#3 The Pool At My Hotel In Birmingham, Alabama. Yes, Those Are Toilets
We had the opportunity to speak with a few experts regarding travel accommodations. Ignacio Merino is currently the CEO of Freetour.com and has held a managerial position in various top hotel chains across the world for more than 15 years. In his conversation with Bored Panda, he shared some hotel industry secrets that the public ought to know.
“When booking, mention a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary in the comments section, or simply write ‘special occasion, please nice room,’” he said, adding that politeness while letting hotel staff know about a special event improves a customer’s chances of receiving perks such as upgrades.
#4 Drove For 14 Hours To Sleep On This
#5 My Hotel Towel Had A Pair Of Eyelashes On It
#6 My Hotel Room Opens Into The Lobby Restaurant
While accommodations have their fair share of shortcomings, travelers also commit errors that compromise their experience. According to LGBTQ travel writer and Queer Adventurers founder Lindsey Danis, one of the common errors people make is not thinking through their needs and making sure the accommodations they book match them.
“A little more foresight could’ve saved them a lot of frustration,” Danis said.
#8 Hotel Left This Upon My Arrival
#9 Paid Extra For A “Tower” Room At Our Hotel And Were Told We’d Get A Nice View Of The River
Price discrimination is another issue, and according to The Broke Backpacker senior editor Aiden Freeborn, it is as real as it gets. As he explained, bigger hotel chains, most especially, track down user locations and may charge higher prices if the individual comes from a wealthy, first-world country. This is why he advises using a VPN when researching hotels and Airbnbs.
“Not only will it save you from price discrimination, but it will also keep your data private from any would-be hackers out there,” he said.
#10 Just Checked In To My Hotel For The Night And It Looks Like Someone Left Their Sock
#11 The Hotel We’re Staying At Has Bright Lights On Outside All The Time. It’s 3 AM In This Picture
#12 Hotel Room Has A Light Under The Bed That Can’t Turn Off Unless I Also Cut Power To The Sockets
Still on the issue of pricing, travel tech entrepreneur and Get Directo founder Marina Guastavino says another common mistake is trusting third-party sites too much when it comes to giving the best deals. This is why she advises booking directly with the hotel or vacation rental.
“Mention the rate you found elsewhere and ask if they can offer a better price for booking direct,” she stated, adding that it works 70% of the time, especially if you are polite and respectful, or if you mention a special occasion as a reason for your trip.
#14 The Most Unsafe And Dangerous Design Feature I've Seen In A Hotel
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.
#16 Checked In To A Hotel And Promptly Checked Out
#17 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
#18 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
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 supposed cheaper offers for a specific hotel. In turn, consumers ended up overpaying about 38 million AUD for their featured rooms.
#19 Found When I Checked Into A Holiday Inn In Florida. Guess I’ll Get A New Room
