Lifestyle6 min(s) read
Published 09:04 30 Jul 2019 GMT
Former Hotel Maids And Housekeepers Reveal All About What Really Goes On Between The Sheets
Remember that 2002 rom-com Maid In Manhattan? You know, the one where that guy running for senator falls in love with a maid... in Manhattan. Remember how unrealistic we all thought it was? Sure the camaraderie between the maids was probably rooted in real life, but a maid being mistaken for a distinguished hotel guest? Unlikely, right?
Well, trust me, compared to all the other questionable things that go down in hotels, Jennifer Lopez meeting the man of her dreams in a New York hotel is tame! There are a number of absurd and disturbing things that hotel workers have witnessed and learned about their industry. Find out all about the seedy little secrets that maids and housekeepers across the world have been keeping for far too long...
[post_page_title]The "Do Not Disturb" Sign[/post_page_title]
Some guests will complain about absolutely everything, and to be honest, maids generally just have to accept this as being part and parcel of the job. However, if there's one thing that particularly peeves them, it's when guests get annoyed that their rooms haven't been cleaned when the reality is, they had the "Do Not Disturb" sign on their door handle the whole day! I mean, they're just complying with your wishes...
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Getting Their Hands On Your Belongings[/post_page_title]
When you're staying at a hotel, you kind of have to accept the fact that maids and housekeepers have total access to your room and all the possessions you've decided to leave in it.
Some maids will do more than just simply move your stuff to one side while they're tidying up. In most hotels, they're not allowed to use the guests' bathroom even if they only need to do a number one, but not all maids stick to this rule if they're desperate and under time pressure. I mean, it's not like their manager's ever going to find out. One maid even confessed to eating a t-bone steak a guest had left behind in a mini-fridge...
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Cancelling A Booking Without A Fee[/post_page_title]
Sometimes things totally out of our control totally wreck our plans, and often this then means we have no other choice but to cancel a booking we've made at a hotel. But then there's the huge cancellation fee to think of...
However, maids and other hotel employees who have worked in the hotel industry a long time know the drill. Here's what they advise: instead of cancelling the booking straight away, try calling the hotel and asking them to push back your booking to a later date. Then when you do cancel the booking, a cancellation fee may not be applicable because there'd be a big enough gap between the date of cancellation and the date of the hotel stay.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Bellhops Can Do A Lot For You![/post_page_title]
We usually see bellhops as simply being the guys that help us with our luggage when we check-in and out of a hotel, but we can use them for so much more. It's simple, all we have to do is ask...
So what can bellhops do for you? Well, here are just a few examples: they can give out free valet parking, tours, shuttle rides, water bottles, etc. Plus if it's your time of the month, you may even find that they've stocked up on some tampons.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Time Constraints[/post_page_title]
Working as a maid or housekeeper in a hotel is definitely not an easy job. It's stressful, it's hard work and there are a lot of time constraints involved. Speaking of time constraints...
Often when time is very much an issue, maids won't be able to clean and prepare rooms to the best of their ability. Sometimes they won't have time to do a full vacuuming of the room, sometimes bathtubs aren't cleaned as much as they should be and sometimes drinking glasses are simply given a quick rinse.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Meeting Celebrities[/post_page_title]
There's an upside and a downside to being employed as a maid in a luxury hotel. Think being able to meet celebrities is an upside? Think again...
Celebrities staying at the hotel you're working at will often mean extra work. One maid remembers working for a hotel where Mariah Carey stayed one time... it definitely wasn't a fond memory. Mariah may have a reputation for being a diva, but her list of requests was just ridiculous. She apparently ordered the staff to clear out five rooms for her hair and make-up to be done in, she wanted ten rooms for her hair and makeup team to sleep in, five rooms for her clothes and she wanted her own room to have blacked out windows!
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Your Maid Thinks You're Stupid[/post_page_title]
Maids and housekeepers are as human as you and me, and they're certainly not immune to judging their guests...
There are some people that stay in hotels who not only complain about trivial things, but are also just incredibly stupid. For instance, one guest confused a microwave with a safe, and was annoyed when their food didn't heat up in the "microwave". The maid on the receiving end of that complaint had a nice little chuckle to herself when the guest was out of sight...
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Be Nice To Your Maid[/post_page_title]
Being nice to your maid is as vital as being nice to your server. Just like you don't want your snootiness in restaurants to lead to a meal covered in spit, you also probably wouldn't want being rude to your maid to lead to this...
If you are less than friendly to your maid or housekeeper, he or she may be petty enough to get revenge! And what does this revenge often entail? Well, there have been instances of cleaning bathtubs with towels before hanging said towel back up for the guest's use, and swapping clean sheets with sweaty, smelly sheets.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Your Details Stay In The System[/post_page_title]
When you've stayed at a hotel, your details remain in the system i.e. your photo and your basic details like your name. This may not seem like a big deal, but in reality...
This information could be used to make your next stay at the hotel extra special. Think about it - they know your name and know what you look like and so can easily find one of your social media pages, and find out what you like... and you may find some of these things waiting for you in your hotel room.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Vegas Hotel Fatalities[/post_page_title]
Unfortunately, not every guest who checks into a hotel manages to check out of it...
A lot of people come to Vegas to get absolutely wasted out of their minds, most of these people make it out of Vegas with nothing more than a slightly impaired liver, but some don't make it out at all. Hotel employees have confessed that this can mean losing out on business because it takes a while for the room in which the guest died to become available again.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Freezing Cold Lobbies[/post_page_title]
Don't you just hate it when you're checking into a hotel, and the lobby is freezing? Well, it's not coincidental...
The lobby is kept cold to prevent people from loitering around so that the hotel lobby doesn't get too chaotic. Clever right?
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]They Know Your Secrets[/post_page_title]
Maids aren't stupid, and the veteran maids have seen it all, so you don't have to try to hide your dirty little secrets.
They know affairs and hookups when they see them, so stop sneaking around and feeling self-conscious about it. They really don't care; at most it's just a bit of gossip they can share with their fellow maids, but ultimately it has zero relevance to their actual lives.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Star Treatment[/post_page_title]
Speaking of sordid secrets in hotels, did you know that some VIP guests are given pretty much anything they want...
In fact, an employee at a five-star hotel in Hong Kong admitted that he once organized a prostitute for a VIP guest at his hotel.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Rates Are Negotiable[/post_page_title]
The rates on rooms are negotiable; you don't necessarily have to pay the price you've seen advertised. Honestly!
If a hotel is far from being fully booked, the hotel is usually more than willing to knock off a couple of hundred dollars off the price.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Employees Can Be Bribed[/post_page_title]
It would be nice if we lived in a world where we didn't have to bribe people to go out of their way to do things for us, but money certainly does help...
For instance, one bellhop was offered $20 for moving a guest to a different room, and that he certainly did. In the end, both the guest and the bellhop were happy.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Can't We All be Guests At The Ritz Carlton?[/post_page_title]
If you lose something, even if it was your own fault, you can get it replaced by the staff...
At the Ritz Carlton, each employee has an allowance of $1,500 so if a guest loses something they can easily get it replaced. For example, a guest once lost a Rolex watch there, and a hotel employee simply got him a new one, no questions asked.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Just Ask...[/post_page_title]
It can be really irritating when you get extra fees added on to the price of your hotel stay, but you don't necessarily have to pay them.
If you want the fees for gym/swimming pool/wifi use to be taken off, you just have to ask!
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Goodies Left Behind[/post_page_title]
You can take things from the guests that previously stayed in your hotel room if you want...
If a maid sees something has been left behind in a room after the guests have checked out, that maid may decide to keep it, but not always... If you find an item that looks like it belongs to someone else, just keep it for yourself - they're probably not coming back for it anyway.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Breakfast In Hotels[/post_page_title]
Breakfast in hotels is not usually set up in the most hygienic way...
The breakfast is often set up by hotel employees who have not been properly trained in how best to deal with food, so bear that in mind when you next dig into your croissant and scrambled eggs.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Trow Your Towel On The Floor[/post_page_title]
If you've always wondered why your towels are never replaced with new ones, it's because you're not doing this...
If you want new towels just keep them on the floor because if you hang them up, you're getting none. The maids take a towel on the floor to mean you're not going to be using it again and want a new one.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Cleanliness At Budget Hotels[/post_page_title]
There is a lot of truth in the old saying that you get what you pay for, and this is especially true of hotels, where budget locations often fail to meet the most basic standards in hygiene.
A hotel maid who works at a fairly upmarket hotel explained that there, the sheets are changed for every new guest, but they were "rarely" changed when she worked in a budget one. Yuck.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]The Fights[/post_page_title]
Whenever you check out of a hotel, it's only natural to give the room a thorough once over to make sure you've not accidentally left anything behind, and it turns out that this can cause competition between maids.
While hotels are obliged to keep items for a courtesy period, if they go unclaimed for a long time, the maids who discovered them often get dibs, which is why many fight over cleaning the more upmarket rooms.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Maids Rely On Tips[/post_page_title]
Just like service workers in restaurants, maids are some of the worst paid employees out there, despite doing a job which is essential to giving you a good holiday experience.
So, if you think your paid has done a good job, do the right thing and tip them. Tips are what make up the majority of their wages, and they need money to survive too!
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Maids Sometimes Stop For A Nap[/post_page_title]
Manual work is tiring. Whether you're serving food in a restaurant, working on a building site, or cleaning up a ridiculous messy hotel room.
Which is why, believe it or not, maids occasionally stop what they are doing for a quick nap. To be honest, we don't blame them!
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]They Also Might Use The Toilet In Your Room[/post_page_title]
As the old saying goes, when you've gotta go, you've gotta go! And why would hotel maids go anywhere other than the bathroom of the room they are cleaning?
So, yes, your maid has probably used your toilet, which is all the more reason to treat them nicely. If they drop off a heavy load, they might not open the window afterward to spite you.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Don't Use The Cups[/post_page_title]
Even if you're staying in an upmarket hotel, there's one part of the room which maids admit aren't cleaned anywhere near as often as they should be - the cups.
Therefore, if you absolutely have to make yourself a coffee in your room, do yourself a favor and give whatever cup you plan on using a good clean beforehand.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Some Can Go Days Without A Tip[/post_page_title]
It doesn't matter how wealthy you are, we all know how difficult it can be when we get hit with an unexpected expense. This is especially the case for hotel maids.
Unfortunately, despite it being fairly common knowledge that tips make up the majority of service workers' wages, maids can go days without a tip, which can have a seriously detrimental effect on them.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Maids Sometimes Get Assaulted[/post_page_title]
Another unfortunate reality for room attendants, the majority of whom are women, is that assault is a common occurrence in their profession.
This is largely because they are often alone in rooms where no one can see what is happening to them - or hear their cries for help should the worst happen.
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]They Snoop[/post_page_title]
It's human nature to be curious, and hotel maids are no exception to this curiosity. The only difference is that they have your personal belongings very close to hand.
So yeah, they will snoop. Got a diary with you on vacation? You might want to hide it at the bottom of your case if you don't want to risk your maid flicking through without your consent!
[[pagebreak]][post_page_title]Line The Ice Bucket[/post_page_title]
Hotels provide ice bucket liners for a very good reason. Just like mugs in hotel rooms, they don't always get a thorough clean, but unlike mugs, they can have some disgusting alternate uses...
It's not unusual for hotel maids to find themselves emptying sick out of wine buckets, so unless you want your drinks cooled by the bacteria from someone else's vomit, for the love of God use the liner!