In the world of hospitality, one rule has historically reigned supreme: The guest is always right. The concept may be problematic for a number of reasons, the biggest being that the guest is, in fact, not always right. But it does carry an important guiding principle: Do what you can to accommodate guests, and go above and beyond to offer incredible service. There are some guest requests, though, that fall outside the realm of what anyone would consider normal — especially at hotels.
And if there’s one place where hotel employees are going to share the unusual demands they’ve received from guests, it’s Reddit. On the popular subreddit r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk, employees have disclosed the most shocking encounters they’ve had on the job, with one user comparing working at a hotel to being employed at an “adult daycare.” So, we took a scroll through the sub, specifically seeking out threads containing weird, surprising, and downright hilarious guest demands.
Without further ado, here are eight of the weirdest hotel guest requests from the r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk subreddit.
Hot Guys for Grandma
Guests requesting that photos of celebrities be placed in their rooms before check-in is actually a relatively common request at hotels. Less common: a group of elderly women asking that their room be covered in photos of attractive men. Luckily, the employees at one hotel leaned into the silly request, plastering photos of “hot guys” on nearly every surface in the room, much to the guests’ joy.
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Copious Meat Storage
A guest asking the front desk for a freezer to store meat during their stay is suspicious in the best of circumstances. But if said guest gets angry at the size of the freezer, things can get a whole lot weirder a whole lot faster. A rule of thumb: If your request requires multiple members of hotel staff to jump through dozens of hoops to execute, it’s probably an outlandish ask — especially when raw meat’s involved.
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A New Year’s Eve Kiss
Unfortunately, it’s not unusual for hotel staff to face their fair share of harassment from guests, and this Redditor was no exception. While working at the front desk on New Year’s Eve, the user encountered several men complaining about not having someone to kiss at midnight before the group turned and asked them what their plans were for the evening. Not only is the request unprofessional and uncomfortable, but it’s one that alarmed the user enough to injure themselves on the stapler they were using at the time.
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A Nicer View for a Midnight Stay
Requesting a better view isn’t an out-of-bounds ask, and in most instances, hotel managers are willing to swap your room if one in a similar price range is available. But if you’re not going to be in town long enough to even enjoy the scenic vista, a room with a view feels like overkill. Take this mystery guest, who checked in after dark and left before sunup, as an example.
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The Installation of an Electric Vehicle Port
Electric cars are great. You can reduce your carbon footprint and maybe even save a bit of money on gas. But in 2024, gas-powered vehicles are still the overwhelming majority, which means every hotel might not be equipped with a charging port to top off at. Most hotels advertise whether or not they have ports for electric vehicles, and if they don’t, call and ask. If the answer is no, don’t book a room there or demand one be installed on the spot. It’s really as simple as that.
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Bald Spot Management
Every once in a while, we could all use a little help getting ready in the morning. Still, most of us wouldn’t seek out a hotel employee to help us with our hair. According to this user, one guest felt empowered to ask for assistance filling in the bald spot on the back of his head during his stay. In the grand scheme of requests, this one falls on the relatively tame end of the spectrum, but we’re sure the employee still got a kick out of it.
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Changing the Tides
Many hotel employees are taught to go above and beyond to satisfy their guests’ wishes. That said, it’s safe to assume that no person on the planet will ever be able to control the motion of the ocean. That’s why it’s completely mind-boggling that this guest thought that shifting the time of the tides was in the realm of feasibility. As the employee points out in their comment, they were just a college intern.
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A Full Refund After Losing a Soccer Game
It’s not always easy to cope with losing, but if the contest in question is a kid’s soccer game… well, it’s not exactly the final match of the World Cup, and the loss is certainly not worthy of getting a weekend’s stay comped. If you’re asking for a full refund because of the outcome of a child’s sports game, there’s a good chance you’re not just weird — you’re probably also an asshole.
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