'We had to charge them about $7K': Hotel workers share their worst housekeeping cleanup stories

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jan 13, 2024 2:00 PM EST

From glitter to an actual bear, it's truly shocking what hotel workers have discovered in rooms after guests leave. Not only is there a ridiculous number of folks who refuse to clean up after themselves, but also there is a startling number of guests who should at the very least alert the front desk that there has been an issue. Some of these guests may have been trying to get out of being charged extra, but in many of these cases, those extra charges are bound to come so you might as well just be honest. And if you cannot be honest, then at least try to do the slightest cleanup! 

Let this list of stories serve as the latest addition of the countless "People are Selfish Slobs" stories we have collected here at FAIL Blog. Keep scrolling below and feel free to share your hotel horror stories. For more, check out these toxic coworker anecdotes!

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  • 01
    "A bear used a ont car as a ramp to get into a room at the property" EEE 8 HOTEL
    via Marten Bjork
  • 02
    r/AskReddit Posted by u/deveronii Hotel workers of reddit, what is the worst thing you have found in a room after a guests stay? 8.4k Comments
    via u/deveronii
  • 03
    zorpthedestroyer Worked at an upscale ski resort. One family let their toilet-training kid pee behind the toilet and under the sink throughout their whole visit, then put our white towels on top of it to "help clean up the mess." Whole place smelled like a freakin rhino enclosure. Ruined the towels. 28.2k Share ..
    via u/deveronii
  • 04
    slpofrsn Worst to clean up, not because it was gross, but because it was annoying and time consuming, was popcorn. A baseball team stayed in a couple rooms and I guess they had those like caramel popcorn ? That they had just thrown all over the room. At the walls, furniture. It stuck to the carpet and was almost impossible to vacuum. 19.5k Share
    via u/deveronii
  • 05
    Mental Brutality Woman with mysophobia (fear of germs) stayed with us. She never let the cleaning ladies into the room as she preferred to clean it herself. One day she leaves to go out and removes the do disturb sign. Maid calls down and says the room has a strong chemical odor and found bags of p and p in the drawers. 16.6k Share
    via u/deveronii
  • 06
    jordan_mcafee A bachelorette party came through and after they left the next night we had a new rule that charges a $400 glitter fee. But I mean you couldn't see the floor so much glitter. It's been a few years and you can probably still find glitter in the carpet throughout the hotel. 16.1k Share
    via u/deveronii
  • 07
    truly_trying A usb drive with two different versions of their obituary that they typed up for themselves ↑ 12.9k Share
    via u/deveronii
  • 08
    [deleted] It was a hallway. I worked the front desk. A little league baseball team was staying the night and a guest complained to my manager about bats flying around. My manager assumed the baseball team was just being roudy and headed up to tell them to calm down. Turns out it wasn't baseball bats... Just a normal ol' flying bat hanging out in the hallway. 11.2k ↓ Share
    via u/deveronii
  • 09
    aNathan113. Pizza. And not just like leftovers. An entire pizza. And not a single slice of in the box. The first red flag we found was the slice of pizza smeared all over on the TV. Then we saw two slices side by side like they had worn them for slippers and dragged their feet across the floor. One slice in the dresser, one in the nightstand, one in the sheets, and one in the bathroom sink.
    via u/deveronii
  • 10
    [deleted] My ex-wife projectile vomited all over a room at the La Quinta in Somerville after way too many SoCo's at the Rattlesnake. I cannot drive 93 Northbound out of Boston without some degree of shame. Sorry, La Quinta workers. I did the best I could, but there was only so much that could be done. Also, this is one of the many reasons she is now my ex- wife.
    via u/deveronii
  • 11
    little A bear. ]_man_89 . First, you gotta understand that a lot needs to happen for this to occur. Our lowest floor, was still about a meter and a half from the ground, and each outside room had a balcony rail. However, a guest had decided to want to unload his motorcycle from his truck and leave the ramp down, so (I'm assuming) he could ride the bike up when he was done. The guest that was staying in the room had room service, decided to leave the food uncovered and the balcony doors open, and
    via u/deveronii
  • 12
    Upon returning, they had gone to us at reception and said that there was a bear in the room. Puzzled, we quietly approached the room and slowly opened the door. Lo and behold, there was a bear eating room service and making a mess of my afternoon. We called Parks Canada to deal with it. Guest was not charged a cleaning fee. TLDR: a bear used a car as a ramp to get into a room at the property. 3.3k Share
    via u/deveronii
  • 13
    TheWasteland Wizard. It was a family retreat/kids birthday party. The adults were getting I while the kids were in the presidential suite raising They had decided to have a fully stocked ice cream bar and allowed the kids to do what they wanted with it. M&Ms crushed into the carpet, chocolate footprints on the walls, whipped cream everywhere. Fruit punch spilled on the bed. In total we had to charge them about $7k in damages, which they took to court, because they thought "The Cleanup would be i
    via u/deveronii
  • 14
    criollitorenegau Not a hotel worker but I found a webcam in the air vent 1.8k Share
    via u/deveronii
  • 15
    JpizzelMyNizzle98. Not a worker but once my family checked into our hotel and go to our room and open it up only to find a very mortified naked man sitting on the couch watching tv. Made eye contact and just backed out of there. He has the same exact name as me so that's where the mess up came about. 1.1k Share ...
    via u/deveronii
  • 16
    Ink-Flamingo I was roadtripping alone, and decided to support the local economy of this small town I was stopping in and stay in a small family-owned motel instead of a chain. It was obviously infested with bedbugs. Obvious... the next morning, that is. (I arrived late at night and went straight to bed.) The worst thing was that I was moving myself out to college and had all my worldly possessions in the car with me. ALL of my clothing, ALL of my bedding, the few pieces of furniture I was bringi
    via u/deveronii
  • 17
    skekVex. Empty boxes of fried chicken and the bones laying all over the floor between beds, white on the dresser and a lamp thrown through the glass door dividing two rooms of a suite once. Dirty diapers and birthday cake smashed into the walls. People get really when you have to kick them out for trying to have a party.
    via u/deveronii

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customer service guests workplace-stories hotel toxic-workplace karen-customer askreddit tales from the front desk hotel room workers entitled reddit thread Reddit karen entitled people toxic-work-environment
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