Hotel workers just revealed some seriously juicy secrets
A thread on internet forum Reddit has gone viral after a user posed the question: “People who work at 5 Star Hotels: what type of sh*t goes on that management doesn’t want people to know?”
Since it was posted last week it has had a whopping 13,800 comments. Here are some of the more juicy secrets. You’ll never look at a hotel the same way again.
You may want to rethink using the water glasses in your room
WitcherofWallStreet wrote “never trust glass in rooms. [Cleaning staff] are so stretched thin on time that they will clean the glasses with the same rags they clean the bathroom, after all their goal is to make the room look clean.
The glass which you won’t want to drink out of.Source:Supplied
I worked as a [cleaner] in a five diamond for years and there was over a year period that went by where we didn’t get a clean glass delivery. We didn’t have dishwashers in the room, so management was complicit. This was in a five diamond, one of the top resorts in the world. Never trust glass in hotel rooms.”
Another poster agreed saying “it doesn’t matter if the room is $1000 a night … they still wash the tea cups in the bathroom sink or the bath tub.”
Often sex workers are better tippers
User NaniBakaNani, a hotel worker in the USA writes, “We don’t bat an eye at sex work or whatever goes on in the rooms, as long as it doesn’t affect other guests. Half the women who come to the bar are working girls looking for a sale.
Often sex workers will tip higher at the hotel bar.Source:istock
The only thing that the hotel industry ever really reports is human trafficking. There are telltale signs, and if something doesn’t add up, we do report it to local authorities.” Another poster added “the sex workers tip me more often than the guests do”.
The cleaning situations staff have to deal with would blow your mind
According to hotel worker Chupawhat, “housekeeping gets the brunt of it … the worst was the couple that wanted a home birth but not, you know, at home (because gross). We had to deal with that hazmat situation. We pinged them as hard as we could with penalties and fees, though.”
Even the high-end hotels can struggle with bed bugs
There were numerous posts with hotel staff discussing what a huge issue bed bugs can be … and it’s not just at the budget hotels. “Every hotel has bed bugs at some point. It’s not the hotels fault, we noticed international travellers tend to bring them.
Bed bugs can be found in any hotel room.Source:Supplied
Probably because they’re staying at multiple hotels per trip,” wrote one poster. User aardw0lf11 writes “tip about bedbugs: when you arrive NEVER put your luggage on the bed. When you arrive, keep lights off, put luggage in bathroom, and then at the head of the mattress peel back the sheets and mattress pad. Bedbugs tend to congregate there, but scatter when there is light. If you find bedbugs, you can request another room.”
Rethink that trip to the chocolate fountain
Poster Unusual_Form3267 writes “NEVER EVER EVER (I REPEAT!!) USE A CHOCOLATE FOUNTAIN FROM A HOTEL OR BANQUET HALL!!! Picture this: it’s an expensive Sunday brunch. Well little Timmy just double fisted strawberries directly into that chocolate, bit into both strawberries then triple dipped into the chocolate AGAIN! And some old rich lady just sneezed on it.
Think twice before using the chocolate fountain.Source:Supplied
And somebody else just dropped their snack into it. The best part: that chocolate gets strained and saved for the next weeks brunch. Chocolate is waaay too expensive to throw away. Chocolate also does this thing where it’ll seize if it has the wrong moisture content (from people dipping fruit, and the juices going into the chocolate.) So it’ll get so thick it won’t run through the machine. Wanna know how they fix that? They add canola oil until it’s smooth again.”
Some celebs use the hotel valet as their personal parking garage
Oddworld writes “At a certain Beverly Hills hotel, where I valet’d for a short amount of time, many stars cars are just left there. They come and get them whenever. There was also a code name for Justin Bieber who visited often (I can’t remember it).
Some valet carparks are being used by celebs as a personal carpark.Source:istock
He picked it himself. His G-Wagon and a Bentley were just kept down there free of charge. Usher also left his bike there a few years back and has just never collected it.”
Things aren’t always as fancy as they seem
You know those lovely little balls of freshly-rolled butter that you get at nice hotels? Apparently they come like that, frozen in a plastic tub.
All staff are notified if a VIP is coming
I don’t know about all 5* hotels but I’m sure this happens at most of them,” writes NaniBakaNani, “Front desk/reservation staff will basically stalk you online if you’re a notable VIP and your picture will be shared internally to ensure everyone recognises you so you feel special when you arrive and everyone already knows who you are.”
Everyone knows when a celebrity is staying in a hotel.Source:istock
Checking in late can pay off
“Checking in late at night sometimes means free upgrades or discounted upgrade rates,” writes ex-hotel employee Mrkse7en. “We would try to sell every last suite at night for almost 80 per cent off. We just wanted something, so they don’t go unoccupied. Sometimes if we were over sold on rooms, the late late arrivals (midnight) would get a free suite upgrade because we had no choice. Of course this could also backfire if the hotel is sold out. You may get downgraded for being a late late arrival.
Be cautious if you’re invited to a work function at a hotel bar
“A friend of mine is an employment lawyer here in the UK,” writes poster cavendishasriel. “If a company wants to get rid of someone (in the UK it’s quite hard to sack someone compared to the US) he advises they hold an event with a free bar. By law that counts as being on company time so any misdemeanour is gross misconduct and they can be dismissed without severance. Sneaky and why you should not let your guard down at company events.
Be wary of going to a hotel bar with colleagues.Source:Supplied
Policy is to turn a blind-eye to affairs
“The hotel I worked at for a year had a strict privacy policy around this and you are told, well it’s drilled into you, ‘not our business,’” writes one ex-hotel employee. “Unsure what it’s like these days but my entry level job in the travel booking world started as a travel planner for a 5 star chain in Melbourne Australia a couple of decades ago.
Staff tend to turn a blind eye to affairs happening at hotels.Source:istock
My station was next to reception (I looked like I was a part of reception, but was on the end) and it was not uncommon to have the affair couple check in then, while the affair partner was still checked in, the cheating spouse would return the following day with spouse (sometimes spouse and kids) and check into another hotel room. We were under strict instructions “not our business”. But it wasn’t uncommon on holidays for both spouse and affair partner to be in the same hotel at the same time.”
The presumption that A-listers will be high maintenance is often untrue
“The truly rich and famous are in fact rarely ever the ones who make a fuss of their status and can be some of the most polite and sensible ones,” writes user Tokalita. “This was a few years back but of the many stars who have stayed at one of my hotels, the most memorable was Lady Gaga. When fans found out where she was staying they flocked over to the hotel hoping for a glimpse of her or to get her autograph, but as you can imagine when the crowd gets too big it can cause operational headaches.
The opinion that celebrities will be high maintenance is untrue.Source:Supplied
Gaga was very aware of this and took initiative to manage her little monsters, as she calls them. She tweeted and asked her fans to be good and kept them under control. Even ordered pizza from the hotel kitchen for all of them waiting outside in the driveway. We couldn’t have asked for a more considerate guest of her stature. In the words of my GM (general manager) she is “incredibly switched on”.
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