'Guest demanded a room upgrade because "their aura didn't vibe" with the one they booked': 20+ Hotel receptionists who bit their tongues as guests asked for the most ridiculous requests

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Nov 24, 2024 3:00 PM EST

These hotel receptionists were giving guests the side-eye. Not everyone can act normal out in public, and these people are proof of that! 

Front desk workers do much more than just check-in guests. Many of them work long hours and supervise other workers and guests as well. If a guest needs a towel or a toothbrush, they're the one to provide it. Some guests will show up without a reservation and make it the receptionist's problem to solve. They're flipping out because they have a reservation in someone else's name or they just plain forgot, and the front desk worker will have to try and solve the problem for them. 

Other guests go through the check-in process just fine, but once they're comfy in their room, they start acting out. You can't just smoke out a hotel room just because you feel like it, or damage the room and expect workers to turn a blind eye to it. Read about the day-to-day life of a hotel receptionist down below and discover all the crazy shenanigans these guests have gotten into. 

After that, if you're having a bad day, you'll feel much better after reading about some folks who are having a worse one, like one person who discovered that someone snapped a side mirror off their car and just left it there. 

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  • 01
    'We had a guest who clearly had a pet in his bag and kept denying it. The bag was squirming, and the dog inside was whining'
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    Dear hotel receptionists of Reddit, who was the most horrible guest you have ever encountered?
    via u/Riddlersoul
  • 03
    ahhh_ennui Probably the one who into the ice machine. Or the one who mugged a blind woman and stole her cane. Or the one who turned on the fire hose and flooded their floor. Oh, wait, that was the same guy who the ice machine. into
    via u/ahhh_ennui
  • 04
    Or the one who slapped me because an ice storm hit, the phones were down, and I had to knock on doors if they had scheduled wakeup calls.
    via u/ahhh_ennui
  • 05
    KsenyaNagnato... There was this one guest who demanded a room upgrade because "their aura didn't vibe" with the one they booked. When told no, they started yelling, cursed the staff, and threatened to leave a bad review-only to call back later asking for a discount because they forgot their wallet.
    via u/KsenyaNagnatova_
  • 06
    easha_ It all started when the guest checked in late one evening. He seemed normal enough until he asked, "Does my room come with a microwave?" I told it didn't, he looked absolutely devastated and said, "I cannot survive without a microwave." I offered to warm something up for him if needed, but that wasn't good enough. He stormed
    via u/easha__
  • 07
    out and came back an hour later-dragging a full-size microwave he'd purchased from a nearby store. The trouble really started at 3 a.m. when the fire alarm went off, waking the entire hotel. Turns out, Mr. Midnight Microwave decided to cook a steak in his new appliance. Not just heat it- he'd seasoned it, wrapped it in foil, and popped it in like it was an oven. The foil caused
    via u/easha__
  • 08
    a small fire, which set off the sprinklers in his room. By the time we got there, his room was soaked, the microwave was destroyed, and he was trying to "save" his steak by patting it dry with hotel towels. When asked why he'd thought this was a good idea, he replied, "I didn't know microwaves couldn't cook steak! This is YOUR fault for not having one in
    via u/easha__
  • 09
    the room in the first place."... Needless to say, he was charged for the damage, the room was out of commission for weeks.
    via u/easha__
  • 10
    someonestoic I used to work as a night receptionist at a hotel in Jalandhar, India a few years ago. Most nights were uneventful, but one guest will forever be burned into my memory. It was around 2 a.m. when a man came stumbling to the front desk, looking panicked. He whispered, 'There's someone in my
    via u/someonestoic
  • 11
    room!' Naturally, I was alarmed. I immediately checked the system to ensure he hadn't been double-booked, but everything looked fine. I offered to check the room with him. As we entered, I turned on the lights, and there it was—the "intruder." It was a life-sized cutout of a Bollywood actor that we had placed in the hallway for a promotion earlier that day.
    via u/someonestoic
  • 12
    For some reason, he had brought it into his room, propped it in a corner, and forgotten about it. I tried to keep a straight face as he muttered something about being 'too tired' and shuffled back to bed. The next morning, he checked out like nothing had happened. But I'll never forget having to 'rescue' someone from their own cardboard celebrity at 2 a.m.
    via u/someonestoic
  • 13
    HillQuest1 Had a guest who clogged the toilet, blamed us for 'faulty plumbing,' and then left a handwritten complaint on the bathroom mirror in lipstick. 10/10.
    via u/HillQuest1
  • 14
    innosins Either the regular in room 222 who always, always ALWAYS wet his bed, or the couple in 250 that were staying with us after their house had burned down who would inspect their towels each night and any tiny spot would come exchange them with the front desk, then inspect those.
    via u/innosins
  • 15
    This was a little "no tell motel" that sold rooms for 25 a night in 1990. Mainly catered to construction workers, cheap business travelers, and people who balked at an ID with their credit card because they weren't using their real name.
    via u/innosins
  • 16
    emmascarlett899 We had a guest, who clearly had a pet in his bag and kept denying it. The bag was squirming, and the dog inside was whining. What a selfish that to the dog. sh to do
    via u/emmascarlett899
  • 17
    CastedDarkness My 66 year old mother apparently. She came home, eaten alive by bed bugs. After staying in a B&B. Video proof of the bed bugs and all. She was sick for weeks after that.
    via u/CastedDarkness
  • 18
    She posted a review on Google reviews. The owner then replied saying that she had multiple men back in the room that night and that she left the room in a state. Unbelievable and untrue.
    via u/CastedDarkness
  • 19
    CDLXXXVIII Had a guest take a bunch of plates, silverware, etc from the breakfast, they filled a children's carriage and dumped everything in their room for the cleaners to fix later. Another time a guest tried billing to a nonexistent store, quickly racked up a bill over $1800 for the entire stay and ate for $800 the first
    via u/CDLXXXVIII
  • 20
    night. They called us racists when we threw her and the rest of her family out the same evening, they never paid for anything either. During the few hours they stayed they also trashed the room. The family (their small children) were caught stealing from a nearby store not long after.. trashy people like playing the victim card. Great times, probably forgetting someone.
    via u/CDLXXXVIII
  • 21
    StonerSloth69 Had a guest one time that was problematic from check-in. First, he had a huge problem I had no clue who he was, saying he "was here all the time" even though I worked most days of the week and had never seen him before. Once I finally got his name and started checking him in, he asked how much the room costed, I told him the price
    via u/StonerSloth69
  • 22
    and he immediately started complaining that it was too expensive even through he had booked the room online himself AND PAID. Not much I can do but keep checking him in and offer a free drink from the bar which he very quickly took. Later in the evening he came in with what we assumed to be a prostitute and drank heavily at the bar, then stumbled back to his room to do the deed with his lady friend. At
    via u/StonerSloth69
  • 23
    some point in the night I received a phone call that I NEEDED to come back to the hotel because apparently he had "fallen asleep" in the shower and laid over the shower drain flooding not only his room, but the next two floors under him. He then blamed us for having shower drains and refused to pay the damages. Now I remember his name...
    via u/StonerSloth69
  • 24
    VeganBear024 A man was checking into a room that was under his wife's name. She did not add his name to the room so I could not let him in. I had to call the wife to get permission. We do this for guest safety. I couldn't get ahold of her and he was livid.
    via u/VeganBear024
  • 25
    1. He didn't want to show me his ID. DONT YOU KNOW WHO I AM I HAVE BEEN STAYING HERE FOR 14 YEARS. The hotel was 4 years old, I was very new at the job as well, like 3 months. 2.Once I did have his ID he was threatening me and my job saying I would regret the day I did this to him. His wife was gonna kill me.
    via u/VeganBear024
  • 26
    Eventually got ahold of wife. She gave approval, she was so sweet. I smiled and gave him the room key. He told me to go f myself. This whole thing was like 30 minutes.
    via u/VeganBear024
  • 27
    S... Far too many to list them all, unfortunately. One of the worst was during my first week not in training (love it!) where I was thankfully in the back office right behind the desk doing some reservations work instead of being at the desk (where I'd mostly been during training). A groom had emailed our team and asked us to please go into their room and get
    via u/sashavelw****
  • 28
    the bride's dress to steam it before their wedding the next day. We made sure we had permission to enter the room and whatnot, and our staff, though very uncomfortable, got the dress. She noticed right away that there were rips and dirty spots on the dress, which she took pictures of as soon as she opened the dress. bag. (Time stamps lined up
    via u/sashavelw****
  • 29
    right after she got the dress. There was no way she could've done it.) The bride came down after SCREAMING at our staff and accusing our staff of trying to steal her dress and then destroying it, making it "unwearable" (it was a few tiny rips and smudge spots that, again, we didn't do). Was running around the lobby screaming at the top. of her lungs, threatening to get violent with staff,
    via u/sashavelw****
  • 30
    screaming that her rich daddy would have the hotel closed down and all of us fired (it was a luxury hotel in a major U.S. city). Her belief was that we stole her dress, wrecked it for fun, steamed it, and then put it back in the room. How any of that makes sense? No clue. Our manager calmly asked her to step around the desk and read the email
    via u/sashavelw****
  • 31
    from her fiance telling us to do this and that the bride requested it. She accused us of lying, despite the email proof from his direct email address, Imao. When the groom came down, our manager pointed out that he'd asked us to do that, and he played dumb. The day after the wedding, her father came down to check out and berated our staff for
    via u/sashavelw****
  • 32
    "upsetting his daughter before her wedding" and asked for discounts. We said no, lolol. Genuine psycho behavior. Hope she got therapy.
    via u/sashavelw****
  • 33
    joodoos Helped take care of Lil Wayne. 4 diamond hotel. Leed platinum certified. He was a sh. Along with all his staff and personal chef. They destroyed the entire top floor of the hotel. He did pay for it to get fixed...but still. Deuche- nozzle and treated everyone like crop. O tips.
    via u/joodoos
  • 34
    t... One night a sketchy dude came in with a really long coat. He looked like trouble and like he hadn't slept for weeks. He paid cash, which even 02 years ago was usually a bad sign. I gave him his key and he went to his room. About 5 minutes later he came back in a huff, yelling. He had a long object inside his coat with his hand on it, he didn't threaten me
    via u/the_real_darkrock
  • 35
    but I was on edge. He threw the key over the desk and told me that it didn't work. I looked and let him know that wasn't the key that I gave him, so of course it didn't work. He found the right key and stormed off. About two hours later the police arrive and one is holding one of those parabolic listening devices. They asked if I'd checked. the dude in and what room
    via u/the_real_darkrock
  • 36
    he was in. He was wanted for armed robbery with a shotgun. I gave them the info and they went and staked out the room and arrested him when he came out. It is pretty scary thinking back on it, I'm sure the long object under his coat was the shotgun.
    via u/the_real_darkrock
  • 37
    The68Guns Some guy was hauling off on my GM (who was a really decent person) and I was doing houseman stuff. It just kept escalating and I finally said "Kevin, I'm gonna take out this trash." The guest looked at me like I just challenged him to a fight until I went around the corner with my bin full of garbage.
    via u/The68Guns
  • 38
    mauvepink I wasn't Front Desk, but their best stories were heard around the hotel. This couple and their dog checked in to the hotel. I'm going to give them the names of Sam and Pat. They get into a fight, and Sam storms out, leaving Pat and doggo. Pat stays the night, but to punish Sam, leaves the doggo at the hotel in
    via u/mauvepink
  • 39
    one of the staff service areas, where it is found. No one knows who the doggo belongs to, end of day comes, member of the HR team brings the doggo home, as it can't be left wandering the hotel, obviously. Next day, Pat wants to reconcile with Sam, but Sam is still upset about doggo being left behind and won't
    via u/mauvepink
  • 40
    talk until Pat retrieves it. So Pat comes to the hotel, where staff explain a team. member took the doggo. home for safety and will go get it. Pat has a total breakdown and decides they will cause a scene until doggo is returned. They strip completely naked and climb onto the front desk and sit there, screaming for the doggo. Police are obviously called.
    via u/mauvepink
  • 41
    Police show up and chase Pat, who is apparently so slippery that staff are wondering if they'd covered themselves in grease pre- encounter (they had not, for the record). Cops eventually catch Pat and take them away. I don't know what happened after that, but doggo was returned to Sam and Pat eventually.
    via u/mauvepink
  • 42
    GothMaams It's mostly just people lying. about having service animals, constantly. And then when you ask them the two questions you're legally allowed to ask them about their "service animals", they get super defensive, couldn't/wouldn't answer the questions/yell at me "you can't legally ask me that!!!!!"/make a scene and then lie to management,
    via u/GothMaams
  • 43
    who watch the security tapes and see they're full of sh . People who exploit rules and laws made to help the lives of the disabled are some of the humans.
    via u/GothMaams
  • 44
    SameSeaworthi... It broke my heart because I was a fan, but Art Garfunkel was such a giant AH.
    via u/SameSeaworthiness317
  • 45
    WestAd1175 Had a woman throwing raw steaks at the housekeepers in the name of Jesus.
    via u/WestAd1175
  • 46
    Uninteresting_... Huge sport conference during hurricane season, with a formed storm being watched. Storm got bigger, headed right for our faces. Hotel was under a mandatory evacuation, which we announced both via speakers and flyers, with lists of places they could relocate to in a safer area.
    via u/Uninteresting_V*****
  • 47
    One gentleman came down and was livid...he wanted us to 1) refund his entire stay (obviously people are refunded for the days of the evacuation, but he wanted a refund for the days he'd already stayed, as well), 2) make a reservation for him at a place of his choosing, and 3) pay for his new accommodations and transport his family and luggage.
    via u/Uninteresting_V*****
  • 48
    This is while the hotel is actively being evacuated, so people and luggage everywhere. He's standing at the desk, yelling so fiercely he was spitting, telling us it was our fault and we would have to "make it right". He refused to step aside to allow any other guests to be helped, and ratcheted up to threats.
    via u/Uninteresting_V*****
  • 49
    We had to call the police to have him removed, while he's still screaming that WE ruined the tournament by ALLOWING a hurricane.
    via u/Uninteresting_V*****
  • 50
    casuallyreddit I had a guest request a pitcher of Starbucks iced tea for herself. (We don't carry that brand). So she proceeded to walk a mile to and from target on a busy highway just to get her special tea for the restaurant to make her.
    via u/
  • 51
    Sumeriandawn I was not a receptionist, but this occured when I was in the motel lobby. A customer only wanted to rent a room for only a hour and wanted a discount for this. He was trying to negotiate this with the receptionist/motel owner.
    via u/

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