12 Hotel Experiences That Sound Too Weird to Be True

Hotels work hard to make us feel at home while we are out exploring the world, but even the most luxurious stays can have their hidden flaws. Despite their polished appearances, even five star hotels are not immune to surprises, some of which can leave us disappointed or even a little spooked.

• “I used to travel for work and my typical schedule meant that I would usually check in at about 11 pm. I’ve walked in to rooms and without even turning on the light, just fell right into bed to find somebody already sleeping. This has happened 3 times.” americanslang59 / Reddit
• “I’ve had a couple hotels that I’ve stopped at late at night while on a road trip where the hotel owner is chopping wood outside when I pull up. Didn’t sleep well those nights.” JN501 / Reddit
• The second I opened the door to my hotel room, I was hit with the smell of air freshener so strong it gave me a headache. It felt like the room was trying to hide something. Sure enough, I found patches of mold in the bathroom and a suspicious dampness in the carpet near the bed. The air freshener was masking something far worse: the stench of mildew and stagnant water. I packed my bags and left immediately.
• “A little hotel in London, I remember it being a couple of blocks away from King’s Cross. We got there late and there was only a reception guy, he told us about breakfast and internet services, etc.
  ’You can come back upstairs around 8 and the guy in charge of the Internet café will be back,’ ’The cook starts serving breakfast at 6,’ ’The cleaning crew usually start cleaning rooms at 10.’ Things like that. The creepy part? He was the only employee there. He was the cook, and the cleaning guy, and the one in charge of the computers but he has different personalities for each and spoke of ‘the others’ in third person. We only stayed there for a couple of nights and we were never really sure if he was crazy or just being funny.” SpicyAb**nthe / Reddit

• When I tried to open the window in my hotel room, I realized it was completely sealed shut. I asked the front desk about it, and they gave me some vague excuse about “safety regulations.” Something felt off, so I looked up reviews for the hotel. Turns out, several past guests mentioned a terrible smell of trash outside and even reported bugs trying to get in. The windows weren’t sealed for safety—they were keeping the horrors outside from creeping in.
• “In Mexico, my girlfriend and I stayed a night in a hut in the jungle. No running water, no electricity. As we are from Central Europe, we are not used to dangerous wildlife (spiders, scorpions, etc.). There was a beautiful cenote nearby, and at some point, it rained like crazy. The daytime was amazing. The night not so much.
  In our hut, there was a bed with a mosquito net that had huge holes in it. It was pitch black in the hut as we lay down and got comfortable, trying to sleep. I felt a bit creeped out and decided to check the hut for insects with my phone’s flashlight. Bad idea. There were hundreds of big spiders all over the walls and ceiling. Not the best night’s sleep. I ended up wrapped like a mummy in every piece of clothing we had with us.” Ragnathegreat / Reddit
• Even with the “Do Not Disturb” sign on my door, housekeeping barged in not once, but twice. The second time, I was in the shower, and they barely apologized before quickly closing the door. It made me uneasy, so I started keeping my valuables in my bag. Later, I noticed a few small things missing—nothing huge, but enough to know they’d been snooping.
• “My spouse and I stayed at a massive hotel complex which consisted of one hotel who bought almost every other hotel around it. We bought the online special and were put in one of the ancient acquisitions. There was this odd 4×4 piece of plywood that was hanging down from the ceiling just enough so it felt like someone could watch you through the crack but you couldn’t see in it. We hung up the do not disturb sign and went to tourist around. We came back and the TV was on at maximum volume. We left and returned again and the shower curtain had fallen down. Good thing it was only a one night stay...that room just had the feeling of someone there.” TheOrangeTickler / Reddit

• “My wife and I stayed in a pretty well known hotel in London. The rooms where pretty nice but had a door which allowed someone to travel between our room and the one next to us. To do so you needed to open the door in my room and then someone had to open their in the neighbouring room. There was only one handle on each door. One night I woke up in the middle of the night and thought I saw someone moving around. It being the dark and the middle of the night I thought it was my wife. The next morning I found my separator door ajar....” jack3tp0tat0 / Reddit
• “I once stayed in a B&B which had a shared bathroom. The first night I got up at probably like 2am and I really wanted to use the toilet. The bathroom was down the hallway, not too far but seemed like such an effort in my tired state. I get to the bathroom and open the door and there was this guy just standing in the bathroom, dressed head to toe in a mime costume. Face painted and everything. He was squatted down on the floor but his trousers were still up. I looked at him for a second, he gave me a wave with a smile and began just silently pushing. I just ran back to my room, locked the door. I’m still not sure if I was just really tired and seeing things or something, it’s seriously the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.” Jam-Polo / Reddit
• “Was staying in a youth hostel in Tel Aviv as a teenager, and I remember being woken up in the middle of the night, and someone saying ’It’s ok, don’t worry, go back to sleep’. I think I wasn’t really fully awake, more of a half-awake state. Anyway when I got up in the morning, found out my wallet had been stolen. ” stirls4382 / Reddit
• “My girlfriend works as a tv commercials producer and often travels to South America. One night she woke up at around 3am to find a male hotel employee standing at the foot of her bed staring at her. When they checked the CCTV he had been doing it for hours that night and for the previous three nights.” Unknown author / Reddit

Ever wondered what really happens behind the scenes at hotels? You might think twice about your next stay.