Traveling is something that all of us do on occasion and it doesn’t matter if we are doing it for work or pleasure, we need a break at times. Often, this break comes by pulling over and staying at a hotel.
If you’ve ever stayed in a hotel, you would like to think that you are staying at a location that is just as clean and convenient as your own home. The reality, however, is often far from that hopeful thinking.
We have gathered some information from hotel workers who reveal what is going on behind the scenes where they work. Some of it will shock you and others will benefit you the next time you decide to stay.
1: “Housekeepers only change the sheets, not the coverlet or the second blanket, unless it’s been stained, and we’re unable to hide it.”
2: “If you like big bathrooms, ask for a handicap accessible room with a ’roll in the shower’, normally about twice the size of a standard bathroom, but without the tub.”
3: “If you don’t like your room, ask for the manager after the first night and kindly state that you felt an itching in the night, and you think that something bit you. After investigation, you found an approximately 1.5 cm long black bug on your sheets. Tell them that that might have been a ’bedbug’.
Just whisper that word, so no other guest hears it. Say that if they find a different room for you, you don’t need to include this detail in your trip advisor review. If you were friendly and polite — free upgrades to suites this time and the next times.”
4: “Those tiny free bottles of shampoo you find in your hotel room? Please don’t use them. We’re not allowed to tell guests this, but those bottles are often refilled with expired products.
Instead of replacing them, housekeeping collects the bottles, refills them from large bulk containers, and reseals them. The problem? Those bulk containers have been sitting in storage for months, often past their expiration date.”
5: “It doesn’t hurt to ask if there’s a better rate. Depending on the property, if you’re nice, the front desk has the power to do a lot with your rate. At one property I worked at if we were almost full, and it was past 9 pm I could cut $50 off the rate if I felt like it, at most though I can only really give a 10% discount, I can do it for almost any reason.”
6: “Spread a towel out on the counter before putting your stuff on it, because I know some of my coworkers would go from floor to shower to toilet to sink with the same rag. I know people who would do twelve rooms or more with two rags: bathroom and no bathroom. Nobody cared, the goal was to remove all traces of the last guest and make it smell nice.”
7: “Never sleep directly on a pillow in a hotel. Always bring your pillowcase and cover it. We can’t tell guests this, but the hotel pillows are rarely washed.
The pillowcases get changed, sure, but the pillows themselves? They’re only cleaned if there’s an obvious stain or odor. Most of the time, they just get reused over and over again. I’ve seen pillows in rooms that have been there for months, maybe even years, without being properly cleaned.”
8: “Noise complaints will be promptly ignored. Why? Because sound carries from several rooms above you, and most people don’t know which room is loud even when it’s right next to them.
Being one room off is the difference between asking someone to keep it down, and waking up the Rage Lady at 3 am. I’ll go up and listen to see if I can pinpoint the room, but if I can’t, then you’re just gonna have to deal with it.”
9: “Ask the hotel to remove such fees as Wi-Fi, newspaper, gym, and pool. These are often included, but they will be removed if requested.”
