Hotels are great. We love them, they are cozy, full of amenities, and make us feel like we are like royalty. Yes, they are every traveler’s dream. When we go on a vacation the most exciting part is to get to the accommodation because we know we are getting amazing services.
Some of us even wish to live in a hotel for the rest of our lives. But after you learn about these secrets hotels are generally hiding from their customers you will rethink your wish. Like with every other good thing, there are some ”behind the scenes” facts that are less pleasant, like these things:
1. Housekeepers sleep in your bed too
Have you ever wondered why it takes so long for the cleaning service to finish your room? That may be the case because some housekeepers occasionally take a nap while you’re away. Some have even shared their experiences of napping in the guests’ room. If they have some spare time and they are way too tired they will take some time to dose off.
We can’t blame it’s an exhausting job after all.
2. Your remote control is the dirtiest item in the room
A study showed that the remote is the dirtiest thing you can possibly have in your hotel room. Because it’s not sanitized almost at all you should consider sanitizing it or put it in its wrapping before touching it.
The same study showed that they have high levels of bacteria such E.coli and other skin-damaging ones because the cleaning staff barely remembers to sanitize it which makes us wonder what else are they forgetting about.
3. You can lose your room to a ”high profile” person
Just like airlines they can overbook you and some will even offer to take you to a different hotel. If you are not a loyal guest or a ”high profile” one then they can choose to tell you that you don’t have your selected room even if you already paid for it and booked it months ago.
4. You don’t have to pay a fee if you cancel your stay
We’ve all been through this at least once: something comes up unexpectedly and we can’t go on your vacation anymore so you have to cancel. But the cancellation fees are a really big pain to deal with right?
It’s annoying to have to pay a cancellation fee when you cancel your accommodation. But we figured a way around it. If the cancellation deadline has passed you can call and change your dates and then call again to cancel at your leisure.
We hope it will work out for you, but make sure you can change your dates without any additional fees. That won’t help your case by much.
5. Housekeepers also take revenge on guests
It’s really hard to try and not take revenge on the people that annoy you and make you feel frustrated. When people think they have every right to treat you poorly because ”your job is to serve them” the old sweet revenge can be proof of the exact opposite.
A housekeeper once said that in order to get her revenge she used a towel to dry the bathroom and then placed it back. Well, revenge can be sweet, am I right? Just a quick lesson for those who didn’t know this already: Don’t mess with the people that are the easiest to get you dirty.
6. Stay away from the hotel’s glasses
This is a BIG warning: some researchers have concluded that housekeepers only rinse those water glasses that you find in your room and THEY DRY THEM WITH THE SAME TOWEL THEY DRIED THE WHOLE BATHROOM WITH!!!!
Others, because of the pressure of keeping them pristine use FURNITURE GREASE! Yes, you read that right. So for now, just to be safe, stay away from those ”crystal clear” glasses and drink the water straight from the bottle. You don’t want to ruin your vacation by feeling sick all of the time or getting unwanted bacteria in your system.
7. If the concierge is making a restaurant recommendation it’s not random
Sometimes we feel like dining out of our hotel, change the scene a little bit and the most common thing to do is to ask for a recommendation from the hotel’s staff. But you should know that most of the time, the restaurant concierge has something to gain. The recommendation that he is making is not random and it’s not impartial, at all.
For each person, they send to a certain restaurant they can get a pretty nice commission, but don’t worry their advice is not going to be a bad or distasteful restaurant anyway. However, this only happens in mid-range hotels, not in high-class locations.
8. The staff knows what you have watched last night
What you’re doing or watching in your own hotel room is your secret….Or is it? Even though we don’t rely on the pay-per-view anymore because we have accessible free Wi-fi, some guests still like to order movies on TV.
And the whole staff can know what you watched because of how detailed the system is. It’s fine they won’t judge you (to your face at least) and you can always use the classic line: ”I accidentally selected it”. But because we live in modern times, you might as well own it and that’s it.
9. Your bed can be dirty
You know how when you were a kid your mom would ask you to clean your toys and you would just hind them under the bed? Well, it’s not exactly the same, but housekeepers can do the same with your bed, some have mentioned that they clean the stain until they are less visible and sheets can go unwashed as far as one month.
In addition, if the sheets have no wrinkles or stains they will leave it like that. The staff uses a lint and smooths them to look like they have been changed when in reality things are far from ”pristine”.
10. The staff will check-up before the actual check-in
This fact is one big aspect luxury hotels are trying to keep from you. Before your arrival, they will check-in for you so that you can enjoy a great experience. They will look up your social media account or accommodation ones and will take what they can find into consideration so they can offer you great services.
This happens especially for newlyweds who don’t share the reason for their trip but still have some amazing perks. It sounds a little bit odd, doesn’t it? But hey, if they offer you a bottle of champagne then they can stalk us all day long, am I right?
11. The hotel kettle could have been used for…..personal matters
There’s a popular rumor that some guests use the kettle for than just boiling water for tea or coffee. When you hear it you would never want to use the kettle EVER AGAIN!
It is believed that some guests use it to wash their used underwear. Yes, you read that correctly and we are sickened too. These items are rarely washed or replaced so we’ll just say a big ”No, thank you!” to making tea again. It’s a big cleaning issue and we hope it was just a rumor people started for fun.
12. If you leave something at the hotel, you won’t get it back
If you happen to forget something at the hotel they won’t call you or text you about it. That’s not because they want to keep it but because they don’t know when you will be back for it so they keep it for a while if they can. For example, if it’s a charger they will keep it and lend it to other guests.
The best that you can do is to check your room multiple times, before arriving at the hotel make a list of your belongings and keep it until you have to leave and check it again.
13. The staff never scrubs your bathtub
A nice relaxing bath sounds nice, doesn’t it? Well, take that at home where you know how the cleaning is done. Housekeepers have to finish rooms fast so they can move on to the next so they don’t have time to scrub your bathtub.
They rinse it, but that’s all you’re going to get. Stick to the shower and wait for a good bath until you get home.
14. Most ”Do Not Disturb” signs are ignored
Not necessarily in all hotels, but from time to time they ignore your sign so that they won’t have to come back to your room later and clean it. It makes sense since some people leave it there even after they left the room or the hotel. Take it off when it’s not necessarily.
All in all, it doesn’t necessarily mean that all hotels are guilty of doing these things. From our experience, we could say that the following 5-star hotels are the best when it comes to affordability and staff’s attitude.
