35 Times People Experienced Hotel Fails So Bad They Had To Share Online

After spending way too much of my life in hotels, I’ve learned one universal truth: you can’t trust the photos. I’ve stayed in places that looked like a boutique spa online but felt like a haunted DMV in person. At this point, I can smell a bad hotel through my phone screen.

Sometimes it’s little things, like a mysterious stain or a towel that doubles as sandpaper. Other times, it’s a full-on “oh no, we’re not staying here” situation. Either way, these hotel fails hit close to home. I’ve lived this life. I’ve argued with front desks at midnight. I’ve asked, “Is this really non-smoking?” while choking on the scent of 1987 Marlboros.

Here are hotel disasters that’ll make you grateful for your own bed and maybe inspire you to read the reviews all the way through next time.

1. “The Sink In My Hotel Room (Helsinki)”

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2. “A Room I Booked In Belgium”

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4. “View From My Window In My Hotel Room In Cambodia”

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5. “My Hotel Towel Had A Pair Of Eyelashes On It”

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6. “The Most Unsafe And Dangerous Design Feature I’ve Seen In A Hotel”

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7. “Hotel Left This Upon My Arrival”

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8. “The Pool At My Hotel In Birmingham, Alabama. Yes, Those Are Toilets”

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9. “My Hotel Room Opens Into The Lobby Restaurant”

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10. “End Of The Hallway In My Hotel”

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11. “Paid Extra For A ‘Tower’ Room At Our Hotel And Were Told We’d Get A Nice View Of The River”

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12. “The Placement Of The Knobs For This Hotel Sink”

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14. “Just Checked In To My Hotel For The Night And It Looks Like Someone Left Their Sock”

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15. “This Carpet In The Hotel Looks Like Splattered With Blood”

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16. “The Hotel I Booked Weeks Ahead Didn’t Have A Room For Us When We Checked In. Gave Us A Sofa Bed In A Conference Room”

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17. “Never Thought I Would See The Infamous Carpeted Bathroom With My Own Two Eyes”

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18. “The Hotel We’re Staying At Has Bright Lights On Outside All The Time. It’s 3 AM In This Picture”

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19. “Checked In To A Hotel And Promptly Checked Out”

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20. “Four Star Hotel Was Doing Electrical Work At 1 Am, When They K**led The Power The Emergency Light Turned On. Stayed On Till 5:30 AM”

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21. “This Sign Went Up After Me And My Family Started Using The Pool At Our Hotel. Pic Two Is How Red It Made My Eyes”

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22. “The Cleaning Staff At My Hotel Stole All Of My Prescription Medication”

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23. “This Hotel Room Has A Window Into The Bathroom”

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25. “Hotel I’m Staying In With My Mum Has The Shower Open To The Entire Room”

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26. “This New Hotel Carpet That Looks Like It’s Worn Out Beyond Threadbare”

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27. “Got Bumped To A Different Room In A Seedy Motel I Hadn’t Requested. My Excitement Lasted For 3 Minutes Until I Read The Sign”

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28. “Maximum Security Hotel”

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29. “Hotel Room Light Switch Hidden Behind Pillows, So You Wake Up Inexplicably In The Middle Of The Night”

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30. “They Way They Laid The Carpet In Our Hotel”

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31. “Just Got Done With My Morning Run And Came Back To The Hotel To This”

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32. “The Wallpaper In The Women’s Restroom At The Hotel I’m Staying At”

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33. “Hotel Charging Cable That Requires You To Register An Account And Sign In With The Qr Code In Order To Work”

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34. “My Hotel Sanded The Door After Realizing It Hit The Toilet”

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35. “This TV In My Hotel”

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Nate

Nate Armbruster

Nate writes for Pleated-Jeans and enjoys finding the internet’s funniest corners so you don’t have to.