5 Hotel Nightmares That Could Happen to You

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Locking the door to your hotel room doesn’t necessarily mean you’re safe—danger could already be lurking inside. And before you scoff, just remember: These hotel nightmares have actually happened to real people. Here’s how to prevent them from happening to you. 

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Does your hotel room have a carbon monoxide detector? Although smoke alarms are normally legally required in every hotel room, carbon monoxide detectors are not. They’re also not a requirement for Airbnb listings (although they are strongly encouraged.) 

If your accommodation doesn’t have one, you’ll have no warning if this deadly, odorless, colorless gas penetrates your sleeping area. Frighteningly, an ongoing leak could go undetected until it has claimed multiple victims.

Years ago, three people mysteriously died in the same hotel room in Boone, North Carolina. First, an elderly couple died, and authorities couldn’t figure out why. Then, an 11-year-old boy stayed in the same room weeks later and also died. After further investigation, the cause of death for all three turned out to be carbon monoxide poisoning. More recently, carbon monoxide has claimed the lives of guests at hotels in Mexico and Montana.

Pack a travel carbon monoxide detector on your next trip—it could save your life. 

Stalking

Think your hotel guarantees privacy? Former ESPN sportscaster Erin Andrews found out that locked doors and drawn curtains aren’t always enough to keep the bad guys away when someone filmed her through the peephole in her hotel room’s door.

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The stalker requested the room next to her (without Andrews’ knowledge), and the hotel granted the request without question. The stalker then altered the peephole on Andrews’ door so that he could film through it with a cell phone camera. Find out how to prevent anyone from reversing the peephole on your hotel room door here. 

Fire

It’s tempting to ignore the emergency exit route posted on the back of your hotel room door, but next time you check in, make sure you give it a quick review. A fire at the Grand Kartal Hotel in Turkey recently killed 78 people. How would you get out of your hotel room if something similar happened to you? Make sure you have an escape route in mind and that your hotel has a sprinkler system and working smoke detectors. Fires can spread quickly in hotels, and sleeping guests may not wake up in time to get out.

Dead Bodies

Did you stop checking for monsters under the bed once you reached a certain age? Maybe you should revisit that habit when you check into a hotel. This gruesome list details all of the times that hotel guests have discovered a human corpse hidden under the bed frame or mattress in their hotel.

Bedbugs

It only takes a quick glance at BedbugReports.com to see how prevalent bedbugs have become in hotels worldwide. In hotels, they have a revolving door of delicious human hosts to feed on nightly—and to hitch a ride with back to your home. Bedbugs can hide in the furniture, not just the bed and all it takes is one pregnant bedbug stowaway for you to get a full-blown infestation in your house or apartment. Follow these tips to protect yourself.

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