Some of the world’s most unusual room service requests and items lost and found in guest accommodation have been revealed by a new Hotels.com report. The booking platform’s annual Hotel Room “Innsights Report” gives a light-hearted, inside take on some of the more unusual aspects of the hospitality industry today, gathered from its 400 partner hotels around the globe. And, the booking platform is predicting, catering to unique customer demands could be the future of the sector.
The priceless, the alive and the just plain gruesome
While the most common items left behind by forgetful guests are fairly uninspiring, ranging from dirty laundry and device chargers, to makeup and toiletries, the list of abandoned belongings also includes some more striking examples.
Some make the list due to their price or scarcity. Hotel staff found a Birkin bag, which is thought of by some as the original designer weekend tote and is an item synonymous with wealth and exclusivity that can retail for hundreds of thousands. Also in this category, another customer with perhaps more money than sense behind a $6 million watch.
Other forgotten items resemble the elements of a riddle. What were hotel guests doing in the first place with a rice cooker, a blender, a car tire, and construction pipes in their room?
On occasion, live pets have been discovered in rooms after owners have checked out, including a chick and a pet lizard, which were safely returned to their masters. And begging the question how is that even possible, some hotel guests have left behind crucial medical equipment such as full leg casts and, according to 10% of hotels, dentures.
Peculiar room service orders and services
If the list of items left behind is mind-boggling, the items some guests request their hotels supply are equally unusual. These range from a “literal” bubble bath filled with Evian to ensure a child could bathe in “the purest water”, 4lb (1.8 kg) of bananas (that’s enough to make 32 smoothies!), deliberately burnt toast, and “fresh” goat milk (think about that for a second). One guest insisted on a high five from staff to indicate they had read the room service request.
Catering to unique demands is the future
While Hotels.com pokes gentle fun at some customers’ entitlement, it emphasises that it is seeing a trend for accommodation partners who treat guests like true individuals. Examples of brilliantly personal service given by hoteliers feature one “hotel hero” who drove 100 miles to return a passport, another who ran several blocks to deliver items before a cruise ship departed, and another who replaced a lost teddy bear and included a book detailing the bear’s adventures.
In terms of exceptional room service, Japanese hotel W Osaka has installed a ‘Whatever/Whenever’ button for guests to order anything, anytime, while Florida’s Kimpton Vero Beach hotel is catering to guests who’ve forgotten to pack an essential by providing an accessory borrowing “library”, supplied by retailer Anthropologie.
“By asking hotels to reveal the secrets behind their most memorable stays, we discovered that these “innsights” have actually inspired services available to guests today. From guitar concierges to pet healers, hotels are catering to travellers’ unique demands, which may well become the norm,” said Melanie Fish, vice president of Global Public Relations at Hotels.com.
