The Night Audit Nightmare: How One Guest Faked a Mouse Problem for a Free Stay (and Committed Rodent Murder)
If you think working the front desk at a hotel is all about handing out key cards and flashing smiles, think again. Behind those polite greetings and complimentary breakfasts lurks a world of strange requests, bizarre complaints, and, occasionally, outright villainy. But even the most seasoned desk clerks have their limits—and for one night auditor, this particular midnight mousecapade crossed every single line.
It all started, as these things often do, with a 2:30am phone call and a guest insisting, “There’s a mouse in our room. We don’t feel safe.” But what unfolded next was truly the most vile display of guest shenanigans the front desk had ever witnessed.
Let’s set the scene. Our heroic night auditor, u/plat154, is pulling the graveyard shift at a hotel somewhere on the East Coast. Having seen their fair share of oddities in both luxury and less-than-stellar stays across the Midwest, they thought they’d seen it all. Spoiler alert: they hadn’t.
Red Flags and Rodents
It’s the middle of the night. The phone rings. On the other end—a guest, breathless with concern. “There’s a mouse in our room. We don’t feel safe.” That’s an emergency, right? Well, not exactly. Our night auditor, already rolling their eyes into the next dimension, offers to move the guest to a different room, no questions asked.
But wait—the guest declines the move while continuing to press for a manager (even though it’s the middle of the night and the night auditor is the manager). If you’ve ever worked hospitality, your scam radar is probably screaming right now.
The incident is duly logged and flagged. Eventually, the guests check out after a three-night stay—nothing else seems amiss. Until the morning, when the General Manager arrives and the real horror is revealed.
CSI: Hotel Room
Together, the GM and night auditor head to the now-vacant room. There, by the bay window, lies a dead white mouse. Neck snapped. Small pool of water nearby. If you’re thinking, “That’s not your average hotel mouse,” you’re absolutely right. Enter: EcoLab, the pest control pro, who takes one look and declares, “This mouse isn’t even from here. It’s a white mouse—like the kind you buy at a pet store to feed to snakes.”
Let’s recap. The guests bought a mouse. Brought it to the hotel. Drowned it. Snapped its neck. And staged the scene to try and score a free room. If you’re reading this and your jaw just dropped, you’re in good company.
The Cost of a Bad Review (and a Mouse’s Life)
What does a hotel do when confronted with such heinous guest behavior? In this case, the GM, perhaps fearing a one-star review more than a rodent crime scene, refunded all three nights—over $1,000—then set the guests to Do Not Rent (DNR) status. That’s hospitality speak for “never again, not even if you’re the last people on Earth.”
But for our night auditor, the whole episode was a new low. “Something about these people just chapped my ass in a way it hasn’t been chapped before,” they wrote. And who can blame them? Scamming for a free room is one thing. Committing rodent murder to make it believable? That’s a new level of depravity.
The Dark Side of Hospitality
If you’ve ever wondered why hotel staff sometimes seem a touch jaded, now you know. From towel thefts to wild parties, they’ve seen it all—but orchestrated mouse homicide for a comped stay is a story for the ages (and possibly a Netflix true crime docuseries).
There’s a lesson hidden here for both guests and hoteliers. For guests: Please, for the love of all things decent, don’t fake emergencies—or harm innocent creatures—for a discount. For hotel staff: Trust your gut, document everything, and remember you’re not alone in dealing with the wild, weird, and occasionally wicked world of guest relations.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve encountered at a hotel? Share your own tales from the front desk (or the guest side) in the comments below! And remember: leave the mice at home.
Have you ever dealt with a guest scam, animal-related or otherwise? Drop your stories below—let’s commiserate (and maybe start a support group)!
Original Reddit Post: The most vile…