The hotel industry is full of tiny little secrets that they don’t want you to know about when you come to stay overnight while traveling. They might not have literal skeletons in their closets, but the metaphorical ones can barely fit! We’re talking about insider knowledge about how often the duvets and covers on the beds get cleaned, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg!
Of course, there are some positive secrets as well, and ex-hotel employee Janessa Richard spilled the beans in a series of fun and candid TikTok videos. Keep in mind, though, Janessa noted that this is her personal experience working at just one hotel and we really shouldn’t assume that all hotels function this way. (Though most are sure to have their own shady secrets that nobody should know about.)
Check out some of Janessa’s best insights below, upvote the ones that you found useful and entertaining, and let us know what hotel secrets you’ve uncovered if you’ve ever worked in the industry, dear Pandas.
@janessarichard Spilling some 🍵 as an ex hotel employee! ##fyp ##pregnant ##pregnancy ##canadianmamas ##momlife ##toddlermom ##hotelsecrets
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We are legally not allowed to say your room number out loud, which is why we will usually write it on an envelope, pass it to you and tell you "this is your room number".
If you are very nice and we like you, we can upgrade you to a better room or a suite at no extra cost, if there's any available.
Different hotel brands have different policies when it comes to upgrading their guests. The hotel I worked at didn't really care, as long as we had the availability we were allowed to.
I did have some guests who asked for free upgrades, if they were nice I'd give it to them, if they weren't I'd lie and tell them we didn't have any suites available.
That is good but what if a new guest comes in and would like to pay for that upgrade room?
California mom Janessa focuses on videos about hotels, as well as her motherhood journey. She has over 53k followers on TikTok and appears to highly value honesty both in her content and in how she engages with her fandom.
Running a hotel well isn’t as easy as washing the sheets between every customer and smiling at everybody all day long. In a previous interview, Dr. Gabor Forgacs from Ryerson University told Bored Panda about some other aspects of maintaining quality at hotels and how hoteliers can ensure that their businesses prosper.
Dr. Forgacs noted that the main reason why guests return to hotels is simple: they had good memories of staying there. “Not necessarily a gold plated doorknob or the extra skirt hangers in the closet; best memories are created through interaction with people. If service excellence exceeds expectations, guests always remember that,” he told Bored Panda earlier.
If your breakfast is included in your stay but you're leaving before breakfast start time, you can always ask the staff if they can make a little "to-go" bag with a few items in it.
Most hotels do not wash their duvets/comforters in between guests. They wash them maybe once a year which is really freaking gross.
So, the first thing you wanna do when you walk into your room - don't go lay down on your bed, take the duvet off!
Meanwhile, struggling businesses need to reinvent themselves and up their standards. But none of that can happen without some honest appraisal of where the hotel stands at the moment. “Languishing hotels need to take an honest look at themselves to understand the reasons why they can't create special memories,” he explained.
Almost every standard room that you book comes with a water bottle and drinking glasses. I would not recommend drinking from those glasses as most of the time they're not changed in between guests as long as they look "clean".
When I stayed in hotels, I always washed the glasses and cups before I used them.
We ALWAYS recommend booking through the hotel directly. If you book through a 3rd party, your room and room type are not actually guaranteed.
Here in Korea, there's many respectable 3rd party apps and sites for booking hotels at cheaper prices, and we've never had problems with it. You check-in, they confirm your identity, find you in their database and give you the keys. You may make extensions and pay extra for additional services you decided for on the spot.
“Service culture is not built overnight; the way you hire, you train, and conduct yourself is crucial. Mistakes are made all the time; how you recover and show genuine care would make a difference,” Dr. Forgacs said.
Never EVER walk barefoot on the carpets. They are unbelievingly gross. They get vacuumed between guests but are rarely ever washed and deep cleaned.
I would not expect a hotel to wash or deep clean carpets in between every guest. That's what slippers are for.
you do realize people walk barefoot outside and on the beach and in the park. I doubt they are worried about the vacuumed carpet
The outdoors gets sanitized by the sun, never caught any bug from walking barefoot on the beach; but I got a foot fungus that took 3 months and 4 types of oral and topical medication to get rid of - by forgetting to wear slippers in a hotel room ( 3 star hotel in the very center of Tokyo).
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Do people imagine that bacteria can teleport their way through the skin on your feet or something? Feet are literally designed to protect us from whatever is on the ground.
Feet fungus can be debilitating. But honestly, yeah, I don't fear these things to that level.
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I wonder how many domestic carpets are ever really deep cleaned either...
I was just going to mention this. I do a thorough vacuum once a month but nothing like a DEEP CLEAN cause I don't own a shop vac. Granted, shoes are also not allowed to be worn indoors ... but still. Not many people do a deep clean with a shop vac often in their home.
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These tips are painful. You would have lasted well 40 - 50 years ago. Would hate to live in so much fear of everything.
I caught athlete's foot in a hotel because I didn't knwo about it. A really fancy one, too. I hoenstly prefer laminate floors or tiles. Less comfy but less gross, too.
I have notice more and more hotels remove all carpets and replace it in wood or some other type of flooring this year.
typically we do deep-clean the room with high temperature carpet cleaners every 2-3 months
Again, we did it quarterly. Impossible and impractical to do between guests unless it was soiled by a guest
I stayed at a nasty Days Inn a few years ago. I made the mistake of walking barefoot and in less than an hour the bottoms of my feet were black. So gross.
Make the sound of walking quieter. So people above you won’t sound like teachers walking down a hall while your trying to sleep. *Im just guessing from living under a apartment with wood floors and a elephant with tap shoes and a rain stick above me for years.
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This is Semi true. In Las Vegas, They do clean the carpets every week. But deep clean them once a month. A good number oc Hotels do it this way. Its due to how expensive and time consuming it is to clean carpets. To do one room could take 3 hours. A Half a floor about 2 days. This is why some floors will be closed off to the public.
They use sticky rollers on long poles to spot clean areas. They are paid by the room. So it saves time.
This is why a lot of hotels give you a cheap pair of new slippers to use during your stay.
Yes!! People may say I'm crazy, but I flip flop around my hotel room.
I actually have more of a problem with the chemicals they use on the carpets to clean them. If I don't wear footies my feet burn. The last hotel we stayed in must have recently put in new carpet because I didn't wear socks and it was so soft and clean looking.
My Father caught necrotic fasciitis from a small wound on his foot by walking on a motel carpet barefoot after a shower. They had to amputate his leg above the knee.
Aruba hotels.. from the pool or beach. I find same patches of sand. Workers blatantly ignore it until you call them out to clean it
There are a lot of shady things that happen in hotels. We once had an "escort company" rent out a room and bring men in. We had to call the cops, things got crazy.
When I worked at a hotel (major chain) cleaning rooms we were told to mind our own business, even if we witnessed something illegal or drugs, etc. We were told the only exception is anything involving children or if someone asked for help.
An extra ounce of care for your customers goes a long way. The more you genuinely care about them, the more likely they are to return. “Following up is a secret weapon. Comping, offering a discount or an upgrade for a mishap is what a typical hotel would do. The better ones will always follow up with the guest and on top of a remedy, tell their plan how the mistake will be prevented from happening again,” he said.
Some hotels have a "100% satisfaction guarantee" policy, which means if you find even one little thing that you're not satisfied with, and bring it up to the manager, they might be able to compensate your entire stay.
They do not change the toilet paper rolls in between guests. If there's paper left on the roll, they'll leave it and fold the end to make it look pretty.
Most of these sound like some people are allergic to anything that isn't themselves.
True. I've stayed in hundreds of hotels for work and as long as it looks and smells clean which it always does in a hotel I sleep quite happily
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*me writing article about the secrets of the tents that all people should know*😅😅😅
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I'm very intrigued to write an article about the secrets of spas! Oh boy! You don't want to know!
we're staying in a hotel next week, and this article didn't dissuade me from enjoying myself. OMG! what if there is no brand new roll of toilet paper? what ever will we do!
Nice, but most of the hotel's I've been at tell me otherwise. Hence the disclaimer.
You really expected any of the hotels to say "yes, the carpet is gross, we don't wash the duvet and we don't change the glasses"...like...really..?
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I wouldn't expect a fresh roll of tp every time the room is cleaned that's extremely wasteful and who cares?
All a bit dramatic, if they put a fresh toilet roll out every time what effect would that have on the environment? Do you wash your carpets more than once a year? Most glasses in hotels I've stayed are wrapped. Heres an idea if theyre not,wadh it before you use it.
stayed in more than 3000 hotel rooms ---drank the water, used the glasses, etc ... still alive----
If I am the princess and the pea I should rather stay at home in my own bubble - what a surprise....
This is all old, well known, common knowledge that has been written about hundreds of times.
I work on app development for a hotel chain. The apps have really useful features - you can check in and check out with them, make room requests right through the app, you can cast to the TV from your phone once paired with the app, and you can unlock your door with it. It only works if you're a member and have booked directly though. Our website also accurately lists prices from online travel agents right in its results, and it does price match, so it's really worth it to book through the web or app directly.
Put the remote control in a zip lock bag, it still works and you won't need to clean it.
Most of these sound like some people are allergic to anything that isn't themselves.
True. I've stayed in hundreds of hotels for work and as long as it looks and smells clean which it always does in a hotel I sleep quite happily
Load More Replies... *me writing article about the secrets of the tents that all people should know*😅😅😅
Load More Replies... I'm very intrigued to write an article about the secrets of spas! Oh boy! You don't want to know!
we're staying in a hotel next week, and this article didn't dissuade me from enjoying myself. OMG! what if there is no brand new roll of toilet paper? what ever will we do!
Nice, but most of the hotel's I've been at tell me otherwise. Hence the disclaimer.
You really expected any of the hotels to say "yes, the carpet is gross, we don't wash the duvet and we don't change the glasses"...like...really..?
Load More Replies... I wouldn't expect a fresh roll of tp every time the room is cleaned that's extremely wasteful and who cares?
All a bit dramatic, if they put a fresh toilet roll out every time what effect would that have on the environment? Do you wash your carpets more than once a year? Most glasses in hotels I've stayed are wrapped. Heres an idea if theyre not,wadh it before you use it.
stayed in more than 3000 hotel rooms ---drank the water, used the glasses, etc ... still alive----
If I am the princess and the pea I should rather stay at home in my own bubble - what a surprise....
This is all old, well known, common knowledge that has been written about hundreds of times.
I work on app development for a hotel chain. The apps have really useful features - you can check in and check out with them, make room requests right through the app, you can cast to the TV from your phone once paired with the app, and you can unlock your door with it. It only works if you're a member and have booked directly though. Our website also accurately lists prices from online travel agents right in its results, and it does price match, so it's really worth it to book through the web or app directly.
Put the remote control in a zip lock bag, it still works and you won't need to clean it.
