12 Creepy Confessions from Real Hotel Employees

We often think of hotels as peaceful escapes—a place to unwind, order room service, and forget about the outside world. But behind the polished lobbies and neatly made beds, hotel staff are dealing with a reality that’s far from relaxing.

• So I work at a hotel. We had this guest staying with us — nothing unusual about him, pretty regular guy. Anyway, he comes up to the front desk to check out and pay. I tell him the total, and he nods like, “Sure, one sec.” Then he starts fumbling through his bag, looks up at me all innocent, and begins untucking his shirt. Next thing I know, he’s unzipping his fly. And I’m standing there thinking, “No way...” He’s just smiling, reaches down into his pants, and pulls out... a little pouch on a string. That’s where he kept all his cash. © Utena / Pikabu

• Had this guest who wanted to extend his stay another night. His card got declined, but he said, “Don’t worry, I’ll figure something out.” He told us his daughter would come by with money — we waited a couple of hours. No daughter. By check-out time, still nothing. Then the guy just... vanishes. Doesn’t say a word. His stuff’s still in the room, so housekeeping had to pack up all his belongings. An hour later, he strolls back in — still no money — and casually asks us to pay for his taxi. © CanaGeekGurl / Reddit

• I once had a man check in at night. He came back down and complained that he couldn’t see the ocean from his room. It was night.
  He kept arguing with me until I finally said, “Sir, I assure you, the ocean is there.” The hotel was less than 50 feet from the beach. © SecretBaker8 / Reddit

• My buddy works at a hotel and shared this crazy story: a guest requested a room full of balloons for a surprise party. The staff spent all night blowing up balloons, only for the guest to check out without even seeing the room! © shyrochyn / Reddit

• As the owner of a bed and breakfast for the last eight years, the craziest thing I ever found was an old, battered notebook with “Why I Love Salad” written on the front. Inside were literally 40–80 pages about how amazing salad is. Every now and then, the author suggested they believed salad to be alive in some sense. It looked like it had been written on and off over the course of several years. © D***musyo / Reddit

• Working at a luxury hotel, I once got a call to remove a snail from a guest’s room as it was “coming after them” and they were “afraid for their young child.” © Additional-Car2163 / Reddit

• A guest called the police for a noise complaint about another room. The police arrived and went up to the noisy room with a front desk receptionist.
  When they got there, they found a woman, her two kids, her ex-husband, her aunt, and another random man. They were deep-frying chicken in the room at around 10 p.m. on a Tuesday. I remember seeing a man run out of the lobby with his deep fryer, spilling oil all over the place. © c***hiegoo / Reddit

• I worked at a hotel during the summer—let’s just say it wasn’t the best one. There were 50 rooms and only two people at reception. We usually got super busy, so it wasn’t easy to keep up with everyone.
  One couple booked a room for a week, and they had so much luggage that my colleague and I were shocked. In the end, they stole everything from the room—even the windows. They literally took out our windows. We both got fired that day. © serenityvoiid / Reddit

• A wealthy couple in their late 50s was checking out of a luxury hotel in Rome when the Front Office asked the Housekeeper to check the minibar. The Housekeeper called back to say the room’s curtains were missing. The Front Office manager was forced to ask the guests to open their luggage, and sure enough, the curtains were inside. Crazy! © DiegoBkk / Reddit

• The bathroom sink and other random areas were filled with Greek olives. They were EVERYWHERE!! © Unusual_Figure_9728 / Reddit

• I had a lady steal a mattress. She paid cash for the room plus a $200 deposit. She went to the room with a guy, pulled the mattress out, loaded it into a U-Haul, and then left.
  She came back in the morning and got her deposit back. We didn’t even know the mattress was missing until the maid went to clean the room, and the manager checked the cameras. © myownb*** / Reddit

• Had a guest check into the hotel, seemed normal. Next morning, she comes to the desk all upset — says her sheets are disgusting and need to be changed ASAP. We head up to check, and yeah, the pillowcase has these weird orange stains. Gross, but we’re confused — the room was spotless when she arrived. We’re racking our brains... until someone notices her hair. When she checked in, she was a brunette. Now? Bright, fiery red. Yep — the mystery stains were from her hair dye. Totally ruined the bedding. No saving it.

Here are stories of people who came home early — and made an unpleasant discovery.