The Wild, Weird, and Absolutely Gross Side of Hotel Front Desk Life
Working at a hotel front desk might sound like a chill gig—smiling at guests, handing out key cards, maybe sneaking a free cookie or two. But as anyone who’s clocked into the hospitality industry knows, the real story is far messier. And, as one Redditor’s tales prove, sometimes it’s literally a crapshoot.
Welcome to r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk, where the stories are wild, the guests are wilder, and apparently, the bathrooms are no man’s land. Strap in for a journey through the bizarre, the hilarious, and the (sometimes) stomach-turning reality of hotel front desk work—backed up by a chorus of equally traumatized commenters.
The Shocking Reality: When Sh*t Gets Real (Literally)
Let’s cut to the chase: hotels have a poop problem. Not just metaphorically—actual, literal human (and occasionally canine) feces in places it absolutely shouldn’t be. Our original poster, u/ManagerNotOnDuty, kicks things off with a horror show straight out of a janitor’s nightmare: a homeless man, caught on security cam, shaking out a little "present" right in front of the restroom door before casually making his exit. As u/DaneAlaskaCruz quipped, “I guess you can say that at your hotel…shit just got real.”
But wait—there’s more! Next up is the saga of the guest with the enormous dog, who left behind a hallway so thoroughly smeared that maintenance had to bring in industrial fans just to make the floor habitable again. Housekeeping, understandably, called for a moratorium on new guests for that wing—because sometimes, Febreze is simply not enough.
And if you think the men’s bathroom is a safe haven, think again. As u/ManagerNotOnDuty recalls, a guest once approached the desk to calmly report, “I don’t mean to be crude, but someone shit all over the walls in the men’s bathroom.” Try delivering that news to housekeeping with a straight face. Spoiler: it’s harder than you think.
Glitter, Cults, and Cupid Outfits: The Guests Are Never Boring
If you thought the worst a hotel employee could face was biohazard-level messes, think again. Sometimes, the weirdness comes in…sparkly packages. Our OP describes a particularly memorable event: a “cult-ish” self-help group, whose members strutted around the hotel in revealing Cupid outfits—glitter, wings, and, as u/ManagerNotOnDuty delicately put it, “their danglings basically out.”
One unlucky coworker, in dire need of a restroom, opened the guest bathroom door only to find it filled with naked, glitter-dusted Cupids. To add insult (or perhaps invitation) to injury, one of the participants beckoned him inside, assuring him it was “fine.” The coworker declined, and really, who could blame him? As u/RedDazzlr deadpanned in the comments, “I don’t blame the guy who wouldn’t join the frelling glittering naked people. Lol.”
This isn’t even the weirdest thing that’s ever happened in a hotel bathroom, according to the seasoned commenters. From Taco Bell bathrooms that would make a hazmat team blanch (shoutout to u/SkwrlTail) to K-Mart restrooms that doubled as toy unboxing stations and impromptu toilets (thanks, u/Poldaran), it seems no workplace is safe from the call of nature.
Behind the Scenes: Burritos, Blame, and the Limits of Hospitality
Of course, not all the “crap” hotel workers deal with is left by guests. Sometimes, it’s the innocent-seeming burrito that gets you. Our OP recounts the time he unknowingly gifted a buy-one-get-one-free burrito to his manager, Austin—only to later admit, “Oh, by the way, those burritos can upset your stomach a bit.” Too late. Austin’s response? “Not to be TMI, but I just shit like I never shit before. What the fuck did you put in that burrito? I thought you poisoned me.” As both are Hispanic, the culprit wasn’t a lack of spice tolerance—just a burrito of mythic (and catastrophic) proportions. As u/Poldaran astutely pointed out, “The burrito gave him the shits in only an hour or two? It definitely sounds like a food safety issue…” Let’s just say, nobody’s rushing back for seconds.
But the chaos isn’t limited to the digestive tract. In the comments, u/Wedontdonameshere paints a picture of a hotel overwhelmed by drugs, needles, and enough illegal activity to keep the local police on speed dial. “The sheer amount of needles I have pulled out from between mattresses is absurd,” they lament. The owner’s solution? Shrug and carry on. As OP notes, “Manager and owner gonna really pay once an employee gets poked with a needle and sues bro cause that actually sounds illegal.”
And sometimes, even charity backfires. u/LOUDCO-HD shared a cautionary tale of leaving out old blankets for the homeless, which soon spiraled into requests for free laundry service, room upgrades, and breakfast buffets. As OP wryly summed up, “If you give a mouse a cookie… but no really why do other people have to ruin it for everyone else?”
The Community’s Take: Laughter, Empathy, and Battle-Scarred Bonding
If there’s a silver lining in this cloud of chaos, it’s the camaraderie among those who’ve “seen some shit” (sometimes literally). The comment section is packed with gallows humor, empathy, and a sense of shared survival. As u/SkwrlTail put it after recounting mowing lawns at a sewage plant, “There are very few things in life that prepare you for mowing very healthy grass next to three hundred foot long pits of raw sewage…”
There’s also a healthy dose of “it could be worse”—from tales of oil-slicked porn star suites (thanks, u/BrinsonRobert11) to the revelation that, yes, poop is a universal constant. As u/Crown_the_Cat noted, “Freud was right. People have poop obsessions,” prompting OP to lament, “God I feel a lot more people have these weird ahhh fetishes or kinks.”
Through it all, one thing is clear: hotel workers have iron stomachs, quick wits, and the best stories at any party.
Conclusion: Share Your Own Wild Tales (or Just Offer Sympathy)
So, the next time you check into a hotel, spare a thought for the folks at the front desk. They’ve seen it all, cleaned it all, and probably have a poop story or two they’re dying to share (preferably not over dinner). Have your own wild hospitality tales? Drop a comment below, or just salute your local front desk hero—they’ve definitely earned it.
And remember: always check the bathroom before you sit down. You never know what you’ll find.
Original Reddit Post: You have to deal with a lot of shit working in hotels …literally and figuratively.