Secrets Hotels Are Keeping From Guests
April 25, 2022
Hotels are supposed to be a chance to get away and relax in a calming and clean environment. However, when you look below the surface, you might find that hotels are not all that they are cracked up to be.
Hotels are full of juicy information, and staff members have let us in on some of their best-kept secrets that will leave your jaw on the floor. You might want to rethink your next hotel stay after reading these secrets hotels are keeping from you because they are going to completely shock you!
The Cleaning Staff Sometimes Take Naps In Your Bed
When you leave your room and let the maid service in, you might wonder what takes them so long to clean it. Well, you might be surprised to find out that they sometimes take naps in the beds. One 5-star hotel maid shared her personal experience with taking naps on the job.
If the maids are really tired and have extra time, they might lie down in your bed to catch up on their sleep. If they have large suites, they are given more time to clean, so they use the extra time to sleep. What else are the housekeepers not telling us?
There Could Be A Body Under The Bed
While we always thought “the body under the bed” was an urban legend, there is some truth behind it. Although this is an infrequent occurrence, it might make you check your hotel room more thoroughly when you check in next time because some people found they were sharing their room with a corpse.
In both Mexico City and Thailand, people complained of a foul odor in their room, and a body was found under the bed. While this is the worst-case scenario for a hotel stay, it is not impossible. Surprisingly, this doesn’t stop people from staying at these hotels.
You Might Want To Disinfect The Remote Control
As you settle into your hotel room in the evening, you might want to watch some TV before going to sleep. However, you should consider wrapping up the hotel remote before touching it. Research has found that one of the dirtiest items in a hotel room is the TV remote.
After testing over a dozen remote controls, it was found that they had sky-high levels of bacteria, including traces of E.coli and a dangerous bacteria that can cause skin infections. Apparently, the cleaning staff never touches the remotes, and it makes us wonder what else they aren’t cleaning.
You Can Lose Your Room To Someone With Status
So you booked your hotel room months ago, paid in advance, and you show up only to be told you don’t have a room. Just like airlines, hotels can overbook to minimize revenue loss from unsold rooms. They might even walk you to another property so you can still have a hotel stay.
This all depends if you have a status at the hotel or not. Hotels never want to annoy their loyal guests, so they won’t bump those people. A single-night stay or booking through a third-party site might get you pushed to the second location if they overbook.
You Can Cancel Your Stay Without Paying A Fee
If you have ever waited till the last minute to cancel a hotel stay, you know how annoying it is to be hit with the cancellation fee because you waited too long. However, there is a trick to getting out of that fee, and we are surprised we didn’t think of this.
If you wait to cancel after the cancellation period, call and switch the dates for your hotel stay. The cancellation period will be extended, and then you have to call again and cancel. Hopefully, you get a different clerk when you call, but they will just help you out with this hack most of the time.
The “Free” Breakfast Isn’t Actually Free
Who doesn’t love a free continental breakfast while you stay at your hotel? They have become so popular that hotels are really stepping up their options, but have you ever wondered if breakfast is actually free? Most of the time, the price of the meal is actually bundled into the room price.
In some instances, it might be cheaper to take the family to the local IHOP because hotels like to hide the “complimentary” coffee and pastry costs. If they were actually free, there would be fewer waitress jobs and more trash from disposable plates, so they put in more effort, and you pay for it.
The Housekeepers Have Taken Revenge On Guests
We can all admit that we have had trouble controlling our vengeful desires when people really piss us off, and the cleaning staff is just like us. In the past, hotel maids have reported colleagues for misconduct against rude guests, but can you blame them.
An anonymous maid confessed that one of her co-workers used a towel to mop the bathroom then hung it back up. It’s better to be polite to people, especially when they have challenging jobs like hotel maids.
Bargain Hunters Get A Bargain Experience
While it might be easier to find a better rate for a hotel room on a third-party site, you should be careful how you book your room. Making reservations through sites like Expedia could mean a less luxurious stay because some hotels give those websites the least desirable rooms.
If the hotel assumes you are a price-driven customer who won’t be loyal to their brand, they don’t have a lot of incentive to go the extra mile for you. Instead, try calling the hotel to ask if they will match the rate you found online because they might give you a discount.
You Probably Shouldn’t Drink Out Of Hotel Water Glasses
When you check into a hotel, the room always has those signature glasses in the bathroom. They might look sparkling and clean at first glance, but there is more than meets the eye. According to hotel insiders, housekeeping sometimes rinses and dries them with the same towel they use to clean the rest of the bathroom.
In some hotels, the cleaning staff will use furniture polish on the drinking glasses because they feel pressured to make the glasses look spotless. If that doesn’t make your stomach turn, then prepare for what else goes on in your hotel room.
You Might Be Able To Get Some Of The Fees Waived
Hotels love to add in fees whenever they can, and it is the bane of a travelers existence. These fees bump up the cost of the room considerably, and you might not even realize that they were slipped into your bill. Sometimes the “extras” are actually basic amenities too.
All Rooms Aren’t Created Equally
Although the front desk staff swore that every king room is the same, they are lying. Some rooms are simply better than others, and if you ask them nicely, you might be able to snag one of the better rooms (if they aren’t full already).
There is always a corner room, a room with a bigger TV, and a room with a larger bathroom, but the staff will still charge you the same amount for the worse room because it is technically at the same level. If you hand them a $20 bill, you might get an upgrade.
The Hotel Staff Knows What You Watched On Pay-Per-View
While you may think that what you do in your hotel room is a secret, the hotel staff knows much more than they let on. Although the days of relying on pay-per-view are over because of free WiFi, people still choose to order movies on the TV, and the hotel staff can tell exactly what you watched.
Most people don’t realize how detailed pay-per-view systems are because employees can see what you watched and how long you watched it. In other words, don’t try to say you “accidentally” selected that suspicious adult movie.
Hotel Deaths Aren’t Infrequent
The hotel will do its best to clean up afterward, but it doesn’t stop people from renting those rooms. If the death is well-known, the hotel might go as far as renumbering the rooms to discourage fans who want to see where a famous person spent their final moments.
The Bathroom Isn’t Just For You
After the housekeepers nap in your bed, they use the bathroom to freshen up. One maid confessed to a travel site that the cleaning staff would occasionally use the guests’ toilets if they don’t have time between rooms to go to the staff bathrooms.
This is more acceptable than the staff sleeping in your bed while you are out of the room. As long as they clean up after, no one would ever notice a difference. It is something they aren’t supposed to do, but when you have to go, you have to go.
Courtesy: En.travlerz.com