Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
45 Wild Confessions From Hotel, Hospital, And Airport Workers About What The Public Misses
Sometimes, ignorance can be bliss. That's especially true when we're talking about other people's jobs. People visit hospitals, airports, and hotels every day, but there are lots of things behind the scenes that they don't see. Smashed luggage, poor cleaning practices, and doctors' real personalities are often for employees' eyes only.
Luckily, some folks online who work in these fields sometimes spill the tea and enlighten the rest of us. Recently, one netizen asked hotel, airport, and hospital workers to share their behind-the-scenes facts that would most likely shock the general public.
They wrote, "People who work in hotels/hospitals/airports: what's something the public doesn't know?" Read on to find out the inner workings of these industries, and keep these stories in mind the next time you pay them a visit.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Hospital chaplain, someone passing away at age 90 surrounded by friends and family is actually a happy visit for me, not sad.
Young, traumatic passings, stillbirth, people being kept alive in the ICU well past their due date to family not honoring their wishes, these are the sad ones.
RELATED:
#2
I supported doctors in IT for a while, I can tell you they are both the smartest and dumbest people I've ever met.
I had one who could take a human brain apart and put it back together, but kept all of his passwords, bank accounts, social security number, and every other personally identifiable thing on sheet of paper stuck to the back of his laptop. He got a very short and grumpy response when I suggested that was a bad idea and also told him I could make all that an encrypted file on his laptop.
You didn't ask, but the second dumbest for IT professionals are lawyers, but I assume they are very good at practicing law.
David Paterson 10 hours ago (edited)
It's a darn good idea to have everything important on a sheet of paper on the back of the laptop. A password saved on the cloud is so hackable.
#3
Comforters on your beds in hotel rooms are not washed between guests. If they are stained or look rough, then they wash them. They make your bed in a specific way so the comforter isn't the main blanket on top touching you. The sheets are cleaned every time though.
Some of the rooms are not vacuumed either. Just lint rolled.
Housekeepers are on tight schedules most of the time, with strict management breathing down your back, so don't blame them.
I used to work front desk for many years.
viimatar 6 hours ago
Just get the Nordic type of duvet covers... They're basically bedsheets sewn into pouches, similarly to common pillowcases, and keep the duvets clean on both sides. Additionally, they limit the amount of dust flying about in the room, and collecting in the bedding. Why would you have a "comforter" in your bed and let it touch your bare skin all the time, when you can change the sheets whenever you wish? I don't think the sheets would tidily stick in place when someone sleeps, even if you tucked their edges under the mattress.
#4
ICU nurse here. The odds that a patient that codes and is successfully resuscitated will survive until discharge are way lower than you would think.
#5
When requesting your medical records tell them ‘it’s for continued care’ and you won’t be charged to get your records.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 13 hours ago
Wait.. You get charged for wanting your medical records? What in the USA??
#6
If you pass away during flight the Captain will decide to continue to final destination or divert to nearest airport.
If diverting to nearest airport the crew will move the body to an empty row of seats. If empty row unavailable they will place the body in the rear galley and cover with blankets.
If continuing to final destinations the crew may leave the body in the seat and remove passengers to other seats for the duration of the flight.
Typically you may not know someone has passed away during flight. The crew does their best to maintain calm and not draw attention to the situation.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 13 hours ago
"It is preferable not to travel with a d**d man," Henri Michaux.
#7
I used to work at a very small airport (three flights in and out a day on a turboprop) where we were all simultaneously the ticket agents, gate agents, security personnel, and baggage handlers. We also fueled and de-iced the planes, along with cleaning the cabin between flights.
DO NOT mess around with the people who have your travel plans in their hands. Don't yell at them if your flight is delayed or if your bags don't make it. They can make it a whole lot worse.
Andrew Keir 6 hours ago
An airport near me has the same guy check your ticket, load your luggage and then drive the Jeep down the runway to scare off the birds. He earns his pay ! (I don't *think* he then pilots the plane, but how would I know for sure?)
#8
Used to work in housekeeping for a hotel as a teenager. If someone requested early check in or we were on a time crunch, we were told to “clean” by making some quick vacuum lines in the floor and spraying lemon Pledge in the air to make it “smell clean.” And yes, the comforters never get washed.
#9
Nothing is as clean as you think it is. Except for the actual sterilized equipment or one time use items
Although I think most people know this by now.
I’m referring to hospitals
#10
If you’re told to be at the hospital at 6 AM for your procedure you’re slotted for 7:30 or after. You have to go through admissions first. Then to pre-op. Then anesthesia will come and assess you. Next surgeon will stop by the bay. Then you wait. If an emergency comes up, you wait longer. It’s frustrating but please be glad that you are not the “emergency”.
Also, hospitals can get bed bugs too.
nottheactualphoto 13 hours ago
When I was in the ER, I was very happy to be their lowest priority.
#11
We have a code phrase for "this person is being creepy" over the radio. You'd never hear it unless you needed to. - Hotel staff
Andrew Keir 6 hours ago
Like supermarkets have to alert Security - "Will Mr Brown please come to the loading dock" or some such. Not so obvious nowadays, since so many supermarkets have everyone on Bluetooth headphones, but still ...
#12
Don't be embarrassed if you accidentally leave an adult item out in your hotel room and housekeeping comes. They've seen much worse. Don't use this as an excuse to leave them out on purpose.
#13
Hotel superchains (Hilton, Marriott, and such) keep notes on your account... forever. Do something "notable" and we put it down. When you check in, it displays on their screens. Good, bad, ugly... it's right there. Passed off a maid 10 years ago at the Orange County Hilton? It's still there when you check into the st louis hampton. Good tips? Bad tips? NO tips? Bought pizza for their desk staff at the Marriott Chicago? Yeah, that's there too. The moral?
Don't be a jerk; be Good... be better. We'll reciprocate, even decades later.
Hotels NEVER forget.
#14
If an aircraft goes tech (breaks or something) then they can often tell the crew in advance, but will not tell any passengers -they want them at the airport to wait.
Andrew Keir 5 hours ago
They'll probably spend the time buying tchotchkes and food in the cafe - captive audience !
#15
People think airports run on giant systems and precision. Half the time it’s exhausted workers holding together a chain reaction with coffee and pure stubbornness.
Andrew Keir 6 hours ago
Props to the customer-facing staff who always (imho) seem to be chipper and bright, even late in the shift and in serious heat. Thank you!
#16
I work in IT for a massive hotel chain, and previously designed 911 system infrastructure (so not hospital, but adjacent).
It's honestly breathtaking (terrifying) how antiquated some of the massive core systems are that run these industries. Southwest Airlines crew scheduling system outage was a great example of this a few years ago.
Back when I worked in 911, I saw systems still in operation that actually made me nervous. There was a lot of "we don't want to invest in upgrading yet and it still works, so our most important task is to make sure that it never shuts off." And we're talking about the MOST CRITICAL communications network in the country. Granted, the level of antiquity varies by region/locale. But still lol.
Edited to add: I've seen phone systems almost as old as I am still landing active 911 calls - and I'm almost 30 lol. Now the larger, better-funded municipalities have moved to E911 with SIP trunks and whatnot, but old copper landlines are definitely still out there.
#17
A whole lot of co-worker adult "playtime" going on in hotels and hospitals. I can't vouch for airports, but I've worked in hospitality, and currently in healthcare, and it's common.
#18
As a past waitress for years I can tell you most ice machines have cockroaches in them so check your ice cubes.
#19
I was a chef for many years and nothing crazy in the kitchen but from other departments… Housekeeping is so overworked. It is hard to stay at hotels now. Knowing they probably clean all with the same rag.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 8 hours ago
I don't know how it is for the housekeeping staff at a hotel, but my family runs a housecleaning business and we never re-use rags from home to home, or even area to area within the same home. If you do that, you'll end up tracking dust and dirt into other areas, no matter how well you rinse out the rag, and that will get noticed, so you can't really "cut that corner". Those huge cubes of cleaning rags are cheap and mass-produced these days, so our teams all carry a ton of clean rags with them. They do get washed and sanitized at the end of the day, and we do replace them fairly often. Not sure if it's the same in a hotel.
#20
Mid hotels with complimentary breakfasts? Yeah, everything is premade and microwaved, or slid into slots on a massive oven. Whatever isn't eaten gets put away and reheated for the next day.
The breakfast juice machine never gets unplugged, it has a switch under the front edge you can turn on. If you ask the staff nicely, they'll turn it on for you. I used to do it for parents with little kids all the time.
Showers and tubs, including Jacuzzi tubs, get sprayed with bleach, and that's it. I never saw the inside of the faucets or sprayers cleaned.
They keep a skeleton crew at night. I worked 3-11. After housecleaning left at 5ish, it was just me in a hotel of 30 rooms.
Key cards will deactivate if you keep them next to any magnetized strip, like a credit card.
viimatar 6 hours ago
The breakfast: this is what happens when your country doesn't have legislation or authority control and monitoring for actual food safety. Do that here, and your restaurant facilities will be immediately shut down until things get fixed, and your company will receive a huge fine. If things still are done like that in subsequent inspections, the whole company or its owners may be put under a business running prohibition. Good luck with causing food pôisoning to every third customer. Doesn't the USA have those insane liability laws? What happened to them?
#22
We are all miserable and hate being there.
#23
Airport.
The number of buzzing bags in the bag room after they tumble their way down the baggage conveyors.
Pax claim they are "electric toothbrushes" nine out of ten times.
When we are short of staff, the lav guy also does the potable water. The good people do the potable water first.
Auntriarch 1 hour ago
Could be. There's an attachment for electric toothbrushes that isn't for your mouth
#24
There are more than 250,000 passings in the US from medical mistakes and malpractice every year.
#25
Hospitals: how disgustingly dirty they are. Especially if you work in a non-patient area, it’s even worse. If the general public is going to be seeing an area they at least attempt to keep it somewhat clean looking. But I highly encourage you not to walk around barefoot, I’ve seen that far too many times 🤢.
#26
At a Hospital, one of the reasons we slap that wristband on you is for morgue ID purposes. Have a nice day.
viimatar 6 hours ago
Well, they also check the barcode before administering medication or putting you under anesthesia, keep newborns and mothers connected together, and hopefully even seeing to it that you won't have contact with medication, foodstuffs, or medical equipment like latex gloves that you have severe allergies for, but whatever. Have a nice day, as well.
#27
I can’t (or couldn’t) tell you if someone passed away in your room or any ghost stories because it’s bad for business. (I’m aware that some people seek those rooms, but not every hotel wants that kind of publicity)
I worked over ten years for a major (the biggest they said!) hotel company and my boss would get mad when I tell the new staff about these stories.
#28
I worked as a front desk agent for a little while at a large conference and airport hotel (Marriott chain). Two points.
If the hotel requires a deposit or full payment on arrival try to use a credit card, not a debit card. Not even as "credit". Debit cards will pull the cost twice, which means you will see two charges - the first charge & the real charge - and it can take up to two weeks for the "not real" charge to drop off your account. A credit card will pull a single charge up, adjust the charge as needed (drop the deposit, add incidentals charges, whatever) and that will be the one that sticks. This was a *constant* issue with visitors. Constant. This can put you thousands of dollars in the hole for your entire vacation. Pay with a credit card if at all possible!
ALSO, IMPORTANTLY: if you are coming in on a work conference or similar at a Marriott, Hilton, etc. in the US: PLEASE make sure your company has filed the credit card authorization form with the hotel for their company card so that THEY can be charged, not you. This was a *huge* problem at the hotel I worked at. We had a lot of teacher conferences and they were the *worst* about this. Do NOT take Debbie in Accounting's word for it, please. Make sure they have filed the authorization. All hotels that do this kind of thing know exactly what you mean when you ask for it. A few extra minutes of work will save you a ton of problems later.
viimatar 6 hours ago
I can't see why this would really be an issue with real-time charges. Credit cards are something of a scam, at least the way they're apparently used in the USA where they even go for some kind of ID, if we're to believe the big IT companies... Age verification, anyone? I can see why using a credit card for online shopping may be safer, but why the H would the price be charged twice? It sounds like a systemic issue with the hotel, rather than a real thing with banks. Unless the hotel charges a deposit price beforehand, but seriously, don't the average travelers pay for their trips weeks or months in advance? The possible extra services can absolutely be charged separately, and after the fact, or upon upgrading or requesting for the service. This must be a cultural difference?
#29
Worked at a hotel one summer when I was younger. We were told to
- Just rinse the glasses in the bathroom.. I said hey can we please buy some dish soap? It took them 2 weeks to buy us dish soap
- We were told to only wash the comforters if there was a stain
- We never spray disinfected any of the upholstered seats/couches
You can imagine how I feel when I have to stay in a hotel hey? .
Geoffrey Scott 5 hours ago
One thing that bugs me. Hydrogen Peroxide as a cleaning/disinfecting agent is WAY under rated. Safest of cleaning agents, can use as a spray/forget sanitizer. During Covid, the Michigan Health Dept recommended it's use as a sanitizer. A gallon of it (about $50) from a janitorial company lasts a LONG time.
#30
No matter where a hotel is located, it can be in the nicest area and it’s still full of weirdos. Something about hotels attracts the nuts.
#31
House keeping uses the bath towels and other kinds of towels to wipe EVERTHING while cleaning the whole room.
viimatar 6 hours ago
Not everywhere, I hope. They have cleaning carts with specialized cleaning rags and chemicals assigned to the various cleaning targets, and the laundry goes into the collection bag, if they're trained professionals. If not, well... There seem to be different standards in different places, and hotel grades. Can anyone in the field, from the Nordics, tell us if the cleaning is as sloppy here as it sounds like to be somewhere else? At least there are some kind of cleaning standards in existence for hospitality services, to my understanding.
#32
In every patient room literal poo has been all over the floor, walls, equipment and sometimes even ceiling….
#33
Hospital: maybe this isn't surprising and perhaps on par with other mid-to-high stress professions, but sooooo many staff are sleeping together/having affairs.
That being said...the hospital I worked at was staffed by highly competent and caring people from cooks and security guards to nurses and doctors.
#35
Many hotels don’t have a 13th floor. I mean, they do, but the elevator goes from 12-14.
#36
The morgue is next the the kitchen.
Elladine DesIsles 12 hours ago (edited)
This makes sense, it would centralize the infrastructure for refrigeration. As long as there are adjacent but separate facilities with no cross-contamination, no big deal, just efficiency.
#37
Saw on tiktok a woman washes her underwear in the kettle when she travels!
#39
Our tech is years behind current availability. It is hella slow and outdated, but they look fancy and new.
#40
No one passes away in the Operating Room, they pass away after moving out of the room. No need to delay scheduled surgeries and impacting revenue.
#42
Hospitals are nothing but a money machine. Novant has started billing every patient- regardless of WHY they came in - for "mental health screening" If you come to the Emergency room with a broken toe they ask you if you've thought about hurting yourself ...AND THEN BILL YOU FOR IT!!! Im sure there are other awful hospital systems too. But this one is BAAAAD.
Andrew Keir 5 hours ago
At the risk of being repetitive - not in countries with a National Health scheme (i.e., most countries)
#43
When you come in to the ER at 3am because your foot has been hurting all week, and you chose now to come in, yes I am judging you and your life choices!
Andrew Keir 5 hours ago
Mind you, pain seems worse at about 3 am if it wakes you then. Tell the MD that "It's been getting worse all week" and you might get a more sympathetic view ?
#44
We all hate every single one of you.
#45
Every single hotel gets bedbugs. You can’t prevent them and it has nothing to do with a hotel’s cleanliness.
quentariel 4 hours ago (edited)
Greetings from Finland: no they do not. And it has a lot to do with cleanliness. But also a lot to do with smart furnishing choices, like no wall to wall carpets but washable floors witth washable/changeable smaller carpets. And cleaning everything after every quest. I'm not claiming that there's not a single hotel here who has had bed bugs, but they are required to deep clean those room and possibly toss the mattresses if the problem isn't resolved and are not allowed to have anyone staying in those rooms.
What do you think ?
David Paterson 10 hours ago (edited)
What surprises me most is that so many people posting entries expect hospitals and hotels to be spotlessly clean all the time. And act shocked when they're not. Of course they're not. Nothing is.
Brian 5 hours ago
For 17 years I had a very cool job that involved airport travel and hotel accommodations every time I went to work. Major, regional, and actual mountain top airstrips and hotels from 5 star lux to ramshackle hostels. My advice is never, ever anger the airline ticket agents and always bring the hotel desk clerk a box of fresh donuts. A warm smile and a little sympathy can get you a seat upgrade and warm donuts ensure your room has is away from the noisy elevator.
David Paterson 10 hours ago (edited)
What surprises me most is that so many people posting entries expect hospitals and hotels to be spotlessly clean all the time. And act shocked when they're not. Of course they're not. Nothing is.
Brian 5 hours ago
For 17 years I had a very cool job that involved airport travel and hotel accommodations every time I went to work. Major, regional, and actual mountain top airstrips and hotels from 5 star lux to ramshackle hostels. My advice is never, ever anger the airline ticket agents and always bring the hotel desk clerk a box of fresh donuts. A warm smile and a little sympathy can get you a seat upgrade and warm donuts ensure your room has is away from the noisy elevator.
Related on Bored Panda
