Hotels are meant to be places of comfort and relaxation, but behind the neatly made beds and friendly smiles, there’s a world of bizarre, shocking, and downright insane stories waiting to be told. From rooms that never officially exist to guests who never check out (literally), the hospitality industry has seen it all. Whether it’s luxury hotels with mind-blowing quirks, spooky hauntings, or scandalous secrets, these 50 hotel stories will make you see check-ins in a whole new light. Buckle up, because the world of hospitality is about to get seriously weird!
1 Coney Island’s Elephant Hotel Burns
The Elephantine Colossus was a 200-foot-tall elephant-shaped hotel built on Coney Island in 1885. It housed a concert hall, museum, observatory, and more. It later became a brothel but mysteriously burned down on September 27, 1896.
2. In the 1940s, the YMCA provided dormitory housing at most of its U.S. locations and boasted over 100,000 rooms-more than any hotel chain at the time.
3. Sweden has a “sourdough hotel” where people can leave their sourdough starters to be fed and cared for while they are on vacation.
4. During Mardi Gras, popular hotels in New Orleans apply grease to balcony support poles to prevent intoxicated revelers from climbing in.
5. André the Giant became so intoxicated during the first script read-through for The Princess Bride that he collapsed in the hotel lobby. Unable to move him, the staff set up velvet ropes around him and instructed the maids not to vacuum.
6 Las Vegas Dominates Large Hotels
Only 28 hotels in the world have 3,000 or more rooms, and 15 of them are in Las Vegas (as of March 2025).
7. The world’s largest hotel suite sits 22 stories underground in the Grand Canyon Caverns. A one-night stay for two in “The Caverns Underground Suite” costs $700. The room has a 70-foot ceiling and measures 200 x 400 feet.
8. When the Lorraine Hotel, the site of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, was converted into a museum in 1988, one of its long-term residents refused to leave. She argued that MLK would not have wanted millions of dollars spent on a memorial. Following her eviction, she took up residence in front of the museum in protest.
9. During a border dispute in 1863, a businessman rushed to complete the construction of the Hotel Arbez. Spanning both France and Switzerland, the hotel enabled smuggling by allowing people and goods to move freely inside.
10. Australia once had a floating hotel, which now lies abandoned and forgotten in North Korea.
11 Hotels Use RFID for Towels
Hotels use RFID chips to track their towels and linens. One hotel in Hawaii saved over $15,000 in stolen towels in 2011 by implementing RFID technology.
12. The British once referred to mainland Europe as “The Continent.” As more continental European tourists traveled to England and the Americas, they pushed for a breakfast of pastry, fruit, and coffee-similar to what they normally ate. This preference, along with its low cost, led to the creation of the “Continental Breakfast” in hotels.
13. In 2013, a woman was murdered in a hotel room by her husband while her nine-year-old daughter tried to call 911 four times. The calls failed because the hotel’s phone system required dialing 9 first (making 911 actually 9911). We then passed Kari’s Law, ensuring that hotel phones now permit direct 911 calls without a prefix.
14. During World War II, Winston Churchill temporarily ceded sovereignty over Suite 212 of Claridge’s Hotel to Yugoslavia. This allowed Prince Alexander to be born on Yugoslavian territory.
15. On September 11, 2001, a guest at the Marriott World Trade Center, located at the base of the Twin Towers, woke up to the sound of the first plane crash but went back to sleep. After eventually waking up, turning on the news, taking a shower, and packing his things, he only decided to evacuate when the South Tower collapsed onto the hotel.
16 Las Vegas’ Atomic Bomb Parties
In the 1950s, Las Vegas embraced its proximity to Nevada’s nuclear testing sites. Hotels and casinos promoted “atomic tourism,” hosting rooftop viewing parties where guests sipped “atomic cocktails” while watching mushroom clouds rise from bomb tests just 65 miles away.
17. Marriott, one of the largest hotel chains in the world, began as a root beer stand in 1927.
18. In 2004, security removed and banned Linda Ronstadt from the Aladdin Hotel after she dedicated a song to Michael Moore in support of his documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. Her comments sparked chaos among the audience, leading to her immediate expulsion before she could return to her suite.
19. For 20 years, the world’s tallest “hotel” was a 105-story empty pyramid-shaped hotel in North Korea.
20. In 1966, aviation legend Howard Hughes overstayed his penthouse suite reservation at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas. When hotel management asked him to leave, he bought the entire hotel instead. He continued living and working in the suite for four years while establishing himself as a real estate tycoon.
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
21 Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreak in Hotel
A contaminated rooftop air-conditioning unit at the Opera House Hotel in the Bronx caused New York’s largest outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, resulting in 12 deaths in 2015.
22. In 1907, socialite Ida Wood withdrew her entire $1 million bank account (equivalent to $21 million today), declared she was “tired of everything,” and shut herself in a hotel room with her sisters. She did not step outside for the next 24 years.
23. While sleeping in a hotel room, singer Teena Marie suffered a serious head injury when a large picture frame fell on her. The injury may have contributed to her death.
24. H.H. Holmes, a 19th-century serial killer in the U.S., designed and built a hotel specifically for murder. His “Murder Castle” featured soundproofed bedrooms, trap doors, walls lined with blowtorches, and two incinerators.
25. The “Bloody Benders” were America’s first known serial killer family, having lured at least 11 victims into their hotel in Cherryvale, Kansas, between 1868 and 1872. Before authorities discovered their crimes, the family vanished and was never seen again.
RE: Fact #29 (Waldorf Astoria’s Exclusive Debutante Ball) – I can’t believe people still do this.
Rich folks hate change.
RE: Fact #37 (Why Lower Floors Were Pricier) – My wife’s old office building had a crazy elevator accident once. Two guys were fixing it – one up high, one down low – and they totally missed a safety rule. Yikes! Her boss raced down, looked like he’d seen a ghost, and just said, “Call 911, stay away from that thing!”
RE: Fact #1 (Coney Island’s Elephant Hotel Burns) – Seriously? You were rehearsing a play in an elephant, half-naked, with some guy, in the middle of the night?!
RE: Fact #8 (Lorraine Hotel Resident Protested Museum) – That museum’s awesome; they even kept the spot across the street where James Earl Ray fired the shot, and the original concrete where MLK was hit. It’s a powerful place.
It’s amazing, everyone in America should try to visit sometime.
That museum is awesome! They’ve got a big part on how the FBI helped things along, and even a whole display about the note they sent trying to get him to kill himself.
RE: Fact #23 (Singer Injured by Falling Frame) – Being from California, I’m super careful about hanging heavy stuff above my bed – earthquakes are no joke! I really dislike it when hotels do that too.
My parents made me hang this huge mirror – seriously, it’s got a heavy wood frame – above my desk, right across from my bed. It was a constant fight: I’d scoot my desk out a bit so the mirror wouldn’t land on me if it fell, and they’d keep pushing it back. And this was in California, of all places!
RE: Fact #34 (Whitney Houston’s Hotel Room Retired) – How do I cancel a hotel room?
RE: Fact #12 (The Origins of Continental Breakfast) – Lots of Brits still just call mainland Europe “the continent,” I bet.
Yeah, we totally do! And I’ll take a full English over a continental breakfast any time.
RE: Fact #11 (Hotels Use RFID for Towels) – Hotels are total jerks about their minibars. They’ll charge you even if you just *touch* something! They’ve got sensors and everything.
That happened to me, and I was furious! Never again.
I fought them about it, of course. They didn’t even look into it, I had to argue to get the charge removed. Having to argue with the front desk about something I didn’t do? Nope, never staying there again.
The fridge uses a weight sensor to tell when stuff’s taken out, but it’s not very good. I got hit with some bogus charges because of it, so I complained, and the manager said they’re ditching the whole system. I had to move stuff around to fit my meds.
RE: Fact #36 (Unsolved Chlorine Attack at Convention) – Seriously, what’s with all the furry hate? Yeah, some are weird, and some are messed up, but you can say that about any group. Most furries are actually pretty cool. My ex was one, and I went to a few conventions with her—everyone was super friendly. Judging them all just shows how narrow-minded you are.
RE: Fact #49 (World’s Oldest Hotel in Japan) – That guest book would be seriously huge.
RE: Fact #47 (Hyatt Walkway Collapse Killed 114) – Funny thing, I learned about this at my hotel. It was a little creepy standing where 114 people died.
RE: Fact #38 (Motel Owner Spied on Guests) – Wow, that was way longer than I thought, but I couldn’t stop reading.
RE: Fact #20 (Howard Hughes Bought His Hotel) – People always bring up Howard Hughes’s crazy antics, like locking himself in a theater for days to watch movies non-stop. But, they don’t usually mention his chronic pain. That plane crash in ’46 was brutal – crushed collarbone, chest, ribs, his heart shifted, and he had awful burns. He was probably in agony for the rest of his life. Refusing haircuts and nail trims? Probably allodynia, where even normal touch hurts. Maybe all those movies were a way to deal with the pain. He lived another 30 years after the crash, which is wild. I can’t even fathom being in that much pain for that long. Plus, he had OCD and was a germaphobe.
The Aviator really captures that well.
He was a real morphine addict because of the pain, a fact people don’t often talk about. He craved ice cream, which isn’t surprising if you’ve ever known an opiate addict. There’s just something about it, and it’s easy on the stomach. Hardcore addicts often skip solid food.
RE: Fact #19 (North Korea’s Empty Hotel Tower) – It’s like North Korea – all bluster on the outside, but totally empty inside.
I doubt anyone thinks they’re in charge.
RE: Fact #17 (Marriott Started as Root Beer Stand) – That’s why there’s always money in banana stand.
RE: Fact #18 (Linda Ronstadt Banned Over Song) – My dad was crazy about her until he learned she was anti-Republican. Then he tossed all her records! It was hilarious.
He got her albums, not just one. Seriously, politics weren’t as in-your-face back then as they are now. In the 70s, news came on at 6 and 11, plus the newspaper—that was it. No 24/7 fear-mongering. Mom was, and is, a liberal, but politics weren’t a huge deal except around elections. A lot of you are too young to remember a simpler time.
Sounds like someone’s a little sensitive!
I bet he hates cancel culture.
RE: Fact #25 (America’s First Serial Killer Family) – Reminds me of a Netflix show.
Supernatural had an episode about them.
RE: Fact #22 (Millionaire Hid in Hotel 24 Years) – Seriously, 300 characters can’t even begin to explain how crazy her life was. She basically wrote a letter to this rich newspaper guy she’d never met, saying, “Hey, I heard you’re loaded and looking for some fun. I’m pretty hot, and I’m interested.” That was May 28, 1857. The letter itself was something like, “I’ve heard you like new faces. I’m new in town, and I think we could have a fun time. I’m not bad looking, maybe not as pretty as your current girlfriend, but I’m smarter!” She then gave him instructions on how to contact her to set up a meeting.
RE: Fact #48 (Grand Hotel’s Clever Symbolism) – It’s got four domes, one for each season. Hitler supposedly wanted to live there too.
RE: Fact #48 (Grand Hotel’s Clever Symbolism) – I’ve hung out here. This old hotel’s seen better days—it’s seriously outdated and needs a makeover to be appealing beyond its historical charm. It must have been fancy back in the day; it’s a shame to see it like this.
Sounds like the whole of the UK.
It’s really gone downhill.
RE: Fact #43 (Taco Bell’s Hotel Sold Out) – It flew off the shelves in two minutes – so what went wrong? Health worries?
It was only a temporary place, not a forever thing.
It’s a total Taco Bell experience: fun while it lasts, but you’ll be starving again soon.
RE: Fact #21 (Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreak in Hotel) –
I believe the very first outbreak of the disease was in Philadelphia in the ’70s.
RE: Fact #25 (America’s First Serial Killer Family) – Laura Ingalls Wilder said her dad was in the group that killed the Bloody Benders and buried them in the woods. So, Pa from *Little House on the Prairie* was involved in their deaths.
RE: Fact #35 (Scientology Hotel Blocked 911 Calls) – That’s seriously messed up! I can’t believe it’s legal to ignore a 911 call.
When a really nasty cult is super powerful, they can do anything they want.
It’d be great if we could stop them without messing with religious freedom.
It’s not even a real religion, anyway.
RE: Fact #10 (Australia’s Floating Hotel Abandoned) – So, the title made me think it just floated off to North Korea.
Turns out Kim Jong-Un checked it out and wasn’t happy. He wants them to redo the place to fit North Korea’s style.
RE: Fact #39 (Agatha Christie’s Mysterious Disappearance) – I think she vanished on purpose, figuring the press would go crazy trying to find out about her almost-ex-husband’s new girlfriend. They were already splitting up, but he was still legally entitled to half her huge fortune. All that press attention during the court case though? He ended up with nothing because he cheated.
I’ve always been a fan of that theory. And hey, she even used her husband’s mistress’s last name!
She was hiding at the Old Swan in Harrogate, so it was only a matter of time before someone spotted her. She knew exactly what she was doing.
The Swan’s a decent pub, the food’s alright, but it’s a bit pricey. I’ve heard it used to be better.
RE: Fact #49 (World’s Oldest Hotel in Japan) – That’s a neat story! Near the end of the samurai era in Japan, twenty-two samurai and their families sailed to America, bringing tea seeds and silkworms. Their farm didn’t last long, but it’s wild to imagine those samurai saying, “Forget this, let’s go farm!”
Eno Sakai, one of the samurai from that failed farm, settled in upstate New York. He brought his son, Jo, over from Japan so Jo could study agriculture at NYU. In 1903, Jo convinced Henry Flagler to give him some Florida land to start a farming community.
Jo got farmers from Miyazu, Japan. Seventy-five Japanese farmers and their families ended up working the land that became Boca Raton. One of them, Sukeji “George” Morikami, even worked for three years to pay off his trip. They called themselves the Yamato People. A main street in Boca, Yamato Road, is named after their community. Jo died in 1929, but the community kept going.
During WWII, the Japanese community did okay compared to other Japanese Americans. They weren’t put in camps, but they couldn’t leave the county without police. The government took all their land, though. They used it for an airbase. After the war, most farmers went back to Japan or moved elsewhere. Only George Morikami stayed.
George was pretty thrifty, so he had saved money. After the war, the government was selling the land back, and he used his savings to buy some of his old land.
George did really well after the war and owned almost 200 acres when he died in 1976. His house was amazing—a perfectly kept traditional Japanese house with beautiful gardens—in the middle of miles of swamps and farmland. In 1973, he gave his land to Palm Beach County to make a park.
Now, George’s home and gardens are the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens.
RE: Fact #20 (Howard Hughes Bought His Hotel) – So Hughes bought the Silver Slipper Casino next door – five and a half million dollars – just to get rid of that giant, spinning slipper sign. It was shining in his bedroom window and keeping him up.
He also snapped up the KLAS TV station and used it like his own personal Netflix. He’d make them play his favorite movies at night, and if he got bored, he’d call and order up something new.
That TV station story is hilarious! Anyone else catch his private broadcast?
“Private” wasn’t the best word there; “personal” would have been better. The broadcast was public anyway.
I heard he thought the government was using the slipper to snoop on him.
J. Edgar Hoover: “How’d he find out? We’ve got a leak, guys.”
I’m not sure if I’d adore him or think he’s a total jerk.
He had some serious mental health issues. But, parts of his life were pretty amazing.
It’s weird to think about. Would he have done so well if he hadn’t been so driven by his OCD? No one knows.
RE: Fact #37 (Why Lower Floors Were Pricier) – Rooms away from the city stink were pretty valuable, too.
In summer, rich folks escaped the city’s hot mess.
RE: Fact #25 (America’s First Serial Killer Family) – Nobody ever really checked out the Flexos, the family’s neighbors.
RE: Fact #42 (Physicists Bankrupted MGM Grand) – If you skipped the article, it was a terrible financial week ’cause nobody bet. Smart move, really.
RE: Fact #3 (Sweden’s Sourdough Hotel Exists) – It’s basically a scam. Sourdough starters are super tough and last ages in the fridge, or even years frozen. You’d really have to work at killing one.
RE: Fact #21 (Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreak in Hotel) – I always figured it was a wartime disease, but it’s actually like the other thing. A big outbreak started at an American Legion convention in a Philadelphia hotel.
Wow, it’s wild that they only found out about this disease in 1976.
It’s strange, this only happens with slow-moving, lukewarm water in pipes—not hot enough to kill it. You can drink the water, but showering’s a different story. Newer buildings are usually okay, but older ones with dead-end pipes from bad renovations? Problem city. To get rid of it, crank the water temp super high every few months (hot enough to break some rules, but not to really hurt anyone unless they’re in it for ages, plus you can fix it with new faucets). Learned all this from working at a hospital that dealt with it—lots of meetings on this.
RE: Fact #38 (Motel Owner Spied on Guests) – He saw a murder in Room 10. A young couple, renting the room for weeks, were involved. The guy, late twenties, around 180 pounds, was a college dropout and small-time drug dealer, according to what the voyeur overheard. The girl was blonde, with a big bust. The voyeur’s journal went on and on about their wild sex life. He also wrote about people coming to Room 10 to buy drugs—something that bothered him, but he didn’t call the cops. He’d reported drug dealing before, but the police ignored him because he couldn’t identify himself as a witness.
One day, the voyeur saw the guy sell drugs to some kids. This really ticked him off, so he went into the room and flushed the rest of the drugs down the toilet. He’d done that before without any problems.
After a big fight, the guy strangled the girl until she passed out. Panicked, he grabbed his stuff and ran. The voyeur saw the girl’s chest moving, so he figured she was okay and left.
He figured there was nothing he could do; he was just an observer, not involved.
The next morning, a maid found the girl dead. He called the police, gave them the drug dealer’s name, description, and license plate, but didn’t mention seeing the murder.
It’s funny how he acted all high and mighty about drugs, then did some seriously shady stuff himself.
Wow, people can be really twisted sometimes, especially motel owners with a thing for watching others.
RE: Fact #42 (Physicists Bankrupted MGM Grand) – Some folks are just too clever for Vegas casinos.
RE: Fact #1 (Coney Island’s Elephant Hotel Burns) – The Moulin Rouge got their own elephant, just like the one in that famous love duet scene.
RE: Fact #7 (Grand Canyon’s Underground Suite) – That’s not a lot, really.
RE: Fact #5 (André the Giant’s Hotel Collapse) – I wonder how much booze that took?
Andre actually holds the world record for chugging beer—119 twelve-ounce beers in six hours! That’s why he was passed out in that hotel lobby.
This record is seriously impressive; I’d be blown away if anyone ever tops it. It’s an amazing accomplishment, even without considering the health risks.
RE: Fact #19 (North Korea’s Empty Hotel Tower) – Word got around that building a huge hotel was their Cold War answer to the Westin Stamford, the world’s tallest back in 1986. A Cold War response that’s all about building super-tall hotels instead of aiming nukes – I dig it.
We’ve got each other’s backs.
RE: Fact #5 (André the Giant’s Hotel Collapse) – I bumped into Andre the Giant years ago – in a D.C. hotel elevator! All I saw at first were his chest, torso, and legs – I was totally shocked. He was HUGE. He asked if there was room, all friendly-like, and smiled. His hand was enormous when he shook mine – bigger than a plate! I’ll never forget it.
RE: Fact #36 (Unsolved Chlorine Attack at Convention) – Sounds like someone tried to wipe out all the furries.
Dude, that was a total disaster for furries. Never forget.
RE: Fact #43 (Taco Bell’s Hotel Sold Out) –
A 70-room hotel, only open four days? No wonder it booked up fast.
A whole menu of just nacho fries? That’d be crazy! It’s not what the article’s about, but still, pretty funny.
Baja Blast Lounge sounds awesome, lol
It was a pop-up hotel to get the word out about the brand. Sounds awesome!
RE: Fact #4 (Hotels Grease Poles for Mardi Gras) – Forty-two years back, the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Bourbon Street – prime Mardi Gras viewing – started slathering its balconies with petroleum jelly to stop people climbing up. And New Orleans, never one to miss a party trick, turned it into an annual event: the “Greasing of the Poles”.
RE: Fact #27 (Band Spent Budget on Booze) –
That’s pretty neat.
RE: Fact #30 (Brunei’s $23,000 Presidential Suite) – If I’m doing the math right, someone with a billion bucks could live in that room every day for over a century. That’s the difference between a billionaire and the rest of us.
They could basically stay put forever, making 1% a year on their billion.
RE: Fact #34 (Whitney Houston’s Hotel Room Retired) – People are messed up. Years ago, I was at a gun range, and some jerk was asking the counter guy for the stall where a woman had killed herself a few months earlier. Seriously, show some respect and lay off the morbid fascination.
RE: Fact #24 (H.H. Holmes’ Murder Castle Hotel) – Devil in White City is a really great book.
I saw a documentary about that hotel a long time ago, and it still creeps me out.
Was it called Holmes Alone 4: Lost in Chicago?
If you enjoyed the book and documentary, you should totally check out my hotel! Get 25% off if you book a rental car with your stay.
RE: Fact #10 (Australia’s Floating Hotel Abandoned) – Townsville’s actually a real place! Also Dildo, New Erection, and Taintsville are some of the best names I’ve seen.
Wikipedia says Robert Towns stopped by for three days in 1866—his one and only trip. He promised to keep the new town afloat financially, and they named Townsville after him.
Iron Knob, though? That place is a riot.
Penistone’s the best town name, hands down! Bring it on!
RE: Fact #46 (Super 8’s $8.88 Room Origins) – Back in 2022, one place cost over $40, but Motel 6 was only $6 or $30.
RE: Fact #22 (Millionaire Hid in Hotel 24 Years) – Kind of like the Collyer brothers, but less extreme. Their parents passed away in the early 1900s, and they pretty much became recluses. They still paid their bills, one brother went out at night to collect stuff, and then… well, they ended up dying because of their own traps.
RE: Fact #32 (Bolivia’s Salt-Built Hotel) – It’s super basic. If you’re used to fancy showers and spotless places, you’ll be pretty bummed.
RE: Fact #50 (Accidental Gunshot Killed Hotel Guest) – Hold up, wouldn’t a kick to the groin be pretty clearly an outside injury?
Hey, others have pointed out that entry wounds can be tiny, and this one’s a bit strange – maybe check around there. Skin often seals up small wounds. Like when Reagan got shot in ’81, he didn’t even realize he was hit! Docs had to hunt for the wound – under his arm, near his armpit – and the bullet barely missed some major arteries near his heart.
The article said the bullet hit Greg’s groin really badly, tearing through him. The skin there was soft, so it kinda covered up the wound.
The article said the bullet went right through Greg’s groin. Brutal.
There’s a Poirot story where a wife shoots her husband in the mouth with a tiny gun – a .22 or something. The tiny hole’s easy to miss, and the 1930s doctor thinks the blood’s from his insides. Weirdly, the TV show with David Suchet mentions it early on, then does the whole mystery later.
RE: Fact #14 (Churchill’s Hotel Room Sovereignty Deal) – Canada did the same thing for Princess Margriet Francisca of the Netherlands. She was born in Ottawa in 1943 – the only royal ever born in North America! The Dutch royals were in Canada because of WWII. To make sure the baby was a Dutch citizen, Canada temporarily let the Netherlands have a hospital room. As a thank you, they sent Ottawa tons of tulips in 1945, and they still send them every year. Ottawa has a huge tulip festival every May because of it.
The Dutch were pretty chill about it; they didn’t try to take over the whole hospital! Peace out, man.
RE: Fact #49 (World’s Oldest Hotel in Japan) – I saw a doc about it. If I recall correctly, it’s about a daughter who’s supposed to inherit the family business – she doesn’t really want it, but feels pressured to take it over and also have kids to keep it going.
These businesses have lasted because the owners treat their successors like sons. But spoiled kids mess up family businesses, right? Better to find someone who really knows what they’re doing.
It’s not cool to call them spoiled brats. They’re not wrong for not wanting to be stuck with one company forever. Still, it’s smart to pick someone who really wants the job.
RE: Fact #11 (Hotels Use RFID for Towels) – That’s why you should zap those takeout towels in microwave before packing them in your suitcase.
That’s it.
Engineering degrees are a great investment.
Hey, cut it out with the towel thievery, you cheapskates! It drives up hotel costs for all of us.
RE: Fact #21 (Legionnaires’ Disease Outbreak in Hotel) – I saw a really cool Forensic Files episode about that, it’s season 1, episode 7 (or maybe 8, Tubi says 8).
RE: Fact #8 (Lorraine Hotel Resident Protested Museum) – Still around.
RE: Fact #33 (The Man Who Invented Room Service) – My favorite business school tip? Customers are always right, but they don’t have to be *your* customers.
RE: Fact #44 (Dracula Hotels Fooled Romanian Government) – In Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Jonathan Harker stays at the Golden Crown Hotel in Bistriţa. Someone thought a new hotel with that name would attract fans. The local communist party wasn’t thrilled with the royal connection, but they eventually agreed, figuring Dracula was all about good versus evil. The hotel opened in ’74, and even though it didn’t look like something out of the book, its menu was based on Harker’s dinner.
Then, they wanted to build another hotel right where Dracula’s castle was supposed to be, but getting money was tough. They finally got the support of some higher-ups after a hunting trip with Ceaușescu, who basically said, “What’s stopping you?” So they got the funding, keeping the details from Bucharest. They said it was for tourists visiting the Bucovina monasteries.
It opened in ’83 as Hotel Tihuța – a castle-like place, even with animal skulls. They couldn’t name it after Dracula back then; the government wasn’t keen on all that Dracula stuff. But after the communist government fell, it became Hotel Castel Dracula and super popular with fans. A real-life Dracula hotel—high up in the mountains!
RE: Fact #2 (YMCA Dormitory Rooms) – Makes sense there were fewer homeless people—they had places to live.
Small, affordable rooms are a big part of what makes a neighborhood work in the US. We used to have tons of cheap places to stay – no fuss, no paperwork.
Now, most cities have banned these places, and lots of affordable housing got knocked down. It’s like people think if you get rid of affordable homes, poor folks will just vanish.
The best way to help the homeless problem? Get involved with a local YIMBY group and push for more small, affordable rooms in your area.
RE: Fact #15 (Guest Slept Through 9/11 Chaos) – It’s a total nightmare around him.
Nope.
He crosses his arms, stubborn as a mule.
“I don’t gotta check out till 9. I’m getting my money’s worth!”
That’s not really fair. He saw a potential fire in the World Trade Center Towers. Back then, the expectation was to stay put in a burning high-rise unless your floor was directly involved. He wasn’t on those floors, and the fire was far above him. He only left when the towers came down.
Hey front desk, I’m wondering if I could get a discount on my bill – a plane crash woke me up.
RE: Fact #40 (Difference Between Hotels and Motels) – Huh. I always figured one had inside doors, the other outside doors.
RE: Fact #24 (H.H. Holmes’ Murder Castle Hotel) –
Sounds like a real sweetheart.
He was a real charmer, that was his secret weapon.
Lots of people already noticed, but Evan Peters actually says that killer-as-poet line as Mr. March in American Horror Story.
March is all about Holmes. The whole season’s basically about the hotel he built.
Makes you wonder if that’s what gave Dexter’s Dark Passenger its start, huh?
RE: Fact #23 (Singer Injured by Falling Frame) – A falling picture frame hit her head back in ’04, and she passed away in 2010. She started having seizures after the accident, and one of them ultimately caused her death.
Yeah, that crazy accident started it all. I’m definitely putting my picture frames on the floor by the bed from now on.
RE: Fact #47 (Hyatt Walkway Collapse Killed 114) – It’s a classic example of a structural engineering fail. The original plan had walkways hanging from the ceiling, but the manufacturer complained—threading the rods for the top walkway would be pricey. So, they changed it, making the lower walkway rely on the upper one. This already put extra stress on the top walkway. Instead of each walkway being self-supporting, the top one now had double the weight—itself and the walkway below. Big mistake. It was already overloaded when about seventy people were on the walkways, and *boom*—the top walkway crashed down onto the lower one and a huge crowd in the atrium below. It was total chaos; rescuers compared it to a war zone, using cranes to move some of the debris. The lesson? Cutting corners and bad design are really, really bad.
RE: Fact #35 (Scientology Hotel Blocked 911 Calls) – Can they really turn people away? That seems like a waste of police time; shouldn’t someone look into it?
Especially not with all those Scientologists in the police force.
RE: Fact #16 (Las Vegas’ Atomic Bomb Parties) – I’d love to watch an atomic bomb test with cocktails, preferably downwind.
That’d be awesome!
RE: Fact #29 (Waldorf Astoria’s Exclusive Debutante Ball) – Back in the day, these things were basically matchmakers, hooking up young men and women so they could get married, have kids, and, well, you know.
My grandma was a debutante, all fancy and stuff. They made her marry my grandpa when she was barely seventeen or eighteen – he was, like, thirty! It was all planned out since she was little.
RE: Fact #4 (Hotels Grease Poles for Mardi Gras) – Don’t forget the grappling hook for Mardi Gras!
Definitely not grappling hookers.
RE: Fact #13 (911 Law Changed After Tragedy) – Hey, I’m a network engineer, and what I learned is that when you’re setting up a phone system, always make sure the usual outside lines work, and 911 *always* works. If you have to drop other calls to make sure 911 goes through, then drop them. It’s a rule born from people messing up – safety regulations usually come from past mistakes.
So, I’m a network engineer, and we’re taught to set up phone systems so that common outside numbers always work, and 911 *always* works. That’s a great rule. Designing good interfaces is way harder than people realize. Engineers think making everyone use a “9” prefix for outside calls is simple, but it’s not for regular users. Eventually, engineers figure that out and make an exception for 911, but if they don’t thoroughly test it, “9911” might stop working. That’s okay for most people, but it really messes up experienced users who automatically use the prefix.
Lots of old phone systems made dialing 911 (and similar numbers) a real pain. It wasn’t impossible, but getting it to work right with all those different area codes and local calling rules—7, 8, 10, or 11 digits—was a huge programming headache. You’d need a ton of rules just to get it to dial correctly, plus more rules for internal extensions.
Way easier to just set up trunk lines and have people dial 9, 8, or whatever they usually dial at home, then stick a note on each phone. Since phone systems are usually left alone until they break, making everyone use ten-digit dialing didn’t fix anything; it was way too late. Most people figured, “We’ll deal with it when we switch to VoIP phones someday,” if they even thought about it.
RE: Fact #8 (Lorraine Hotel Resident Protested Museum) – I seriously doubt Martin Luther King Jr. would approve of someone getting kicked out of their home in his name.
The motel was going under, the owner was broke, and a charity bought it. We don’t know much about what MLK thought about a lot of things. He was against unfair laws that treated people badly. Was it unfair for a charity that bought a failing motel to ask someone to leave?
She was totally nuts, seriously. Even if MLK might have been too humble to accept an honor, he’s gone, so what he *might* have thought doesn’t matter. But I bet he’d have thought the whole thing was ridiculous.
King was shifting his focus from civil rights to poverty, and the hotel’s residents were mostly poor Black folks. It could’ve become low-income housing, a tribute to him. Maybe keep a section as a museum, too.
The thing is, some folks only see things their way. Running this place ain’t free, gotta make money somehow.
Edit: I’ve met a few people who’ve dealt with that protesting woman. She’s seriously racist and anti-Semitic. Not saying she’s *wrong*, but she’s definitely not tolerant.
RE: Fact #13 (911 Law Changed After Tragedy) – The law says 911 calls have to go through, no matter what phone system you use. My company ran into this when we got our new phone system. We also switched our outside line prefix from 9 to 8 because of all the wrong numbers people were dialing when they tried numbers that started with 11.
RE: Fact #31 (Douglas Adams Locked to Write) – I really dig that quote: “I love deadlines. I like the sound they make as they fly by!”
He’s my Doctor Who king! City of Death and The Pirate Planet are my all-time favorites of his. And that quote? Spot on – it really captures his writing and humor.
RE: Fact #18 (Linda Ronstadt Banned Over Song) – After 9/11, people went totally bonkers. A band I liked got dropped by their label for having an anti-war song. The Dixie Chicks got absolutely hammered. You couldn’t say anything against the war without facing major backlash. It was insane.
Cancel culture sucks.
Freedom Fries.
RE: Fact #26 (Luxor’s Sky Beam Attracts Wildlife) –
That’s pretty neat!
What eats owls?
RE: Fact #6 (Las Vegas Dominates Large Hotels) – Get ready for a double whammy: the Super Bowl and the start of March Madness! I’ve never been to a Super Bowl, but I bet it’s crazy—March Madness was wild, the Big Dance really kicks off then.
Vegas is packed all year! There’s the F1 race, two NASCAR races, New Year’s Eve, UFC, tons of concerts, all the Vegas shows and residencies, NHL and NFL games, the Las Vegas Bowl, three NCAA basketball tournaments, and the National Finals Rodeo, plus the NBA Summer League. And I’m not even counting all the conventions! Those hotels are booked solid.
RE: Fact #31 (Douglas Adams Locked to Write) – I read somewhere that one of Douglas Adams’ editors or publishers said he was the only writer who made novel-writing a spectator sport—they had to watch him type to make sure he actually finished his books!
They should totally do that to George R.R. Martin, haha.
They really should’ve done that to GRRM, but he bailed on GoT ages ago after the show overtook him. He was like, “Screw it, I’ll write Targaryen prequels.”
GRRM’s gotten so rich and famous, his editor and publisher can’t touch him, and that’s why the books are taking forever.
RE: Fact #2 (YMCA Dormitory Rooms) – Women moving to cities for work needed a safe haven—a place to stay protected from trafficking, scams, and theft. The Y was it.
RE: Fact #36 (Unsolved Chlorine Attack at Convention) – Seriously, wishing people death? I’m not a fan of furries, but come on, get a grip.
RE: Fact #28 (The Shining Plays on Loop) – I’d heard that before, from lots of people. I was there this year and couldn’t find it on TV. Should’ve asked the staff or Lloyd behind the bar.
RE: Fact #26 (Luxor’s Sky Beam Attracts Wildlife) – The Luxor Sky Beam is the world’s most powerful light, at a whopping 42.3 billion candela! It uses special curved mirrors to focus light from 39 xenon lamps into one super bright beam. On a clear night, planes can see it from as far as 275 miles away, even over LA.
Another neat thing
Flying from LA to Phoenix back in the 90s, right after that Luxor hotel opened, the pilot told us on the left side to check out the Luxor beam—you could see it way off in the distance.
They don’t light all the lamps anymore, so it’s not as noticeable.
RE: Fact #33 (The Man Who Invented Room Service) – The “customer is always right” thing? It meant if customers want something a certain way, figure out how to give it to them! Don’t just say no. It wasn’t about putting up with rude customers though. That wasn’t the idea at all.
Right. It’s all about giving people what they actually want, not pushing stuff you think is cool, even if they’ve already said they want something else. Basically, let your customers decide what you make, not your own ideas about what’s best.
RE: Fact #13 (911 Law Changed After Tragedy) – I’m shocked it took so long! There must have been earlier stuff like this, right? When did “dial 9” become the norm, anyway?
RE: Fact #48 (Grand Hotel’s Clever Symbolism) – That hotel chain? They’ve won the award for worst in the UK… for years now.
My team hired this guy a few years back. His first trip? Two-hour drive to the airport, connecting flight, international flight to London, then a rental car to Coventry for the night. Big talker, this one – thought he was the most experienced, well-travelled guy ever. You know the type – loud, obnoxious, a real Trump fanboy, complaining about immigrants and lazy young people. A total “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” kind of guy.
So, trip day rolls around, and he gets to the airport… no suitcase. Figures he’d buy clothes in the UK. Then he misses his international flight because of bad timing. Rental car’s gone because he’s late. He finds another rental, hates it. Drives to Coventry in the pouring rain, only to find out he never actually booked his hotel. Massive meltdown, blaming everyone – travel company, etc. – only to realize *he* forgot to confirm the booking. Hotel’s full, so he finds another… somehow, a hotel in Birmingham pops up on his phone, miles away. He goes there, hates it, calls it the worst place ever, and ends up at a Hilton.
The whole trip was just one complaint after another. His wife’s fault, the airline’s fault, the rental company, everyone’s fault but his. What a sourpuss.
He goes home, sporting new trousers, swearing he’d never come back. And, of course, missed his connecting flight home too – ended up going via Canada.
My in-laws came to stay, and I kidded that they’d end up in a windowless basement room.
Turns out, they *did* get a basement room—with a fake window! They weren’t amused.
RE: Fact #2 (YMCA Dormitory Rooms) – I lived in a YMCA for a while back in the 80s. It was super convenient, my room was even bigger than my room at home, and I got to do tons of stuff for free. It was awesome—until a hooker moved in next door and started having visitors at all hours. People would even knock on my door looking for her! Even so, I still have great memories of the place.
RE: Fact #10 (Australia’s Floating Hotel Abandoned) – So, North Korea’s leader wants those South Korean hotels at the resort gone. Saw the pics – they looked familiar. Might not be there much longer.