25 Surprising SECRETS Hotels Don’t Want You To Know

What would you do if we told you that there are secrets hotels don’t want you to know? You might think twice before booking your room after you learn about the secrets hotels don’t want you to know. These are 25 surprising secrets hotels don’t want you to know.

Some of the secrets hotels don’t want you to know can save you money! But some hotel secrets can also make hotels look bad. See our full list of secrets hotels don’t want you to know (and our photo credits and sources) and be sure to leave us a comment on the video to let us know if there any secrets you know that hotels don't want us to know:

Like our secrets hotels don’t want you to know video?

Follow us on:

See more lists on our website:

This may not come as a surprise but there are secrets hotels don’t want you to know. Some of these hotel secrets will save you money like the fact that you can’t be thrown in jail over an unpaid hotel bill, you can make last minute cancellations without being charged a fee, and you can have unregistered guests stay with you. But some of these secrets are also super creepy and make hotels look bad. For example, did you know that anyone can check to see who is staying in a hotel? Did you also know that most hotels don’t require a background check for their employees? You’ll never look at hotels the same way after you learn about these hotel secrets. These are 25 surprising secrets hotels don’t want you to know.

If you enjoyed learning about secrets hotels don’t want you to know, you’ll enjoy these videos:

MUSIC: "Kickin' It" by Jingle Punks

[trocer]

We are on vacation.
We arrive a tour hotel.
I enter the hotel room.
I check on YouTube.
List25 uploads 25 secrets about hotels.

Thanks for enhancing the experience, List25

[iluvlax]

As a hotel manager I can update this list for you guys:
25: If you have a shitty front desk employee then maybe this is true; we require someone to know the first and last name of a guest, as well as a room number.
24: We require a swipe of a card upon check in, and our system will automatically with hold funds to ensure we get payment for their room before the guests even get the keys.
23: Luckily nothing like this has happened to me, but I believe it
22: Again this depends on the hotel system and employees. In my system I can look at every single change made to a reservation, worth a shot if they are being assholes about cancelling a room, but all you really have to say is someone is in the hospital, or your flight got cancelled.
21: It's better to register your companion with the front desk, if your companion loses their key and their name isn't on the reservation; we aren't authorized to give a key to the room. So we would have to get in contact with you to ensure we can provide a key, which can be a hassle depending on how late in the night it is.
20: Yea this is pretty obvious, you can steal everything in the room besides blankets, pillows, artwork, lamps, bathrobes, etc. If its minor like bath towels, washcloths, etc, then have at it.
19: I wouldn't say were on a name by name basis with police, but they come every time we have to call.
18: Hotel maids and Front Desk staff get paid the same amount (minimum wage) tip whoever you like and whenever you like. We will remember you trust me.
17: Horse shit, we require a background check as well as a drug screening for all employees. Front desk staff handles money all day, and housekeepers have access to expensive machines and guests dry cleaning on a day to day basis; we have to make sure they can be trusted (no felonies)
16: My first rule of any hotel no matter how expensive, don't sleep on anything that isn't white. everything in my hotel is white and does indeed get changed with every guest, but i work at a "high end" hotel so i don't know about the chain hotels, but i have horror stories on the mattresses.
15: This again is horse shit, every key is digitally wiped clean after a guest is checked out, if you check out and its not registered within the system then yes it will still work. But once a room is cleaned and checked out the keys have no memory on them. No guests keys will overlap, its impossible, unless you stay at a shitty hotel, guest security is the number one priority, i get yelled at by a lot of people for refusing to re code keys or provide information about a guest.
14: again could be true with low end hotels, everything gets changed and every surface gets cleaned in my hotel, except i guess the walls unless there is a visible stain. Don't lick anything and you'll be fine.
13: This depends on the hotel again, I know our system has cheaper rates online or with out 1-800 number just because we know we can get a little bit more money from guests calling directly because they usually just want a reservation made and done with. always check online before you call anyone.
12: Ehh again depends i guess. I know we have a gift shop with chargers for guests
to purchase, we don't give anything for free, with left over chargers we usually give them to the employees to take home or set them aside for frequent guests to take, other than that you have to buy them.
11: Im sure some do, we offer a shuttle service to take guests to high priority destinations to make it easier on the guests. better off taking uber than renting a car depending on the hotel location.
10: we don't offer free breakfast, free breakfast is kind of a cliche in my opinion. But this does differ just like with most things on this list
9: If guests ask I always turn them down immediately. I only upgrade the nice people that don't ask for any upgrade that has a conversation with me or my employees. But if a hotel isn't busy and we have a guest in a queen bed we will automatically upgrade them to a king for example.
8: Our free wifi is awful, its actually a benefit to charge for wifi because it gives the hotel an added income and makes the wifi extremely fast for those who pay for it. Expect to see the notion of free wifi begin to go away
7: We offer 2 pillows, feather and foam for those who are allergic to feather. I have no idea what a pillow menu is
6: I wouldn't necessarily stay at the same hotel, just stay with the same hotel chain, every chain offers a points system for loyal guests that can add up to a free room night or complementary upgrades depending on the status of the guest. But we do remember our frequent guests and only give free shit if they are nice.
5: We offer slippers not socks, again every hotel is different.
4: this is true, our floors aren't carpeted luckily so they actually get disinfected, but with any carpet unless there is a visible stain they simply get vacuumed.
3: We offer one free water bottle in the room, other than that we charge for bottled water, if you want a glass of water than we won't charge
2: Yes, location is everything, but you tend to get a higher quality hotel the better the location because we can charge you more for the room. Which in turn we can use the added revenue on our restaurant, room quality, cleanliness, etc. So it does pay to stay in a better quality hotel.
1: I mean go for it i guess, its kind of silly in my opinion. Hotel restaurants are over priced. I would rather explore the city and eat the food there. Ask the front desk for a list of local restaurants and where they recommend eating for a better feel of the city your staying in.

Bonus tip: ALWAYS go to the bell boy if they have one. He always has access to free shit and knows more about the hotel than anyone. Some even have the authority to check guests in and can vouch for upgrades. Plus they know everyone in the hotel because they are allowed to wonder around as apposed to a front desk employee or waitress who are only allowed to stay in their areas. It's there job to make guests happy, and can get away with doing more stuff.

[raymondqiu]

Dont you just look a top comment and think "Damn I wish I had thought of that."

[pattycake]

everyone should have to clean a motel least once in their life, they will have more respect for the people who do clean up, it can be a gross job. I will not do it anymore just because it don't pay enough for the work that goes into it. back breaking and muscle tiring job

[unicornmomma]

As a former hotel employee/housekeeper for many different hotels, a lot of these are NOT true.

[renatanguyenvietova]

When you don't need notifications becauce you'r always watching YouTube.😂

[aprettygothichick]

I love staying at a local hotel every couple months as a mini vacation. I know for a fact they change the sheets every day due to being friends with one of the maids. The best part is that it's only about $75.00 a night during the busy seasons. Going on these "vacations" has done wonders for my stress levels. I personally recommend this for anyone suffering from stress and anxiety.

[klopie]

you guys should do 25 facts about the list 25 crew!

[AzureSymbiote]

Actually, most hotels won't let you cancel reservations if you've pre-paid.

[alvarofavela]

#9 is SO true and the saying "you'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" really applies to this one. Many guests think that if they throw tantrums and act like jerks will scare the employees and give in to their demands. Most of us have been in this industry for years and have heard and seen just about everything and it's likely you won't get your way. Now if you're nice, respectful and a bit flirtatious with your comments towards us, we'll go above and beyond to give you a free upgrade.

[OpEveryDay]

Number 8, Free WiFi.... totally a "Surprising SECRET Hotels Don’t Want You To Know"

[KatieB]

#12 not always, my hotel doesn't. Also, we don't have cars for rent, free room upgrades or free breakfast. We also don't have a variety of pillows. We don't have socks either lol you're also paying for amenities

[Allegory_of_Wolves]

When I was a kid, we moved from Germany to South Africa for 5 years. The night before our flight there left from Germany, we had to spend a night at a hotel in Stuttgard. I woke up in the middle of that night, because I heard some noise next to me on the nightstand, and switched the light on. Just in time to see a rat running away with one of my sandwich cookies I had been keeping there! XD My parents complained and we got another, much better room without having to pay for the upgrade.
Today I wouldn't mind anymore, since later in life I had even kept pet rats, but of course they still shouldn't jump around in hotels, stealing children's snacks. *g*

[tripsquared_greenworks]

I used to find rolling papers in the bibles all the time back when I was a traveling man. Sometimes theybwere cool or expensive papers. Back when weed wasnt so commonplace, and you had to go to a head shop to get novelty papers, finding a special pack of leaves was a nice end to the day.

[Yamifira]

when i stayed at Jacaranda house in paignton Devon, UK it was the best hotel experiencei ever had the people running the place were friendly got me cab to go backhome on request for a set price and even made me lunch for the way home even the breakfast was supurb i definatly reccomend that place for a stay in the Torbay area

[vigilj]

The key card one is absolutely not true! Once the hotel issues new key cards to a new guest, the old ones will not work anymore. Its because of an algorithm in the key system. Once the new set of keys are used on the lock, the algorithm changes, making the old keys useless. I've worked in hotels for many years and have had to program these key systems countless times. I know everything there is to know about them. This is not true!

[ascra]

I'm assuming you go to high priced hotels because free socks is a joke

[Rameel]

Don't you hate it when you're about to write a good comment and then you see someone has already commented that

[BatMajor]

So I work at a hotel and I've worked at 2, 3, and now a 4 star hotel. some of these things are not true(at least in California)
#17 2 star hotels and above require a background check
#16 2 Star hotels and above have to change linens, 2 and below upon request
#15 hotel keys do expire usually after 12 noon
#9 Sweet talk wont work for getting an upgrade. Being polite, friendly, flexible and a tip about $20 will definetly get you and upgrade. be extra nice to the front desk staff and they will make sure your stay is well, be a nit picker asshole guest and they will make sure to drag their feet on your requests or just "forget".

[leoguy]

I'm at the Linq in Las Vegas and laying on the bed as we speak hours before I check out hahaha! What a great way to end the trip than for this video to pop up on my notifications HAHAHA! Thank you list 25 👍😂😢😂😂😂