Before you leave your hotel room, it’s always a good idea to double-check and make sure you haven’t left anything behind. A recent survey conducted by Hotels.com revealed some of the most unusual and valuable items that guests have forgotten in their hotel rooms.
According to the survey, over a third of hotels reported that guests leave behind items during at least 25% of their stays. Some of the most commonly forgotten items include phone chargers, clothes, adapters, makeup, toiletries, and underwear. However, there have been some truly shocking discoveries made by hotel staff.
For example, some ritzy travelers have left behind valuable items such as an engagement ring, a Rolex watch, a Hermès Birkin bag, and even a $6 million watch. In addition to these luxury items, staff have also found stacks of cash, car keys, and papers for a luxury car left behind in hotel rooms. There have even been instances where abandoned pets, such as a chick and a pet lizard, were found and eventually reunited with their owners.
In some cases, hotel staff have been left scratching their heads at the items left behind. For instance, there have been instances where guests left behind two full leg casts, a rice cooker, a car tire, a blender, and even construction pipes. One particularly peculiar case involved a supposed clean freak leaving their vacuum cleaner behind at a business hotel.
Despite the unusual and valuable items that guests have left behind, hotel staff go above and beyond to reunite guests with their belongings. In one heartwarming example, a team member at the Hotel Victoria Ejecutivo in Guadalajara, Mexico even chased a guest on a motorcycle to return a forgotten passport.
To avoid leaving items behind in your hotel room, Professor Charan Ranganath of UC Davis recommends mentally walking through a packing checklist before officially checking out. By visualizing yourself packing each item one by one, you can increase the chances of remembering everything you brought with you.
So next time you check out of a hotel, take a moment to pause and make sure you haven’t forgotten anything valuable or unusual in your room. And if you do happen to leave something behind, rest assured that hotel staff will do their best to reunite you with your lost item.