Most people check into a hotel thinking they are being perfectly reasonable. They reuse towels. They leave trash “neatly” stacked. They assume policies are flexible because they paid for the room.
From the other side of the front desk and housekeeping cart, those small choices pile up fast. These are the things hotel staff say guests do all the time that seem harmless but quietly make their jobs much harder.
“From my experience, bad guest behavior has been more common recently because people are arriving at hotels already tired or irritated,” said Leslie K. Harris, the marketing director and purchasing agent at Double Eagle Hotel & Casino, a gaming and hospitality destination in Cripple Creek, Colorado.
“Travel, lines, waiting around, unexpected itinerary changes, long flights, flight delays and cancellations, the stress of travel planning, and an unfamiliar environment all contribute to increased tension. In this situation, even a small delay at the reception or a misunderstanding can trigger an outburst of rudeness.”
While some of these behaviors may not seem super inconsiderate in the moment, they can cause issues or disruptions ― and hotel staff say they see them play out in rooms and lobbies every single day. Here are some of the most common ones, according to hotel staffers. (Full names have been excluded to maintain privacy.)
