room key card.
I should mention the country we were in had Spanish as its first language. I do not speak any Spanish, and the young lady at the reception desk spoke very little English, but there were no problems checking in.
We found our room, opened the door and went in -- to see a tiny baby wrapped in a swaddling cloth asleep on the middle of the bed.
At first I thought it was a large doll, because it looked just like a beautiful China doll, with a little mop of blonde hair and rosy pink cheeks. Its eyes were shut and it was totally still. I went over to it, gently stroked its cheek, and realized it was warm and breathing. It was a tiny baby, possibly around 2 months old.
When I got over the shock I picked up the bedside phone and dialled '0' to speak to reception. The conversation went like this:
Me: “This is Mrs. Cook, from Room 127. There’s a baby on our bed.”
Reception lady: “Baby on bed? Ah, you want cot? I get cot for you?”
Me: “No, this is not our baby. It belongs to someone else.”
Reception lady: “Ah, you want cot for friend baby?”
Me: “No, this baby doesn’t belong to us. It should not be in our room. You need to find the baby’s mother.”
Reception lady: “You need mummy for baby?”
Me: “Yes. We’ve just found this baby asleep on our bed. It’s not our baby, so you need to find out who has left it in our room.”
Silence from reception lady. At this point the baby begins to stir and make little gurgling noises.
Me: “You need to find the baby’s mother and ask her to come and get her baby right away. It’s waking up now.”
Reception lady: “Me phone baby mummy?”
Me: “Yes. Is there anyone else there who speaks English? This is an emergency!”
Reception lady: “No peoples here. English baby got emergency? Me call doctor?”
Me: “No, the baby is lost. It needs its mother. You find mother and tell her come to Room 127 and get baby.”
Reception lady: “Baby list? I call doctor?”
At this point baby awakes fully and starts to cry.
Me: (speaking very slowly and carefully): “Baby not sick. Baby hungry and needs milk. Mummy has left baby in our room. Mummy has lost her baby. I am not its mother. I don’t know who its mother is. Please can someone come and get the baby?”
Reception lady: “Mummy left baby no milk so baby get list?”
Me (getting frustrated): “Can I speak to the manager? There is a lost baby in our room and we need help urgently.”
Reception lady: “Emergency help for list baby?”
Me: “Yes. Call the Manager. It’s an emergency. We’ve got an abandoned baby that needs feeding right now.”
Reception lady: “Me call emergency for list baby?”
Me: “Yes, call right now. It’s urgent.”
By this time baby had started screaming loudly and thrashing its little arms and legs around. I hung up the phone and picked up the baby, patting its back and comforting it on my shoulder. Its blanket was damp and there was a wet patch in the centre of the bed. I handed the screaming baby to my husband and asked him to hold it for a minute.
I went into the bathroom and thoroughly washed my hands, as I had been travelling for hours and felt unclean. I returned to the room, took the distraught baby from my startled husband and gently put my little finger into its mouth. It started sucking my finger vigorously.
We decided to take the baby down to reception, so we got our card keys and walked down the corridor to the lift. In the background we could hear sirens wailing, but paid them no attention.
As we exited the lift and entered the reception area, I saw a well-dressed young man in his mid-twenties standing at the desk. I approached him and asked if he spoke English, and was very relieved when he said he did. I explained to him that we had found this baby in our hotel room. It didn’t belong to us, and we thought it had been abandoned by its mother. I asked him to explain that to the reception lady. He talked to her in Spanish and I saw the relieved look on her face when she realized the baby was not dying.
I carried the distraught infant to a quiet cool spot in the reception area and tried to comfort it. I used the ‘little finger in mouth’ trick again, and it stopped the noise for a few minutes. Meanwhile my husband, the translator and the reception lady were in deep conversation.
At this point the hotel’s front doors swung open and four large men in official-looking green uniforms marched in. I noticed the guns in their holsters and the batons on their belts. I felt quite afraid.
Two of the men noticed me sitting quietly in the corner. They came up to me and abruptly snatched the baby out of my arms. One of the men picked me up, turned me around, grabbed my arms behind my back and handcuffed me.
The two other policemen approached the front counter, where my husband and the translator stood in stunned silence as they watched me being handcuffed. Then both of them started talking loudly at once, explaining there had been a mistake and I should not be arrested as I was just trying to help a lost baby.
Just then another man wearing a suit and carrying a black brief-case rushed into the hotel, followed by a young girl wearing a cleaning maid’s uniform. She had tears streaming down her face. I was still pushed against the wall handcuffed.
Later I was told the whole story by the pleasant young man, our translator. It turns out the baby belonged to the young cleaning maid who had started working at the hotel the week prior. Management were unaware she had a young baby. Her planned babysitter had bailed at the last minute, so fearful of losing her job she had brought her baby to work. She’d fed her bub and then settled her down to sleep in what she thought was an unoccupied hotel room. She’d then started her cleaning rounds.
The thing is, being new and unfamiliar with the large hotel, she was disoriented and mistakenly thought she had left her baby in Room 227, on the floor above our room. When she went to check on her bub 30 minutes later, and found the room empty, she panicked. She was scared of the hotel manager, her boss, and didn’t want to lose her job, so she called her sister, who called the police. The maid met the police when they arrived in the hotel car park.
The suited man turned out to be a doctor who had been called by the reception lady to attend to a sick English baby. He took the baby from the policeman’s arms and handed it to the relieved mother, who was still crying copiously. Then the translator and my husband came over to where I was still handcuffed and demanded that I be released.
Shortly after this the hotel manager arrived and was briefed by the police, the reception lady and the translator. The young maid was sitting in a corner breast-feeding her baby, still crying.
As a result of all this, the manager offered us upgraded accommodation and free meals and drinks for the duration of our stay. He was incredibly apologetic. I think I also received an apology from the burly police officer who cuffed me, although I couldn’t understand what he said.
I was most concerned for the young cleaning maid. She looked to be in her late teens, and cried and hugged her baby in the corner for the next hour as we gave statements to the police and sorted things out.
I spoke to the manager and asked him not to sack the cleaning maid, and to understand that she was just trying to do her best to support her baby. He listened to me stony-faced and made no comment.
The following day we were asked to go to the local police station to sign our witness statements. We were taken there by the hotel chauffeur, who spoke good English and explained to us what the police were asking us to sign. It was a statement detailing what had happened, stating we did not want any further action to be taken.
On the way back I asked the chauffeur to take us to a shop that sold baby items. I bought some booties, a pink jacket and a pretty baby blanket. I had them gift wrapped.
The following evening I asked the new reception man -- who spoke quite good English -- if the cleaning maid was on duty, and said I wanted to speak to her. The young girl appeared at the desk five minutes later, but would not make eye-contact with me and still appeared very upset. Her eyes were red and I thought she had been crying. She looked so young and vulnerable.
I gave her the parcel and an envelope which contained a wad of cash, equivalent to $100 Australian dollars. I asked the reception man to translate and tell her that I was not angry with her, and I was sure she was a good mum, and wanted her to accept this gift for her baby. I told her the hotel manager had promised me he would not sack her, and she would keep her job. On the back of the envelope I had written my name, phone number and email address.
I asked the reception man to translate to her: “Here are my contact details. Please call me if you have any trouble or need help.” She opened the present and when she saw the baby gifts she broke out into a huge grin. I motioned for her to open the envelope, and when she saw the wad of cash I thought she was going to faint! Her gratitude enveloped me and I can still see her smile to this day -- but I never heard from her again.
Later the reception man told me the money I gave her was far more than she would earn for two months’ cleaning work. I was absolutely shocked, and wished I’d given her far more because that was just the cost of one days’ meals and drinks for my husband and me and we had been given five days’ free. I learnt a lot about inequality that day.
So that is how the weirdest thing I ever found in a hotel room almost got me arrested.
