11 Shocking Facts About Hotels That Will Make You Bring Your Own Bedsheet The Next Trip

Planning a vacation is synonymous to deciding which hotel to stay in.

We imagine hotels to be luxurious islands where we are treated like kings and queens. Sleeping on the most comfortable beds, getting breakfast in bed, service at our call 24×7, and a chauffeur to drive you around.

The truth is, hotel rooms are not as glitzy and clean as they seem, even if they seem so. Many whistleblowers came out in a Snowden fashion and blurted out the ugly truths about hotel rooms on Reddit and Quora.

Let’s take a look at the most unbelievable ones –

1. Any hotel staff member can walk in anytime and do anything in your room while you are away and you would not know

But we already know this, and yet, in the buzz of the vacation, we tend to ignore it. Imagine for a second if one of the staff members has an evil side.

They have access to everything inside your room.

 

2. Room service does not change the bedsheets every day – they just fluff them so that you think that they changed it.

If it has a visible stain, it’s washed. If it looks relatively clean, they just let it be. Also, the flat sheet – the sheet of cloth that covers the blanket is almost never washed!

 

3. The best rooms are given to people who book through travel agents – because the managers get a cut. The worst rooms are given to people who book online.

Also, websites almost always overbook the rooms and even confirm all their bookings. It is because of this many of the people do not get the rooms of their choice in the hotel.

 

4. There’s a good chance a person has died in your room once upon a time

Or at least in the whole hotel. Most of these deaths are because of natural causes, but you never know. Your room might have had a suicide in it. In any case, hotels try really hard to keep the news of dead people wrapped tight.

 

5. It’s actually cheaper if you call the hotel directly instead of booking through travel portals

Despite the heavily advertised discounts, travel websites make money through the bookings online. You have a very good chance of getting a better discount if you directly call the hotel.

 

6. The glasses in the hotel rooms are never washed or cleaned. The fresh smell you get is of the room freshener

It’s most likely, if they are washed, they are washed in the room’s sink itself.

Use disposable glasses. Ask for them at the help desk.

 

7. The snacks you order during the early morning are probably stale. Same goes for the “special menu”.

When you order food early in the morning, it is better to order breakfast and not day snacks.

 

8. The towels are also not washed every day. They are just ironed and then sprayed with room freshener to make them look and smell nice.

So, when you get a “clean and dry” towel, it might not have been washed, even after being used once. Remember, laundry is expensive, and it seems like this tactic is just cost cutting to make more money.

Or just plain laziness.

 

9. Most of the positive online reviews are posted by the hotel people themselves – but this is a case for the whole service industry.

Everyone is social media savvy nowadays. Don’t blindly believe a 4-star rating on a travel website just because.

 

10. The coverlet – the sheet that covers the bedsheet – NEVER TOUCH THAT!

That has probably never been washed. But in their defense, coverlets are not meant to be used as a blanket or as a cover.

Some tourists also call them “sperm cocoons”.

 

11. Hotel brands are of no consequence. Hotels are owned by management companies and personal owners. They may or may not follow the brand’s high standards.

Just because a hotel is managed by a brand, doesn’t mean it imbibes all of the brand’s values.

If you are a traveler, you will know that this is true, as you might find some of the hotels of a brand satisfactory and some not up to the mark.

The important thing to remember here is that not all hotels have all the disorders stated above. Many of the good quality hotels take hygiene very seriously to the point that it would look like OCD.

The lesson is – never use the coverlet and drink from their glasses. And make a good friendship with one of the staff members so that they put you up in a better room and give you good service.

Happy globetrotting!

Fact Sources – DailyMail, Quora, Reddit

Cover Image Source