The following anecdotes were taken from the new book entitled Horrors of the Hilton: True Stories of the Chambermaid. In the florilegium, several hotel cleaning ladies were interviewed on the things they’ve seen working in the business, and this was the result. Readers beware: some of these stories are more than disturbing. Furthermore, these stores were recorded exactly as dictated. No language has been edited or colloquialisms annotated.
Shawnda Freeman– Marriott Inn, Charleston, WV
Once I was cleanin’ this cracka’s room while he was away at some klan meetin’ or somethin’, and when I walked into his room, it smelt of piss. He had a camera set up in one corner of da room, and on the other side, he set a big bowl. In it, there was some fluid. When I went over to it to clean up around it, it smelled like pee. The mother fucker had a bowl of piss in his hotel room and was takin’ pictures of the piss or himself takin’ a piss or somethin’! We ain’t supposed to trifle with their personal effects, but this shit was fuckin’ sick. I din’t know what to do, so I reported it to the head cleaning lady, a white woman named Mary. I don’ know what happened after that, I had to clean another room.
Gloria Woodruff– Motel 6, Tacoma, WA
This guy had been staying at the motel for about a week, and for the first three or four days, he had the Do Not Disturb sign on his door, so we didn’t bother him. Finally, while he was out for lunch, he had forgotten to place the sign on the door, so I went in to neaten the room and exchange the linens.
I don’t know how he did it, but the room was completely empty. Bed, television, light fixtures– all of it was gone. Even the shower curtain was missing. As far as we could tell, he hadn’t left his room since checking in, and the only window in the room was only two feet wide by two feet high. I left the towels and the linens sitting on the floor, and told my manager about the situation. He told me he would take care of it.
We never heard from the guy again, but I later came to find out that he had been stealing hotel furnishings for months and selling the stuff on eBay. He only got caught after someone from a Clarion bid on a TV that was taken from one of their own hotels. Why anyone would want a hotel bed is beyond me.
Wynona Whitehall– Sleep Inn, Kissimee, FL
A family of four had been staying in one of the suites at the hotel while they were going to Disney World. On the third day of their stay, I heard soft crying when I opened the door to exchange the towels. A chair had been propped up in front of the bathroom door. When I removed it and opened the door, I saw a little boy inside sobbing. His eyes were a deep red from all his tears. “Mickey, Mickey, I want to go see Mickey,” he kept saying. I really didn’t know what to do, so I asked him where his parents were.
“They went to see Mickey,” he said, tears streaming down his face.
“Why are you here?”
“They told me if I didn’t eat my breakfast, they would lock me in the bathroom.”
They had left him with some coloring books, chocolate-chip cookies and apple juice. I was really at a loss as to what to do, aside from reporting this to my manager and DFACS. This boy had been locked in a bathroom for three hours while his parents and sister were at Disney World having fun.
Everyone remembers those threats her parents made on long car trips, but I had never seen a parent make good on such a threat.