Room Service? Tourists Share Their Disturbing Hotel Horror Stories

A French budget hotel where a friend and I stayed before embarking on a camping trip. The rest of the clientele looked like women who charged by the hour. As my friend and I were getting dressed in the morning, one of the cleaning staff stuck their hand through the open window towards my handbag which was sitting on a table! Yeah, I started using Tripadvisor after that...

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We booked a place that looked really nice in the advertisements. When we arrived, it was actually a man's house, out of which he ran a tattoo parlour. The kitchen was covered in week old food, the entire house smelled like the pot he was smoking (while we were there), and he had guys coming into the living room to get ink. We were feeling pretty nervous by the end of the first night, so we decided to move. The owner got so angry he started threatening us and we ended up having to bribe him to be allowed to leave.

Pixabay

Econo Lodge in Pasadena California. I checked in, got to my room and laid down on the bed. When I looked over to turn out the beside table lamp there as a used condom hanging off of the lampshade. I decided that I wasn't going to stay the rest of the night. I packed up, got my money back, and went to a different hotel. My total stay was about 15 minutes.

Pixabay

A hotel in Paris. It was in the middle of summer. There was no air conditioning, and the windows barely opened. It was the size of a shoebox, the carpet and furniture were all the same color (light purple), and the service was horrible. Want your room cleaned? They will do it when they are ready. Want an extra towel? Better go to a store and buy one yourself. Want some restaurant suggestions? Scoffs.

Pixabay

Every time I have ever moved, the house I was moving to has never vacated on time, so at the last minute, I've had to stay for a week or two at some motel. The most recent one I like to call Fight Club. I asked to be moved three times because I wound up next to a room with constant screaming matches going on. The parking lot, where no doubt a lot of trafficking was going down, had brawls happening every day. Sometimes it was homeless people, one time it was a huge gang of about a dozen people going at it. The fight actually spread to the inside of the hotel where they were chasing each other down the halls and they were kicking in doors. The front desk clerk got beat up. He had to go to the hospital after he called the cops, who showed up nearly an hour later. I kicked the leg out from a table and held it like a baseball bat, and I waited by the door waiting for my turn, waiting to see if anyone was going to kick my door in. After about a week of this, I left and I spent three days sleeping in my car waiting for those people to vacate my house.

Broadly

Stayed in a hotel in Greece as a part of a tour package. When we got there, we were told that the hotel, as well as the neighboring buildings, had no power or water. We were forced to carry our bags to the third floor with no help from any of the staff. After hauling all our luggage upstairs, we were told it would be another 2 hours before anything was fixed. Our tour guide decided to take us for a walk around town to pass time. Fast forward 2 hours later with no progress whatsoever. I decided to go to the hotel next door, only to see it is fully functioning. When I ask the front desk if they were having power issues they had no idea what I was talking about. I also noticed the room prices were half the price of what the hotel next door was charging.

I go back to my hotel to confront the staff about the situation. They look at me confused when I told them the hotel next door has power and water. When I mention the room prices there were nearly half price the last lady at the front desk became passive aggressive. The power was magically restored within 5 minutes.

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I stayed at a place about 10 years ago and this place was barely a step above just sleeping outside. Hard beds, water spots, mold, faint smell of smoke, etc.

What really did it for me was when I wanted to take a bath. The bathtub had no stopper, and it wasn't one of those deals where you flipped a switch to stop the drain, so I called down to the front desk to ask if they had any stoppers. Their answer? Get one of the small face towels and jam in the drain, fill the bath, and by the time the water slowly drained out, I would be done.

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31. Smoking Room, Please

Our truck was in the shop and my co-driver and I booked a stay in a hotel nearby. The sewer line below the hotel had broke and the city was in the midst of fixing it, but the smell ...

We spent several hours in our room battling the stench, but it was too much. We asked the front desk if there was another room we could have away from where they were working on the sewer line. They only had one other room. A smoking room. Neither of us smoke. The smell of old cigarettes was infinitely preferable and even helped mask the oppressive stench from outside.

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Me and my wife stayed at a hotel in a rural place in Texas. We decided to cheap out a bit on the hotel cause we figured it couldn't be too bad. It wasn't spectacularly bad, but it was bad enough that I'll never cheap out on a hotel again.

The hot water wasn't working so they switched us around to a few different rooms before determining that the building's hot water unit was broken. After taking a cold shower, I decided to try the complimentary coffee they keep in the room. Huge mistake.

That night we got treated to a serenade by the other people staying at the hotel that I think was titled "late night arguments." It was a long serenade that lasted pretty much the entire 8 hours I was trying to sleep on a deformed spring mattress.

So the next day, after having a breakfast of stale cereal and warm milk, me and my wife go out. When we got back, we found out that they locked us out of our room. There was a different person working the front that day, so they were just as confused as we were about what to do about it. After about 30 minutes, they made us a new pair of key cards.

We had a bit of time to sit down at that point, so I decided to try out their free WiFi. It turns out the WiFi isn't free. You had to be a subscriber to some network or other to use it. So I connected to the network of some adjacent business that provided a speed somewhere between dial-up and snail mail.

On the way back home, me and my wife decided to double our budget for a hotel in the future.

9Coach

29. The Italian Job

Milan, Italy. Couldn't find a hotel near the airport late at night. My wife asked a taxi driver where a hotel was. The taxi driver said, "follow me."

Drove us to the sleaziest hotel in Milan. Weird people in the lobby. Trash all over. By then it was midnight so we took a room and hoped for the best. I literally slept all night with one eye open. Left at the next morning and left my car keys on the table in the room. Got back to the airport in the United States and found I had no car keys. Just the icing on the cake.

Tucson Locksmith

28. Professional Erotica

We needed a place to stay just one night after attending a concert an hour or so away from home. It only needed to be a simple place to stay, but I found a cheap little place with a spa in the room and though it would be fun to use the opportunity for a bit of romantic night away. We arrived before the gig and found the place painted a cheesy shade of pink, and the layout of the room was like a shady drive in motel, stained carpet and plastic furniture. The toilet broke two seconds after arriving and we had to call maintenance to fix it. We left for the gig, laughing at what a dodgy place we'd found ourselves in. Later in the night we arrived back at the hotel a little wasted and ready for some fun in the spa. As soon as we entered the bathroom we were hit with the unmistakable sound of loud, obnoxious sex thumping through the walls. It pounded through the room and we giggled at the raunchiness of it, and when it stopped suddenly we panicked a little that they'd heard us. But we just heard chatting coming from the room next door; smoke break. Five seconds later, moaning and screaming. Suddenly, regular conversation. These guys were going from all out, crazy monkey sex to polite conversation in seconds. Eventually, we realised; it was porn. They were making porn. This ebb and flow of screaming and orgasms and chit chat continued for HOURS, constantly, until they finally packed up all their equipment in a van at about 4am and went home, after 7 hours of 'hard' work.

I better recognize that room one day.

Photo by Pablo Heimplatz on Unsplash

27. Bed Sores

My dad was staying in Thailand on business. It was just one night, so he was all packed and just using the room to sleep after a long and eventful day. He slept great and woke up when he realized that he literally could not move. He was paralyzed from the number of bed bugs that bit him through the night. It took like 2-3 minutes of intense focus and slow movements before he could sit up. His entire body was covered in small red sores from the bugs.

IMDB

My boyfriend took me out to a hotel for my birthday night, to be part romantic, and partly let me sleep in for the first time in months (I had an almost one-year-old baby who still to this day wakes up at the butt crack of dawn). He didn't know anything about hotels and accidentally booked us a night in the nastiest place with stained bed sheets, funky smells, bad TV, and the works. We sleep there and at 5 a.m. his phone goes off. I decided to just go take a nice bath and relax since I couldn't sleep. I go into the bathroom, turn on the light, and at least 15 cockroaches are sitting in the tub. Couldn't get out of there fast enough.

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We were on route to Washington, D.C., when we started to lose daylight and had to find a place to stay. The motel we found didn't have a paved parking lot and the air was full of dust. I think I recall seeing some piles of cement blocks but not much else.

We pull in and a lady with a pink muumuu and hair curlers comes out to our car, telling us she owns the place and that all the rooms are taken and the rest are being renovated. Behind her is her son: a meaty behemoth that may not have been mentally all there. She does have one room and she can let us have it at a discount. My dad jumps at this chance.

I remember there was a pool in a courtyard behind the main building. My mother scouted it out first and then insisted we were not to go anywhere near it.

Our room didn't have a door lock on the front door. The bathroom didn't have a door at all. The carpet was a long shag rug in dark blue and green. Nothing felt or looked remotely clean. There was one very hard bed and one lamp, and not much else.

My father phones the front desk to find out why the door lock isn't working. The result was the son knocking on our door with a chair we could use to prop under the doorknob. My father spent the night trying to sleep in a chair by the jury-rigged door. We paid and left early the next day.

Sick Chirpse

Staying the night at a hotel in Texas. The hotel doesn't look the best, but not the worst. Lots of families and kids. So anyway, they have an indoor pool. My 15-year-old daughter was accompanying her 4-year-old cousin from the hotel room to the indoor pool area via the only elevator. She gets on the elevator to a large group of men who were circled around the walls of the elevator. One of them was holding a knife and another one asked her what she was doing on the elevator. The doors hadn't closed yet. She was scared and she ushered her cousin out and told us what happened. We went to front desk to let them know what happened and that we were scared. The front desk clerk said it was okay. They probably had a birthday cake up in their room and the knife was to cut the cake.

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Coming in after registering online with a pet-friendly hotel we'd stayed in before. They left us alone our entire stay and the moment we left I had a nasty email explaining how they were going to do an extra charge of $40 for our dog. They had no additional pet fee, so I asked what the issue was.

The next email was from the owner of the hotel going on a hateful rant about how we stayed there often enough that we knew they had a pet fee and that we were going to pay it because it had been charged to our card.

I forwarded all the emails to regional after contacting the company via Twitter for the address. We weren't getting responses calling the hotel directly.

A few days later the entire hotel stay was refunded to my card along with the fee. I'm super confused. I have a new email from the president of this huge global hotel chain. He's apologizing for the local hotel treating us so poorly and made the owner call and apologize. He then credited over a hundred dollars to our reward card for their company so we can go out again at their expense.

Never been back to that hotel but have happily stayed in other hotels by the chain.

Groucho Reviews

21. Awake Before The Crack Of Dawn

Staying in some hotel just outside of Rome. This place was probably a former resort at some point in time, as it looked like it used to be nice.

We asked for a room with 3 beds. In reality, it was 2 beds and a tiny couch, so my 2 friends took the beds and I took the couch. We were woken up at 3:30 a.m. by a rooster just outside the window and an old dog that barked just like the rooster. it was horrible.

I went to take a shower and the water came out as if it was a power washer for 15 seconds, and then a nearly empty water bottle for 15 seconds. It was switching between scalding hot and freezing cold.

For breakfast, we're eating last night's dinner rolls and plain non-flavored yogurt.

I think I remember there being roaches in the room.

Jons Jail Journal

20. Shocking Experience

I stayed in a cheap church-run hotel when I went to NYC on a school trip. It's specifically for students, nuns, and clergy, so it was bare bones. When I went into the room, there was a giant flap of cheap paint hanging off the wall, with the plaster exposed. Then when I went to flip on the light, I got electrocuted. I couldn't stand for a bit afterward.

Parade

I used to sleepwalk when I was younger. On vacation, I unlocked the door and walked downstairs. Woke up in the corridor, had no idea which room I was in because it was the first night. I spent about 10 minutes banging on one room, finally, I hear an Asian lady so I ran down the hallway. Luckily enough the second door I tried was right.

Learning Mind

I was in Topeka. Decided to stay at Motel 6 to save some money. I get in the bed and feel something crawling on my leg. I throw the cover off, and insects are all over my legs. I get dressed and get out of there PRONTO.

I go to the front desk and they say I can't have my money back, I already paid, no refunds. Finally, she says I can have a different room. I say no, I don't want to stay at your insect-infested motel. I say bring the manager out. She says she's not here.

I walk out and get a room at the Holiday Inn across the street. Wonderful people. Friendly, clean spacious room. I get to my room and go to bed. Next morning I call the manager and ask for my money back. She says no. I say my next call is going to be to American Express and tell them to block the charge. She gives me my money back.

Videoblocks

17. Saved Money But Left After 30 Minutes

Found this one place, something of a converted apartment building, the rooms were huge. The office was separate from the building, and it looked like they tried to make more rooms out of it. On the second floor was a huge window duct taped onto the frame. We were tired and continued to the fourth floor.

We get to the door and there was no lock on the door, it was held closed from the outside with a chair. We were hungry and ordered pizza and went to pick it up, so we explored our temporary squalid abode for any more atrocities. There was a full fridge, filled with mold... and mustard, an attic door that led to somewhere dark and crusty, and stains in the bathroom.

Anyway, pizza comes back and we hear "we need to get out of here, there are some guys with knives hanging out." We decide to get out of there. Race down the stairs, and the first floor smelled really bad. Sounded like a few fights coming from somewhere and we weren't going to find out any more than that. We get to the office and ask for a refund.

They didn't want to give us a refund since we were in the room for around 30 minutes.

I said, "Give me a refund, this place should be burned down. You couldn't pay us to actually stay here. We are over 1,000 miles from home, give us something, seriously."

Did I mention this was a family vacation?

Mental Floss

16. The Bad Times Overfloweth

Back in high school, my school did a week-long musical exchange program to Cuba. It was absolutely stunning and I enjoyed every bit of it. However, the place we stayed at was a resort, and each room was a tiny cabana that held 3-6 people.

Everything was going great the first few days, until one day we heard this strange gurgling while sleeping. The toilet water was overflowing EVERYWHERE. Not just for one night. The toilet just kept overflowing at the same time, in our cabana every single night until we left. We had no idea why.

It got to the point where we just started closing the bathroom door and clogging the bottom of the door with towels. We took shifts with replacing the towels.

My cousin and I got to our last stop on a road trip. I get out to check in while my cousin waits in the car. Everyone stares at us. I walk into the tiny, dirty "lobby" and a man with two teeth emerges from his apartment behind the front desk. He makes strange small talk and tells me I look like a Stephanie and he's going to call me Stephanie. He tells me he gets off at 11 and that he gave us the best room, right above his apartment.

I return to my cousin's jeep and she looks horrified. She said a man came up to her jeep, touching it and peeking in until he realized she was still inside. He bolted.

Our room was the last one in front of a large deck and next to a ladder leading down to the man's apartment. We quickly realize that the conjoining door to the room next door is open and has no way to lock. We prop something up against it to keep it closed and unpack. We see scratches down the walls and dents in the walls-- signs of a struggle.

As I'm in the bathroom, the door has about a half inch between the door and the frame where anyone can see through. It's weird, but I deal with it. My cousin calls to me. She points to the main door, where the deadbolt is busted clean off. There's a latch, but nothing to latch onto. The peephole is also covered by a plastic sheet.

My cousin wants to leave, but I tell her we have until 11 until the worker's shift ends and we can sit and think about it. Just then, my mom saw some photos I sent her from the room and sends back two words: "leave now."

My cousin and I literally run to the car and speed out of that parking lot, never turning back.

FRPATB

My family checked in, brought our bags to the room, and planned to change clothes and head out to eat dinner. I sat down on the side of the bed to tie my shoes and noticed it felt weirdly cold. I pulled back the duvet, and everything looked fine. I pressed my hand down on the sheet, and water seeped up from the mattress.

We called the front desk and they sent someone to change the sheets. As they're changing them, my dad pressed down on the mattress again and more water seeped up through the mattress and soaked the sheet. No idea what was spilled on the bed, why it was cold, or why it wasn't noticed when the sheets were originally changed.

Imgur

13. Light Up The Room

Had a room reserved at a place in Tampa and it looked nice online and it had some good reviews. Driving in the nearby area and it was a little sketchy but I wasn't worried. We checked in and we opened the door and turn on the lights and the walls were covered in roaches of all sizes. Usually, they run when you cut the lights on, but these all looked at me like they were saying, "are you gonna turn the lights back off?"

Went to the front desk and demand my money back. Front desk dude is apologetic and insists on looking at another room. At that point, I'm basically like, "okay buddy, humor me." Open the door and more roaches.

Go back to the front desk and just laughed as the guy did the refund.

Youtube

My friend and I were working a fitness expo in Vegas and stayed at a cheap hotel to save some money. They have two sections to this hotel. The tower when you first walk in, which is equivalent to a nice hotel. Then they have the back section which you get to by walking through the entire hotel, EXITING the building, and entering another building. This building is next to some type of alley and anyone can just walk in without being seen by any type of employee or security.

That night around 2 a.m., there is a pounding on the door. It woke me up out of a dead sleep. I can see feet under the door and I just stayed as still and quiet as possible. He kept pounding and pounding on the door. He stood there for almost 5 minutes in silence (I could hear his heavy breathing and see his feet under the door). Then started pounding and kicking the door angrily, while making crazy noises. He eventually kicked one last time and then ran down the hall. Less than a minute later we heard 4 gunshots down the hall. I have never been so scared in my life. We stayed up all night and talked to the front desk (in the nice part of the hotel) the next morning. They claimed they knew nothing about any gunshots and happily switched us to the secure portion of the hotel.

On a family trip to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame a few years ago. Everyone in the place would gather at the pool and hot tub area in the late afternoon, adults & kids. There was this really odd smell near the hot tub; an icky, rotting smell. Thought it was the trash since there was a communal grill in the same area, it was summer, and people are slobs. Three nights, every night hotel guests at the hot tub, kids dunking themselves in the water, playing and spitting it at each other, kid stuff. By the third night, the smell was really distinct. I was sitting with my 6-year-old, both of us in the hot tub. I was playing around with the filter lid for no particular reason when it popped out of place. To my absolute horror, the most wretched decaying smell wafted up and inside the filter basket was a huge dead bloated half-boiled rat. Everyone screamed, freaking out ensued. Called manager and security. Not at all amused about the thought of all the death and diseases that me and my kid, along with the other guests, had been stewing in for three nights. Some kids had that decayed rat water in their mouths (not mine, yay!). I have never scrubbed myself and my son as much as that evening. I wanted to remove a layer or two of skin. They did comp the whole stay, but it was disgusting.

I had a traumatic experience at a hotel in Texas a few years ago. I was with my son, who was 9 at the time. First night there and all of a sudden, the fire alarm goes off. My son freaks out, and I try to calm him down, saying someone probably pulled the alarm by accident. As I'm putting on my shoes, he opens the door. Thick, white smoke barrels into the room. He is terrified and so am I. We are on the 5th floor. I know we have to get out, so I grab his hand, tell him we're going for the stairs at the end of the hallway and to take a deep breath.

We get into the hallway, and the smoke is so thick we can't see 2 inches in front of our faces. Breathing in means instant choking. Running on pure adrenaline, I run to the end of the hallway and start pounding on the wall to find the door to the stairwell. I find it, throw it open, and down the stairs we fly. We burst outside, exhaling white puffs while we cough and choke. Fire trucks show up, we are stuck outside with nothing but our pajamas. Finally, at 2 a.m., a fireman calls everyone over for an announcement. It wasn't a fire, some jerks set off all of the fire extinguishers in the hallways and pulled the alarm.

IMDB

3. Ramada I'm Out

This happened to me in Daytona, FL. I was down there working and had a super long, stressful day. Finally time for bed. Pull the covers back, and blood. A bunch of it. And it wasn't dark and dry, it was bright red and still wet. Nasty! Then they send up a guy, who resembles the creep in Scary Movie 2, with new sheets. I said thanks, but I will change them myself.

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