You forgot what?

[Gob]

When cleaners swung open the walk-in closet door of an Australian four-star hotel room they weren't prepared for what lay on the floor beneath the hangers.

It was a human body - fortunately alive and sleeping off the mother of all hangovers.

Staff managed to wake the man, ply him with strong coffee - and watch him stagger off into the city.
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But, when a manager telephoned one of two men who had checked out of the room, he was told: "Sorry about that - he's our mate. He came back for a few late-night drinks. He lurched off and we forgot all about him. We just assumed he'd gone".

While the recent discovery of a warm body may be spectacularly unusual, hotel executives say guests forget many possessions - some decidedly odd - when they check out.

Even a wooden leg? "It's absolutely true," says Gaynor Reid, spokeswoman for Accor Asia Pacific, which conducted a survey of forgotten items among Australian hotels belonging to its Novotel brand.

"Cleaners found it in the room," says Reid.

"If we'd had a one-legged guest you'd think he or she would notice the absence of a leg.

"It's a complete mystery," she says.

"We never found out the full story. Perhaps the leg was a theatrical prop. Someone later turned up and collected it on behalf of the guest."

But, she acknowledges, the lost limb comes a poor second to the "mate left in a closet", which also happened at a Novotel.

Reid maintains "the things Australian guests leave behind further supports the theory that people come to hotels to have a bit of fun and get away from the everyday".

For instance, a Darth Vader mask, buckets of sand and teddy bears were left in Novotel rooms where no children had been staying. They had clearly been left by adults.

Add to these items a monkey suit, handcuffs, fake chest hair, a whip and sundry leather clothing.

Far more mundane are the commonest forgotten items.

Male guests most often forget phone chargers, underpants and socks.

Women most frequently leave phone chargers, beauty products and shoes.

A hotel manager recently showed me a boxful of phone chargers.

"Dozens of them - all left in rooms and guests don't even bother checking if we've found them," the manager says.

Other hotel staff say guests often forget false teeth, contact lenses and hairpieces - but tend to deny they ever possessed such items when attempts are made to return them.

Incidentally, the return of forgotten items by post or courier has become so common that it's no longer a free service.

Hotels - as I discovered to my cost after asking for a bag of expensive cosmetics to be returned - dispatch these valuables cost on delivery.

An elderly gentleman I know was in the habit of placing his dentures inside a pillow-slip before falling asleep.

One morning he forgot to remove them from inside the pillow - and his room was serviced. The teeth ended up at a laundry across town.

Frantic phone calls from housekeeping ensured the missing choppers were quickly located - and returned undamaged within an hour.

Perhaps it's an urban myth but it's commonly believed that Japanese tourists hide money inside Gideon bibles and behind hotel artwork.

A frequent traveller I know checks these places as soon as he reaches his hotel room.

"I've looked dozens of times but haven't found a cent," he complains.

"Surprisingly, it's not uncommon for guests to leave cash in rooms or suites," says David Perry, chief executive officer and general manager of Melbourne's Windsor Hotel.

"A couple left over $5000 in an otherwise empty in-room safe," says Perry.

"The guests were on their way to the airport when we contacted them. The honesty (of staff) is really quite inspiring."

My own travels involved a similar incident.

I arrived at the airport in Christchurch to discover my passport was still in a downtown in-room safe.

When I returned to the hotel, the duty manager rushed across the lobby with the Australian travel document.

"You won't believe how often this happens - it's a nice little earner," said my cab driver.

According to Perry, when forgetful guests are contacted they are more likely to say they'll pick up a forgotten item on their next Melbourne visit rather than have it sent to them.

"In terms of items that could prove somewhat embarrassing, we go out of our way to make guests feel at ease about a moment of forgetfulness," says Perry.

As advances in miniaturisation have ensured hearing aids fit snugly inside the ear, these devices are more commonly forgotten.

"A French guest recently departed the Windsor oblivious to the fact that both his miniature hearing aids had been left on the bathroom vanity," says Perry.

"As soon as we discovered this we called him and pointed out that we had his hearing aids at the hotel.

"'You'll have to speak up - my hearing aid batteries must be low'," the guest said.

"The unmistakable French accent made this a real 'Inspector Clouseau moment'.

"It must have taken a good few minutes for the guest to realise he'd better ask his taxi driver to head back to the hotel promptly."

Perry says staff find forgotten items on "most days".

Commonest - besides phone chargers and underwear - is "believe it or not, jewellery".

Hotels advise guests to spend a minute checking their rooms before they check out.

But that, it seems, is easier said than done.


http://www.watoday.com.au/travel/the-we ... rom=smh_ft

[oldr_n_wsr]

Better the cleaners/staff find things than the next customer.
I have stayed (actually immediately checked out) of a few places where I found "items" from the previous guest that the staff really should have found and removed.

[Jarlaxle]

I checked into a room in 2008 (Power Tour, La Quinta, Little Rock, AR) and found three bottles of sorta-beer (Corona Light) in the in-room fridge.

(No, I did not drink it.)

[oldr_n_wsr]

Ok, your win.
Used condoms do not come close to Corona on the "ick" meter.

[Jarlaxle]

Hey...they got me some nice BBQ the next day! (And being Arkansas, it was GOOD barbecue!) I'll take it.