The Curious Case of the Holiday Hotel Hopper: When “William Afton” Came to Town
Somewhere between the last Christmas cookie and the first yawn of a quiet night shift, every hotel front desk agent knows: peace is just the calm before the storm. Just ask u/WoodenExplorer2530, who found out the hard way that even on the slowest holiday nights, chaos is only ever one “Karen” away. And sometimes, that Karen comes in the form of a bewildered, irate guest named—no joke—William Afton.
If you’re imagining a heartwarming story of Christmas generosity, let’s just say you’re about to get the opposite. This is the tale of a guest who was convinced his room (and his rights to a refund) existed, even when all signs pointed to “wrong hotel, buddy.” Gather ‘round, hotel warriors and hospitality veterans, for a night where the only thing more bizarre than the guest’s demands was his utter confidence in his own alternate reality.
It all started innocently enough: a phone call, a request for the hotel address, and then—click. Nothing to see here, right? Fast forward a few hours, and the front desk is a tranquil wasteland. The only excitement is a friendly in-house guest asking for extra linen—a “guardian on a holy night,” as u/Basic_Scale_5882 so perfectly put it. With the shop guy helped and pillows prepped, our hero’s night seemed destined to end peacefully.
Enter William Afton: irritable, confused, and clutching key cards that read like blank slates to the hotel’s system. When Afton gruffly announced his name and nonexistent room number (267), the front desk agent was understandably baffled. No William Afton in the system, no reservation, and—most crucially—no reason for him to be there.
As the OP [u/WoodenExplorer2530] clarified in the comments, whatever “keys” William handed over weren’t even hotel keys at all. They could have been blanked by a phone, magnet, or simply belonged to another property entirely. “Just means that whatever code was on them wasn't matching the code reader in our key machine, indicating they weren't our keys,” OP explained for the confused masses. Yet, as u/LutschiPutschi pointed out, it’s still a mystery how someone could end up with key cards to a hotel room they never checked into!
Then, the plot thickened: Afton insisted not only that he was a guest, but that his stuff was already “in the room upstairs.” Was he trying to pull a fast one? The community consensus, led by u/Jay_Gomez44, suspected as much: “My guess is that Mr. Afton was hoping that whoever got stuck working on Christmas would be ill-trained, apathetic, or resentful, and end up opening the door to a free room for him and his precious case of beer.”
It’s the time-honored tradition of the “wrong hotel hustle,” but with a holiday twist. As many commenters observed, it’s surprisingly common for travelers to confuse hotels—especially when big brands cluster near airports or highways. u/fjzappa shared a sympathetic tale: “At least 2 hotels of the same brand on different sides of the same airport. Taxi dropped me at one I was not checked in to.” The difference? Most guests realize their mistake before demanding a full refund and making threats.
But William Afton wasn’t having any of it. When told there was nothing to refund—because, you know, he wasn’t a guest—he demanded access to the upper floors anyway, prompting our front desk agent to warn he’d call the police for trespassing. Tension mounted as Afton, beer in tow and attitude in full swing, stormed toward the elevators.
Here’s where the story turns from awkward to “should I call security?” territory. Our agent, determined to keep an eye on the situation, hopped into the elevator with Afton, who was visibly fuming. Community members were quick to question this move: “Not your smartest decision to ride the elevator with someone so aggressive and who you said you didn’t trust,” warned u/njasmodeus. But as OP explained, with no camera access and stairwells on the far ends of the building, options were limited.
When the doors opened, Afton made a grand exit—spitting on the floor and uttering the immortal holiday words: “Go f*** yourself.” As u/SpeechSalt5828 dryly noted, “it reads like a poorly made slasher film.” And, for the record, the name William Afton is a known villain from the Five Nights at Freddy’s video game series, a detail not missed by eagle-eyed readers like u/ManagerNotOnDuty: “A Fnaf reference AND a 67 reference?! Beautiful story 10/10.”
Back at the desk, the ever-patient linen guy finally got his pillows, undaunted by the drama. He even offered some sage advice: “Just be sure I take care of myself and stay safe.” If there’s a lesson in all this—besides always checking your hotel’s address twice—it’s that hospitality workers are the unsung heroes of the holidays, keeping cool under pressure and handling even the most “spirited” guests with grit and grace.
So next time you check into a hotel, maybe skip the attempted Christmas heist and just double-check your reservation. And if you happen to meet a guest named William Afton, well… as u/BabserellaWT quipped, “if there’s anything I know about William Afton, he always comes back.”
Happy holidays, and remember: be kind to your front desk agents. You never know what kind of Christmas miracle (or mayhem) they’re dealing with behind the scenes.
What’s the wildest guest encounter you’ve witnessed or survived? Share your stories below—just don’t forget your room key (and your hotel’s actual address)!
Original Reddit Post: 'GO FCK YOURSELF!!!'