It’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised by how an accommodation exceeds your expectations. You arrive at your hotel or Airbnb and realize you've got more than you bargained for in the best possible way, making your trip much more enjoyable.
However, things can also go the exact opposite way. This is what we’re focusing on for today, as we share photos of some of the worst rooms travelers had to endure. We’re talking about worn-out carpets, filthy, stained mattresses, and toilets next to beds.
Scroll through and see if you’ve encountered anything similar, or worse.
#1 View From My Window In My Hotel Room In Cambodia
Image credits: reddit.com
#2 End Of The Hallway In My Hotel
Image credits: Trebekshorrishmom
#3 The Pool At My Hotel In Birmingham, Alabama. Yes, Those Are Toilets
Image credits: jasonsmithatlanta
Misleading hotel bookings have been a persistent issue for some time. According to a 2019 report by the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA), 23% of consumers have complained about being misled by third-party travel resellers.
Apparently, such scams have become a lucrative business. The report notes that in 2018 alone, fraudulent transactions and bookings totaled a whopping $5.7 billion.
#4 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.
Image credits: OrcinusVienna
#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.
Image credits: tauhou_
#6 A Room I Booked In Belgium
Image credits: bigb123b
Fortunately, some of the erring parties did get their deserved sanctions. In 2022, Australia’s federal court ordered hotel price comparison platform Trivago to pay 44.7 million AUD in penalties for “making misleading representations” about room rates.
The company admitted to receiving about 58 million AUD in cost-per-click fees from clicks on supposedly cheaper offers for a specific hotel. In turn, consumers ended up overpaying about 38 million AUD for their featured rooms.
#7 My Hotel Room Opens Into The Lobby Restaurant
Maybe I’m the one out of the loop but I’ve never seen this.
Image credits: afk3
#8 Paid Extra For A “Tower” Room At Our Hotel And Were Told We’d Get A Nice View Of The River
Image credits: justjokay
#9 Hotel Left This Upon My Arrival
I came flew in from a 4 hour flight to be greeted with this.
Image credits: iHitAirplanes
If you find yourself in a room that looks nothing like what you booked, escalating the matter would be your best course of action. However, if you must do so, make sure you're speaking with the relevant person.
"It's always worth asking to speak to someone who may be a bit more senior or at least is aware of how the consumer law works and what the business's obligations are,” said Nicky Breen, a former media spokesperson of consumer advocacy group CHOICE.
#10 Just Checked In To My Hotel For The Night And It Looks Like Someone Left Their Sock
Image credits: WestCoaster206
#11 The Sink In My Hotel Room (Helsinki)
Image credits: DiceGottfried
#12 The Placement Of The Knobs For This Hotel Sink
Image credits: kerpowie
Ripping the business apart on social media may be an instinctive reaction. However, travel expert Sally French advises a less aggressive approach: asking for a fix in a cordial and empathetic way.
“The person at the front desk is a human, too,” French told The Washington Post. “Have some level of understanding of the situation you’re in and how much power they have to fix it.”
#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.
Image credits: SpiralGremlin
#14 The Most Unsafe And Dangerous Design Feature I've Seen In A Hotel
That path is about 30 feet below!
Image credits: Rougmeister
#15 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.
Image credits: Llebanna
What about you, dear readers? Have you had any similar experiences? How bad were they? Share your stories in the comments below. Better yet, include photos while you’re at it.
#16 The Hotel We’re Staying At Has Bright Lights On Outside All The Time. It’s 3 AM In This Picture
Image credits: cheftastic11
#17 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.
Image credits: wkarraker
#18 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.
Image credits: gravityblast10
#19 This Hotel Room Has A Window Into The Bathroom
Image credits: DonkeyTron42
#20 The Cleaning Staff At My Hotel Stole All Of My Prescription Medication
Image credits: hmmmmmmpsu
#21 Found When I Checked Into A Holiday Inn In Florida. Guess I’ll Get A New Room
Image credits: Ancient_Chris
#22 “Art” Installation Spotted In A Hotel Lobby
Image credits: User-McUserface
#23 This Carpet In The Hotel Looks Like Splattered With Blood
Image credits: reddit.com
#24 At A Hotel I Am Staying At In Johannesburg. Cool Idea, But S***s For Anyone In A Wheelchair
Image credits: ManFromPerth
#25 Never Thought I Would See The Infamous Carpeted Bathroom With My Own Two Eyes
Image credits: Red_The_Russian
#26 Eating Breakfast At My Hotel This Morning When The Staff Quickly And Urgently Ushered Me And Some Other Customers Out Of The Lobby
Image credits: reddit.com
#27 Hotel Room Light Switch Hidden Behind Pillows, So You Wake Up Inexplicably In The Middle Of The Night
Image credits: philfr42
#28 Hotel I'm Staying In With My Mum Has The Shower Open To The Entire Room
Image credits: Makewayfornoddynoddy
#29 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.
Image credits: reddit.com
#30 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
Image credits: OhAces
#31 This TV In My Hotel
Image credits: T47E
#32 They Way They Laid The Carpet In Our Hotel
Image credits: Aaaaaaarrrrrggggghh
#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.
Image credits: nekomichi
#34 My Hotel Sanded The Door After Realizing It Hit The Toilet
Image credits: saltysaturdays
#35 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.
Image credits: CaptainSprinklePants
#36 Hotel Shower Head Has Batteries
Checked in to my fair field hotel after work took a shower wanted to change the water coming out the shower head to a jet messed around with it couldn't get it to changed noticed a button looking thing pressed an out pops a battery pack... im like wtf the batteries are all gross and the turn the shower head an out comes a cup of rust water. What is going on... reporting to front desk.
Image credits: ballinOnABudget77
#37 This New Hotel Carpet That Looks Like It’s Worn Out Beyond Threadbare
Image credits: PretzelsThirst
#38 The Wallpaper In The Women's Restroom At The Hotel I'm Staying At
Image credits: hybridginger
#39 Maximum Security Hotel
Image credits: bellbros
#40 Marriott Hotel Night Stand LED Aimed At My Face
Image credits: MCWoody1
#41 Entire Hotel Numbers With Room Numbers At Random
The host told us to search for room 22, not by the small numbers.
Image credits: ChristianTheOne
#42 The Size Of The Pasta Dish I Ordered At (What I Am Told) Is The Fanciest Hotel In Gurgaon, India
Literally two bites.
Image credits: marsovec
#43 This Closet In A German Hotel Needs Several Warnings... And I Still Almost Hit My Head
Image credits: MichiWiegi
#44 Nice Idea Badly Executed
Image credits: judd_in_the_barn
#45 My Friend Is On Vacation. His Hotel Room Has A Sliding Door That Leads Directly To A Sure-Death Five Story Fall. Who Thought This Was A Good Idea?
Image credits: Kanel0728
#46 Can't Put My Store-Bought Items In The Hotel Room Fridge Because It's Fully Stacked And Moving Anything Will Incur A Charge
Image credits: ZarathustraGlobulus
#47 Hotel Mirror Blocks The Only Outlet In The Bathroom
Image credits: DaBrookePlayz
#48 Hotel I Stayed At Last Night Advertised "Free WiFi". This Was That Free WiFi
This is in rural australia too, so there's no mobile data reception to fall back on. Good thing I had some movies downloaded to keep me occupied.
Image credits: but_its_dez
#49 Finding A Pin In A Hotel Towel
So I’ll give you a little update. I am here from germany for a nice relaxing vacation in Italy in a 4 star hotel (the 4 stars here would be more like 3 in Germany) This happened on our 3rd day after the cleaning staff had already cleaned the room a few times and provided new linen. I had first dried my hair with the towel and then my body, when I noticed a scratching on my side and then saw that there was a pin stuck in the towel. Luckily nothing more happened to me as the scratch didn’t really hurt anymore. I immediatly took photos and a short video of this and went down to the reception. They told me that they couldn’t do anything because the laundry was handled by an external company, but they would let them know. I told them, that this could be so much worse for me or other guests and this should not, cannot happen again. They then told me to send them an email with the details, the photos and my contact informations so they could take care of it. I probably should have been a bit more persistent, but this had never happened to me before and I didn’t want to go full karen mode. This is the answer I got from the hotel: "Dear Mr. , We would like to apologize again for this incident. Our linen is supplied by the industrial laundry. Unfortunately, we are unable to lay out all the towels to check their condition as they are already folded and ready for use. We will forward photos and inform the laundry and ask them to take more care when packing and folding. We will also ask our staff to take more care when changing linen. Thank you for your understanding. Yours sincerely" So now i am debating what to do. I would write that this is the least they have to do. And that I couldn’t care less how they do their laundry and bring it to the rooms. I give my money to the hotel for a reasonable stay and not to the cleaning company. And if they don’t accommodate me, I would take legal action.
Image credits: sub_mojo
#50 Just Got Done With My Morning Run And Came Back To The Hotel To This
Image credits: Aurorastar73
