Most common items left behind for hotel staff to find

While most of us do a quick once-over on our room before we leave a hotel, that doesn’t mean things don’t get left behind. Whether it’s a book in the bedside cabinet, a bag under the bed, or a bottle of shampoo in the bath, it’s pretty easy to forget a few things – especially if you’re rushing to check out on time. Click here to be taken directly to the Accor website, where you can book your own hotel for your next trip.

So what are the most common items left behind in hotel rooms? And what are some of the weirder things hotel staff have happened upon after check-out?

Most common items left behind in hotels

Here are some of the most common items left behind in hotel rooms, however, with some of the items, you wonder just how guests could leave without noticing the item was missing.

Briefcases, Suitcases and Handbags
Briefcases and handbags we understand, but how could you forget a suitcase? Unless you leave the hotel wearing all of your clothes at once perhaps.

Adult Toys
Not the most pleasant item for a hotel cleaner to find under the bed. And perhaps not something many guests would return for.

Artificial Limbs, False Teeth and Hearing Aids
If you have an artificial leg, surely you would notice if you weren’t wearing it when you left the hotel. The same applies for false teeth and hearing aids, one would have thought.

Jewellery
Jewellery is fairly easy to leave behind, however, it can be devastating to lose. One hotel chain reported that one of their guests left behind a $75,000 Rolex watch, another left behind a Tiffany engagement ring, while another left behind a set of false teeth with diamonds. We’re not sure if that one falls into the false teeth category or the jewellery category.

Clothes
Numerous guests leave behind odd shoes, items of clothing and underwear. What a treat for the hotel cleaning staff.

Books
Books are one of the most commonly forgotten items, with one hotel chain claiming that 20,000 books were left behind in its hotels over the period of a year. Included in that figure was 7000 copies of Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James.

Other popular forgotten books included The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets’ Nest, and The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson, Fifty Shades Freed and Fifty Shades Darker, and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Teddy Bears
If you think leaving expensive jewellery in a hotel is devastating, spare a thought for the five-year-old who leaves their teddy behind. A British hotel chain reported a whopping 76,500 forgotten teddy bears over the space of a year, which adds up to quite a number of tears before bedtime.

Gadgets
Despite their value, gadgets are also commonly forgotten in hotel rooms. That includes laptops, tablets and mobile phones, as well as a plethora of gadget chargers.

Car Keys and House Keys
Not something you want to discover after a long flight – that you are hundreds of kilometres away from your house keys or car keys, which are safely tucked up in hotel lost property.

Some of the weirder things left behind hotels

Now for some of the stranger items left behind by hotel guests. Hotel staff have reported finding a stuffed crocodile, a human baby, a winning lottery ticket, a stamp album worth $400,000, a set of Olympics tickets, a trunk of Cadbury chocolate bars, a Persian Chinchilla kitten, a pantomime horse, and Joseph’s Dreamcoat. Well why not, indeed.