15 Hotel Experiences That Sound Too Bizarre to Be Real

A hotel stay is supposed to offer comfort and peace — but sometimes, it delivers the exact opposite. From bizarre guests and sudden room swaps to eerie sounds echoing through the night and staff that seem just a little too strange, these real-life experiences will make you rethink your next check-in. Here are 15 deeply unsettling hotel stories that left guests disturbed, confused, and questioning what actually happened behind those closed doors.

• I was taking a shower on the 10th floor of a 4-star hotel in Spain. During the shower, I felt something on my leg, but at first, I didn’t look down. After a few minutes, the sensation didn’t go away, so when I finally looked down, I saw two giant cockroaches trying to crawl up my legs from the water. After that, I couldn’t sleep, and I couldn’t even eat at the hotel anymore. © Sure-Positive925 / Reddit

• I booked a hotel on a solo trip. When I threw myself on the bed, I sensed a movement below. Thought it was the springs, but then it moved again. I checked underneath. There was a pair of eyes — a man staring straight at me. I screamed and ran to the front desk. The staff looks weirdly calm and said, “Ma’am, that is scary. I understand. But please, I ask you to calm down.”
  Like I was the problem. They just said they had no idea how he got in, offered me a refund and a free night. I called the police instead. I left that night, heart racing, barely able to breathe. Even in the new hotel, I couldn’t sleep. I kept checking under the bed, behind the curtains, inside the closet.
  I asked the hotel for compensation. They refused. I sued and won.
• I was fast asleep when someone started banging on the door. Then the door clicked open. A man stepped halfway in, looked around, and said, “Wait... this isn’t my room?” The front desk had given him a key to mine. What if I hadn’t locked the latch?
• There was a painting of flowers above the bed. One day, I came back and it had changed to an old ship in a storm. I assumed housekeeping swapped it, but when I asked, they said they hadn’t touched anything. The flower painting returned the next morning like nothing happened.

• My girlfriend and I walked in after being gone all day, and felt something wet on the floor. The lights were out, and it was nighttime, so we couldn’t tell what it was. Turn on the lights to see that the toilet was just broken. Didn’t overflow; the tank is just cracked, and water is pouring everywhere. The entire bedroom and bathroom are soaked. Go down to let them know and request money back, and cancel the room for that night. They offer us another room instead. Okay, sure. Walk into the new room: someone is already staying there. The poor woman looked horrified when we walked in. Got all our cash back after that and left. © xoriginal_usernamex / Reddit
• So I fell asleep with the door locked, sleeping in the chair because the bed was broken. Woke up with three homeless guys watching TV in my room. They seemed pretty cool, but it still freaked me out. © Usually_lurks12 / Reddit
• There was a strange smell in the room. I thought maybe the fridge had gone bad. Turns out, a bird had flown into the AC unit. They didn’t clean it. They just sprayed air freshener and acted like it was normal.

• The bathroom locked from the outside. If you accidentally shut the door all the way, you had to have someone in the room open the door for you when you were done. If you were by yourself, you were out of luck until someone came back, or you called the front desk from the bathroom to send someone up. This was pre-mainstream cell phone usage, so you may not have had your phone on you at all times. © cousin_geri / Reddit
• In my room, there was this weird full-length mirror mounted to the wall. Something felt off about it. I shined a flashlight on it and noticed it didn’t reflect correctly. Told hotel staff — they brushed it off. Days later, a guest in another room found a hidden camera behind a similar mirror. I never found out if mine had one too.
• I stayed at a hotel in a small town. My room was on the first floor, with a huge window and the scent of flowers drifting in — it was lovely. I went out to explore the area, but when I returned, the window was wide open and the room was completely trashed. I was in shock! I called the receptionist, and as soon as she stepped in, she shouted, “STEVEN!”
  Turns out, the hotel keeps a young Nubian goat and three other goats in a pen in the yard. Usually, they stay put, but Steven has a habit of escaping. He’s a bit of a troublemaker and sneaks into any rooms he can reach. The windows are low, and he’s a skilled jumper, so he gets around easily.
  I met Steven. He’s actually a very charming fellow — for a goat!

• I was sleeping when I heard a loud scratching noise. I turned on the light and saw a mouse with a potato chip in its mouth run out from under the bureau, across the floor, and under my bed. I called the front desk and told them, and they said they would send someone up there in the morning. I dressed, got my stuff, and left in the middle of the night. © Unknown author / Reddit
• The front desk guy greeted me by name every time. Except... it wasn’t my name. He kept calling me “Mr. Granger” even though I corrected him several times. Finally, I asked why. He said, “You look just like him. He stayed here a lot... before he went missing.”
• A cheap Comfort Inn in Kingsville, TX. Went to use a blow dryer... pointed it towards my head and turned it on, and then an object blew out of the dryer, slapped against my forehead, and bounced into the sink. Took me a moment to realize it was a live cockroach. © rs37982 / Reddit
• At 1:30 a.m., room service knocked and brought in a tray of food. I told them I didn’t order anything. They insisted I did, said it was under my room number. I didn’t even have a card on file. There was no charge. I didn’t touch the food.

• My husband and I went to Cuba for our honeymoon. We stayed in a five-star hotel, with the ocean just outside our window — it was perfect. Then, one morning at breakfast, we ran into his ex-girlfriend. She walked right up to him and whispered, “You know this is fate, right?”
  Without missing a beat, he replied, “Or maybe it just means there’s only one decent travel agent in our town — and they only book this hotel.”
  She was clearly thrown off and walked away. The next day, she and her friends cut their trip short and left. Only then did we finally breathe easy and relax.

Before you go, don’t miss our other article packed with true stories so unexpected, you’ll have a hard time believing they really happened.