Working in hospitality is famously stressful, but out of all the places you can choose from in the industry, hotels probably take the cake—cherry on top included. The stuff that happens there is definitely not for the weak.
So when Redditors asked hotel workers to share the wildest things they’ve seen on the job, people had plenty of stories to tell. From ruined furniture and unexpected animals in guest rooms to outrageously demanding visitors, it all comes with the territory. Read on for some of the craziest ones, and grab your popcorn.
#41
We had a wedding reception and I hadn't met any of the guests yet. I walked by the ballroom and there was an overweight man lying on the floor [bare]. I asked the bride if he was ok and she told me he was just drunk and tried to do the worm but he passed out so they left him there then she smiled and said he's my husband now.
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6points
#42
I work the front desk at a major Hotel. There was a guest who called down about his ceiling leaking. We go up to investigate and find it leaking in the cornor near the window. Now this wasn't on the top floor so it wasn't from rain. Our maintence guy removes the ceiling tile to find a paper milk carton that is leaking this stuff that smells horrible. later we figure out it was left from one of the construction guys who built the place over 3 years ago. He was too lazy to walk to the porta-potty so he [urnated] in a milk carton and hide it in the ceiling.
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6points
#43
A few years ago, I was working at the front desk, when in the middle of the night an American couple shows up at the desk to complain about "loud grunting noises" in the room next door. I walk up with them trying to think of a way how to handle the situation, considering that the room was rented by a relatively famous athlete. Anyway, once we arrive at the room and the noises are pretty obvious, I let it slip who is in that room and all of a sudden she starts smiling and exlaims to her boyfriend/husband "He's on my list baby!", gives him a kiss, tells me that it is okay and walks up to the door and bangs on the door, while her bf/husband walks back to their room with a sad face. After at least a minute of door-banging, the door opens, and she walks straight into the room.
I stood there for a good few minutes trying to figure out what just happened.
I stood there for a good few minutes trying to figure out what just happened.
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6points
#44
Okay let's see, in no particular order...
* A group of high schoolers rented a room to throw a party. The police were called, and they vacated the room. Later that night we found kid from the party, hands and feet tied with phone cord, hopping down the hallway to try to get home.
* The group of modern-day gypsies that stayed with the hotel for thirty days, and then stopped paying and refused to leave because they were now residents. (and they were right)
* One night, there was a noise complaint of a party in a hallway, and we went up to find a literal party going on **in** the hallway, complete with a band.
* That same night, we went into the atrium to find a group of guests walking out the door with one of our couches, and then when they say us, they reversed direction and told us that they had caught somebody stealing it and they were putting it back.
* The many many times I've seen drunk, passed-out guests being transported back to their room on a luggage cart.
There are probably more I can't think of right now.
* A group of high schoolers rented a room to throw a party. The police were called, and they vacated the room. Later that night we found kid from the party, hands and feet tied with phone cord, hopping down the hallway to try to get home.
* The group of modern-day gypsies that stayed with the hotel for thirty days, and then stopped paying and refused to leave because they were now residents. (and they were right)
* One night, there was a noise complaint of a party in a hallway, and we went up to find a literal party going on **in** the hallway, complete with a band.
* That same night, we went into the atrium to find a group of guests walking out the door with one of our couches, and then when they say us, they reversed direction and told us that they had caught somebody stealing it and they were putting it back.
* The many many times I've seen drunk, passed-out guests being transported back to their room on a luggage cart.
There are probably more I can't think of right now.
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5points
#45
At a hotel I used to work at (I still work at hotels) we got a lot of business traffic, as in we had a lot of people who stayed on business. We had a regular who we'll call "Carl." Carl was a super nice guy, but kept to himself and stayed with us about 4 days out of the week. One day while my boss was working (who is now my boss at a different hotel... weird situation) guests in the room directly below him complained of a major water leak. We went upstairs into Carl's room to see if there was a problem. There was...
He had somehow completely shattered the toilet. He was drunk out of his mind and had mags all over the room. He was by himself, and the toilet was just plain shattered. They couldn't explain it. The water leaking was massive and we had to move all guests below him out of the way and do massive repairs on the hotel from the amount of water damage that occured. The next morning when he came in to pay the damages off and properly check out of the room (he was staying overnight at the police station) was a very awkward one.
Some other things:
- A group of 6 doctors and lawyers, 3 of them guys and 3 of them women, who all knew each other since high school and were in town for a reunion, got kicked out of the hotel for being too loud and scaring other guests. The drunkenness that ensued was hilarious.
- And we also busted a 20 something year old guy and the party he was holding in his room because it was filled with 13-16 year olds who were getting drunk and trashing the room. Everybody got lined up in the lobby (this was like 2am, nobody else was up since its on a quiet edge of town) while their parents were called and took them home one by one. The man was passively aggressively berated the entire time they stood there.
He had somehow completely shattered the toilet. He was drunk out of his mind and had mags all over the room. He was by himself, and the toilet was just plain shattered. They couldn't explain it. The water leaking was massive and we had to move all guests below him out of the way and do massive repairs on the hotel from the amount of water damage that occured. The next morning when he came in to pay the damages off and properly check out of the room (he was staying overnight at the police station) was a very awkward one.
Some other things:
- A group of 6 doctors and lawyers, 3 of them guys and 3 of them women, who all knew each other since high school and were in town for a reunion, got kicked out of the hotel for being too loud and scaring other guests. The drunkenness that ensued was hilarious.
- And we also busted a 20 something year old guy and the party he was holding in his room because it was filled with 13-16 year olds who were getting drunk and trashing the room. Everybody got lined up in the lobby (this was like 2am, nobody else was up since its on a quiet edge of town) while their parents were called and took them home one by one. The man was passively aggressively berated the entire time they stood there.
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5points
#46
I had a guest come in with a white beard, wearing red, pretending to be Santa Clause...when I asked for his name he kept saying "Clause." Eventually I got it out of him. Later on I caught him and his wife going around to children asking what they wanted for Christmas, while the parents were standing by freaked out...especially when they mentioned "Santa's bathing suit."
And I also had a midget guy trying to jump across the counter to get to the computers for employees because the internet was down and he had to watch his [adult movies].
And I also had a midget guy trying to jump across the counter to get to the computers for employees because the internet was down and he had to watch his [adult movies].
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5points
#47
My dad owns and operates a motel, there have been a few good stories over the years.
Highlights include:
*My mom getting beat up by a fired employee
*A man doing his best Kurt Cobain impression in a guest room
*Two guys jumping out of a window
*Someone trying to burn the place down
God, who knows how many more bizarre situations we've endured.
Highlights include:
*My mom getting beat up by a fired employee
*A man doing his best Kurt Cobain impression in a guest room
*Two guys jumping out of a window
*Someone trying to burn the place down
God, who knows how many more bizarre situations we've endured.
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5points
#48
Well, I used to work in a really cheap hotel as a roomkeeper - one room we went into one time - the bed was absolutely SOAKED with blood - and the bathroom was made up into a child's playpen. That was ... something.
Edit: I never even considered birth -- it was rumoured that it was a prostitute who allowed violence in her "work", who also had a 2 year old that she took with her; so the kid was locked in the bathroom while mommy paid the bills. I don't know though.
Edit: I never even considered birth -- it was rumoured that it was a prostitute who allowed violence in her "work", who also had a 2 year old that she took with her; so the kid was locked in the bathroom while mommy paid the bills. I don't know though.
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5points
#49
I live in a small town of 70,000 people. I worked at one of the nicer hotels.
- a blind ski group stayed with us. I had to escort one badly dressed man to the dance and he kept wanting to buy me drinks. I was underage and working. I wish I said yes!
- during that same convention... someone lost their fake eyeball and it took a very scared Mexican crawling on his hands and knees to find it
- someone left their prosthetic leg at the hotel. we kept it in the lost and found. The person called and said "i will be hopping in there in a bit to grab my leg"
- one guy stayed past check out time. etc etc hotel policies enforced blah blah. we took his luggage and put it in the back office. guy comes back screaming at the top of his lungs going insane. rushes into the back office to grab his luggage and ran out.
- this one lady bartered with me for a discount on the room by giving me pinecones. i gave her the AAA rate and took about 6 pinecones. I was on my break telling a co-worker this. "This lady was just so crazy!"
Lady comes running out of nowhere screaming I HEAR YOU I HEAR YOU GEORGE BUSH Freaked me out really badly.
- homeless guy came in and told me he went around the entire property (250 rooms) and gathered all the dishes, plates, silverware. And dishes and stuff he found by the river. Wanted a cash bonus. Gave him a smile.
- guy came and brought his two ferrets. they escaped the room. we found them and kept them in the back office in our mail sack. guy came back a second time. ferrets got out again. we kept them in the mail sack. they were so adorable!
- a blind ski group stayed with us. I had to escort one badly dressed man to the dance and he kept wanting to buy me drinks. I was underage and working. I wish I said yes!
- during that same convention... someone lost their fake eyeball and it took a very scared Mexican crawling on his hands and knees to find it
- someone left their prosthetic leg at the hotel. we kept it in the lost and found. The person called and said "i will be hopping in there in a bit to grab my leg"
- one guy stayed past check out time. etc etc hotel policies enforced blah blah. we took his luggage and put it in the back office. guy comes back screaming at the top of his lungs going insane. rushes into the back office to grab his luggage and ran out.
- this one lady bartered with me for a discount on the room by giving me pinecones. i gave her the AAA rate and took about 6 pinecones. I was on my break telling a co-worker this. "This lady was just so crazy!"
Lady comes running out of nowhere screaming I HEAR YOU I HEAR YOU GEORGE BUSH Freaked me out really badly.
- homeless guy came in and told me he went around the entire property (250 rooms) and gathered all the dishes, plates, silverware. And dishes and stuff he found by the river. Wanted a cash bonus. Gave him a smile.
- guy came and brought his two ferrets. they escaped the room. we found them and kept them in the back office in our mail sack. guy came back a second time. ferrets got out again. we kept them in the mail sack. they were so adorable!
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4points
#50
One of my relatives worked in the hotel industry. There was a guest who just left, and when the cleaning ladies entered the room, one of them noticed a pungent smell. Went into the washroom and holy mother of god. Apparently someone stuffed a towel filled with [feces] down the toilet bowl, and the floor was covered with weird yellow stains.
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4points
#51
Two lesbians somehow set the toilet on fire. No other fire damage just a melted toilet.
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4points
#52
I worked as a valet in an upscale Miami Beach hotel...Passover was the WORST, especially when you got the Orthodox Jews. I'm not trying to discriminate, but really? The folks I came in contact with would not use any mechanical services at all after dark...No opening their own car doors, no opening the trunk, no using the sensor opening front doors to the hotel...The poor Maintenance guys had to go to 300+ rooms to flush toilets because it was mechanical...I'm talking, an employee has to flush their toilet after dark. There's something wrong when an employee has to go to a room at 10pm to push start on a microwave! I don't think that's what the religion is about, yet I've experienced it that way.
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3points
#53
I used to work at club med, every year this japanese guy would show up. He was covered from neck to toe in dragon tattoos and looked like he would snap your neck if you looked at him sideways.
He would put on a bright pink wig, a pink singlet and denim skirt, then he would head off to the golf course to play a few rounds dressed like that.
I avoided his gaze.
He would put on a bright pink wig, a pink singlet and denim skirt, then he would head off to the golf course to play a few rounds dressed like that.
I avoided his gaze.
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2points
#54
I delivered room service (a bottle of wine) to a corporate guest staying in a room with one bed in it. When I knocked on the door a mid fifties to sixty year old man answered the door and let me in. When I walked into the room, there was another similar aged man, at least shirtless and under the covers on the bed... and I could tell that he was as alarmed to see me as I was to see him. The guy not in the bed was cool as a cucumber, but everyone was aware of the situation.. So I had to do my job and open the wine bottle and pour these gents a couple of glasses, and trying not to stare at anything I started looking around the room and noticed that the guy in the bed had a wedding ring goin on. Now I live in Canada, so two old men spending the night in a room together and being married to each other is completely realistic and a-ok, but the guy in the bed looked so rattled, and I really got the feeling at least one of those men was married to a woman. Awkward stuff....
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1point
#55
I heard a woman on the radio yesterday say that she was a cleaner at a hotel where George Michael was staying. She said she always found the toilet bowl filled whenever she went to clean his room. Turned out that George believed it was the cleaner's responsibility to flush the toilet for him.
1point
