I love to travel and one of those reasons is because I get to meet new people and learn about their culture. Most of all, the ones I love to exchange ideas are the hotel and airline staff. Blame it on my entrepreneurial spirit, I’m always on the hunt of hearing a good career story and giving advice to those who need it. Old habits die hard even when I’m on a holiday.

Here are some of the interesting quotes collection from the hotel staff all around the world. As I don’t wish to get anyone in trouble for whispering to me, their names are kept anonymous but their stories are true.

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I’ve seen countless of naked or half-naked bodies. Once when I was cleaning the room, I didn’t know anyone was in the room. Halfway when I’m making the bed, I heard a groan coming in from the toilet. In case of the guest’s safety, I decided to check. Holy Moly! It’s not one but five people all over the bathroom floor naked and drunk!

• Ally, Housekeeping, China

I entered into my ex-hotel’s presidential suite by mistake and come face to face with a bunch of armed guys. Spread on the floor was a huge assortment of weapons. I ran out of the room immediately, screaming for my life until I bumped into a fellow coworker who laughingly reminded me that they are using the presidential suite for filming. I bet the guys had a great laugh at my expense.

• Jason, Maintenance, Indonesia

A lady guest reported a theft in her room. She was missing a diamond necklace, left on the bedside table before she went out. Our security team is called to investigate but we couldn’t find anything. The lady was insistent that police can’t be called. The necklace couldn’t be located hence we advised her to claim the damage from her insurance since she didn’t want to report it to the authorities. After our persistence (48 hours), she admitted that the necklace is a fake. To me, fake or real, a theft is still a crime but I had to respect her wishes not to pursue further.

• Tobias, Security, Malaysia

One late evening, a hurried couple came into our reception, asking to check in. They did not have a prior reservation and we are up to our neck due to the holiday season. The man was impolite and arrogant, insisted that we find them a room, no matter what. After an hour of coercing them to try other hotels, my manager had no choice but to check them in an old room at our old wing. Don’t get me wrong, the old room is perfectly in tiptop condition except that we don’t usually open it to the public due to speculated rumours from the staff. It is said to be haunted but we couldn’t very well tell the couple. I think they did realize it because they checked out on the same night without a single word and left just as hurried as they came. As a gesture of goodwill, we did not charge them at all.

• Naomi, Front Desk Reception, Hong Kong

We are not a five-star resort and never claim to be. Understandably, some guests will find our hotel rooms a bit run down and need of refurbishing, however, it is also a part of our rustic nature look as we are a resort by the sea. This complaint has been part and parcel of our department and we are so used to it that we have a template to answer back. However, I remembered one ridiculous case where this guest had refused to back down. He not only wants a refund on the hotel rooms but also every activity he and his family had participated, the food they ate and souvenirs they bought! He further claimed that his son had a fever due to our uncleanliness but couldn’t produce a doctor’s letter when we requested as a part of our investigation. In the end, he agreed to settle for a free stay with free food for him and his whole family the next time they are in Phuket. Why, if you hate the resort so much that you are still willing to return to it, still baffles me. Just because it is free??

• Sonja, Customer Service, Thailand

This didn’t happen to me but my colleagues who worked the night shift. One night, close to 3am, the front desk phone rang and one of my colleagues answered it, only to hear groaning on the other end. Alarmed, he thought that the guest might be in pain or an illness. He called our resident doctor to accompany him to the guest’s room. It turns out that the groan wasn’t in pain but in pleasure, the guest had accidentally misplaced the bedside telephone and connected to our front desk in their passionate moment. Imagine the embarrassment!

• Dexter, Front Desk, Taiwan

People always left things behind in their hotel rooms. Cash, passport, mobile phones, cameras are the ones that they usually returned to collect or they’ll ask us to deliver to them. Sometimes, the found items are personal effects like a child’s favourite teddy bear or a limited edition jacket or jewellery. The weirdest request we ever gotten was a purple dildo and it was asked to mail back to the guest’s home country. Enough said.

• James, Customer Service, Germany

I get all sorts of requests, sometimes discreet ones like calling in special services for gentlemen. One time I was tasked to buy a one-carat diamond ring from Tiffany, a bouquet of 100 red roses and reservation for one of the town’s top restaurants. I figured out it was an engagement proposal but boy, was I wrong. It was ordered by a lady guest who wanted to provoke jealousy from the male guest she is staying with. It didn’t end well. The male guest checked out the next morning and the lady guest stayed on for the next few nights on her own.

• Gillian, Concierge, Netherlands

We are a small but quaint boutique hotel. We have many regulars guests who always stay with us whenever they are in the country. I remember that there is this sweet old lady who stayed with us every summer and always request for the same room on the top floor. She will ask us to buy a box of canned cat food for her in advance and placed it in her room before she checked in every single time. Although it is a no pet policy but we never saw the cat. Housekeeping reported that the empty cans are in the bin but there is no cat poop or fur found anywhere in the room. Nobody saw the cat and we are too polite to ask anyway. Two years ago, the sweet old lady stopped coming to our hotel. We wonder how was she until her niece called us recently to let us know that she has passed on and to thank us for all those years we served her. I took the opportunity to ask about her cat. The strange thing is the old lady never had a cat because she is terribly allergic to cats.

• Michael, Office Manager, Austria

If we opened our ears and listen, there are plenty of interesting stories from those who worked in the service line. I have plenty more stored in the little brain of mine but these are the ones that are most memorable. If you have heard an interesting story or encounter one yourself, please do share with us below.

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