Revenge of hotel staff: Guests, you’ve been warned
A former hotel employee has revealed hidden secrets that luxury hotels would rather keep quiet.
Jacob Tomsky worked in hotels in New York and New Orleans in various roles for more than a decade.
His book, Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality (Doubleday), released today, reveals how staff get back at rude hotel guests.
These include giving them lousy rooms, raiding their minibars, deactivating their electronic room keys so that they have to return to reception for a new code, and cleaning their drinking glasses with furniture polish
He said the wealthier the guests the more likely they are to be loudly and wildly abusive, "while celebrities are often the worst of them all".
"A lot of people are watching Downton Abbey now, and they think, ‘Oh, I’ve got servants, too!’," Tomsky said.
"It’s the people who have way more money who want everything now, and they want it for free."
To be fair, the book also has helpful hints for guests who don’t cause a fuss.
These include ways to score late checkouts and upgrades, how to make that pay-per-view charge magically disappear and how you can avoid a cancellation charge even when cancelling hours after the room rental started.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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