The next time you stay at a hotel, take a closer look at the sheets. A guest of the Courtyard Marriott chain did that after apparently hearing something “crinkle” when settling in for the night.
It was a note, tucked into the bedding, that said: “If you’re reading this, then house-keeping did not change your sheets!”
“This might sound weird, but sometimes I bring cots with me when I know I’m staying in hotels. For this very reason,” a traveller confessed on imgur in response to the now-viral photo.
Reddit users, meanwhile, replied with their own disgusting hotel room discoveries.
Intimates
“My husband found a pair of used underwear … in the bedside table. They didn’t believe us,” one woman wrote.
Someone else claimed to have found a vibrator. A couple others said there were “used porno mags” in their beds. There was a report of a used condom under a bed, as well.
Bodily functions
The more disturbing cases involved bodily fluids and excrement.
READ MORE: 5 things you need to know about bacteria
Another person said her mother found droppings from an animal (presumed to be a cat) in the corner of her room. Hotel staff reportedly blamed her for it, even though she didn’t have an animal with her and it looked like the feces had been there for a while.
Wet spots are apparently also a problem.
“The second I check in, the first thing I always look for is semen,” said one person, who once found “fresh vomit on the floor” by the hotel bed.
Even the fancy hotels don’t seem to be immune.
READ MORE: Study reveals dirtiest spots in hotel rooms.
“Last summer my mother, son and I went to one of the ‘nice’ hotels in Niagara,” read one comment. “We get to the room and my son gets on one of the beds, he says it is wet. I couldn’t find the wet spot so we let it go. Then my mom tells me the room smells of pee. So we remove the duvet cover, and the bed was peed on! We got a nice apology but no discount.”
What hotel staff say
A hotel worker who commented said “dirty sheets equals free stay every time.”
Unfortunately, not all those who identified themselves as hotel staff were surprised by the stomach-churning note.
A former housekeeping manager admitted: “I would go into the vacant rooms before our maids got there and would make a small mark on the sheets with a washable marker someplace not very visible. Caught and fired a lot of people for that stuff.
“It’s more common than you think, unfortunately.”
There is one thing you can do to make sure everyone gets clean sheets. Remove all the sheets and stack it in a pile on the bed before you leave.
WATCH: A cautionary tale on why you should always read online reviews
A hotel manager wrote that it’s something housekeepers actually appreciate and is pretty common.
The fact that it’ll help ensure the next guest gets clean sheets is a bonus.
When we asked Marriott Hotels about the note, we were told there was no way for them to “verify validity of this claim.” The company says it takes “hotel hygiene and cleanliness very seriously,” though, and “in the unusual event” that a guest has a concern, the issue is dealt with immediately.
SOUND OFF: Have you ever found anything gross in your hotel room? Share your stories with us in the comments section below.
Comments