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)”
2. “A Room I Booked In Belgium”
3. “Drove For 14 Hours To Sleep On This”
“I drove for 14 hours and had a family member book a hotel for me while I was driving.
Arrived at my hotel ready to crash and it was kinda gross. Decided to check for bedbugs and found this.”
4. “View From My Window In My Hotel Room In Cambodia”
5. “My Hotel Towel Had A Pair Of Eyelashes On It”
“It was fresh from the laundry but they were stuck to the towel pretty firmly.”
6. “The Most Unsafe And Dangerous Design Feature I’ve Seen In A Hotel”
“That path is about 30 feet below!”
7. “Hotel Left This Upon My Arrival”
“I came flew in from a 4 hour flight to be greeted with this.”
8. “The Pool At My Hotel In Birmingham, Alabama. Yes, Those Are Toilets”
9. “My Hotel Room Opens Into The Lobby Restaurant”
“Maybe I’m the one out of the loop but I’ve never seen this.”
10. “End Of The Hallway In My Hotel”
11. “Paid Extra For A ‘Tower’ Room At Our Hotel And Were Told We’d Get A Nice View Of The River”
12. “The Placement Of The Knobs For This Hotel Sink”
13. “Hotel Room Has A Light Under The Bed That Can’t Turn Off Unless I Also Cut Power To The Sockets”
“So I’m staying at a hotel tonight and I go to turn off the lights and discover there is no independent switch for the light under the bed.
To turn it off I have to turn the main switch off in the room which also turns off the power for the sockets.
My choice is to now sleep with a light on or not charge my phone up over night. I’m travelling tomorrow so I kinda need my phone on full battery.
Why do hotels have the weirdest lighting setups. I’ve never been in one with a single overhead light. Instead the room is illuminated by 20 smaller wall lights each with their own switch combination.”
14. “Just Checked In To My Hotel For The Night And It Looks Like Someone Left Their Sock”
15. “This Carpet In The Hotel Looks Like Splattered With Blood”
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”
“Husband kept trying to get the tv to work, even though it was 30 feet away. Also – floor to ceiling windows do NOT block any noise and there was a fire station right across the street from us.”
17. “Never Thought I Would See The Infamous Carpeted Bathroom With My Own Two Eyes”
18. “The Hotel We’re Staying At Has Bright Lights On Outside All The Time. It’s 3 AM In This Picture”
19. “Checked In To A Hotel And Promptly Checked Out”
“Smelled like black mold, lights didn’t work, bathroom door didn’t even shut. I was also offered adult workers and illegal substances before I even made it to my room.”
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”
“I’ve always slept in dark, dark rooms. Our current bedroom has blackout blinds.”
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”
22. “The Cleaning Staff At My Hotel Stole All Of My Prescription Medication”
23. “This Hotel Room Has A Window Into The Bathroom”
24. “Not Enough Space To Open The Pullout Sofa In My Hotel Suite”
“I was told by the front desk that this was a known issue in some of the rooms since their renovation.
The phone in my room also doesn’t work- another known issue from the same reno. Staff didn’t seem to see it as a problem though?
No compensation or even apology.”
25. “Hotel I’m Staying In With My Mum Has The Shower Open To The Entire Room”
26. “This New Hotel Carpet That Looks Like It’s Worn Out Beyond Threadbare”
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”
“For anyone wondering, this place is in Edmonton, Canada.”
28. “Maximum Security Hotel”
29. “Hotel Room Light Switch Hidden Behind Pillows, So You Wake Up Inexplicably In The Middle Of The Night”
30. “They Way They Laid The Carpet In Our Hotel”
31. “Just Got Done With My Morning Run And Came Back To The Hotel To This”
32. “The Wallpaper In The Women’s Restroom At The Hotel I’m Staying At”
33. “Hotel Charging Cable That Requires You To Register An Account And Sign In With The Qr Code In Order To Work”
“It gives you a 5-minute free trial and then requires a fee per hour of use.”
34. “My Hotel Sanded The Door After Realizing It Hit The Toilet”
35. “This TV In My Hotel”
