Hotel secrets you need to know!

marcsignal · 10-03-2011 03:50AM

newmug wrote: »

To people who go on about cockroaches in Ireland, are you sure they're cockroaches?

Yes, German Cockroach and Oriental Cockroach. Most commonly found in Hotel Kitchens and Laundrys because of the humidity. Here's a tip, if you see a cafe or restaurant next door to a laundry, there is a higher possibility they may be more susceptible to a cockroach problem. They will live in the laundry, and feed in the restaurant kitchen.

In the early 90s out of 220 pest control contract calls I dealt with, per 6 week cycle, maybe 10 of those calls were contracts relating to cockroaches. The other 210 were relating to Rats and Mice. However, from talking to people I know who are still in the pest control game, the amount of contracts relating to cockroaches has shot up in the last 10 years. Today in Ireland, your average pest controller will have nearly as many calls for Roaches to deal with as Rats and Mice, particularlly in City Centres.

People travelling from exotic parts of the world (Africa, Far East) are fairly likely to bring cockroach eggs home with them in the folds and lining of their luggage. They also get here on ships carrying fruit like bananas etc. They lay eggs in the joints of the containers they're transported in which end up being delivered to hotel kitchens. The heat and humidity in the hotel kitchen will allow the eggs to incubate.

Having said all that, if a hotel is clean, and sprayed regularly by a professional, there isn't much chance you'll see one.

LighterGuy · 10-03-2011 03:51AM

Am I the only one who would use a hotel for a few hours then check out?
you know, with female company (and no ... not hookers)

eternal · 10-03-2011 03:55AM

you gotta be the dude jizzing everywhere

Senna · 10-03-2011 03:56AM

LighterGuy wrote: »

Am I the only one who would use a hotel for a few hours then check out?
you know, with female company (and no ... not hookers)

No you're not the only one, just most of us stay the night anyway, middle of the night sex, then morning sex etc etc

eternal · 10-03-2011 04:01AM

^ Obviously more of a gentleman than the man who comes and goes as it were

KnifeWRENCH · 10-03-2011 04:08AM

Eugh. Until I read this thread, I didn't even know we had cockroaches in Ireland...

marcsignal · 10-03-2011 04:12AM

KnifeWRENCH wrote: »

Eugh. Until I read this thread, I didn't even know we had cockroaches in Ireland...

Here’s one of their favourite Hiding Places in a hotel or restaurant kitchen.

Twee. · 10-03-2011 04:37AM

lil'bug wrote: »

today's leftovers are tomorrow's soup

The special is most likely made of ingredients that are about to go out of date so they can get rid of them. And fish on a Monday is never fresh.

SomeFool · 10-03-2011 04:51AM

marcsignal wrote: »

Here’s one of their favourite Hiding Places in a hotel or restaurant kitchen.

That's rank, I'm already having trouble getting to sleep, is the pic from an Irish kitchen?

marcsignal · 10-03-2011 05:34AM

SomeFool wrote: »

That's rank, I'm already having trouble getting to sleep, is the pic from an Irish kitchen?

No thankfully that pic is from Arizona, but you can tell if a place is infested, by looking for their droppings. Usually found around skirting boards of a kitchen behind fridges etc. They look like This, not unlike spilt filter coffee grains in size.

chicken fingers · 10-03-2011 05:40AM

No real 4 star hotel will hire a 13 year old.

flanum · 10-03-2011 05:44AM

marcsignal wrote: »

I worked for Rentokil in the early 90s, and can tell you that, back then, Jurys in Ballsbridge was the dirtiest filthiest cockroach ridden shithole in the western hemisphere. Full of jumped up duty managers who didn't want to take responsibility for anything.

Normally a pest control would spray a hotel every month. I, as part of a team, sprayed Jurys 104 times in 1990, and even at that, we were firefighting. The roaches in that place would be chewing the ankles off you as you worked.

roaches? you mean like off the movies? or in warmer climes??

Cú Giobach · 10-03-2011 08:09AM

I worked for a while in one of London's top hotels and while the chefs did indeed take the food very seriously and were fastidious about hygiene, the waiters not so, I did see food dropped a few times and put back on the plate if it could be arranged back to presentable standards.

10-03-2011 08:22AM

I worked in Corrib Village before for a summer and I didn't see anything like that really... The worst I'd do is not change a bed that wasn't used.

Great job, was friends with my supervisor so I could goto sleep on a bed for half an hour before changing it if I was hungover.. Those were the days.

up for anything · 10-03-2011 08:28AM

I worked as a chambermaid (room operative or whatever they call them now) back in the early 80s in Dusseldorf in a big hotel. We were supposed to change the sheets every day but the beds were so big and heavy to move that we routinely just stretched the sheets to make them look like they hadn't been slept in. Fun days.

ch750536 · 10-03-2011 09:01AM

Personally witnessed or involved in during my 10 years of hotel work:

Eggs poached in piss <but they deserved it>
Hotel cat that sleeps on the veg.
Returned food sent to another guest.
Steak deep fried to cook it quicker.
Staff member fapping under the bar counter.
Guests secretly spitting on the breakfast buffet.
Theft of Corrs bandmember underwear.
Staff hiding under the bed in a guests room.
Beds not changed.

Uriel. · 10-03-2011 09:18AM

ch750536 wrote:

Theft of Corrs bandmember underwear.

poor Jim has never been the same since

ch750536 · 10-03-2011 09:30AM

We had much worse goings on with the guests, examples:

The lottery winner who moved to the hotel to avoid attention then walked out of his room each time he intended to go to the bathroom. 9 times he walked to reception starkers.
The wedding where the brides mother died at the table.
The wedding where the groom was caught banging a bridesmaid on the bonnet of his BMW.
A guest who kept shouting '****' all the time. No other words, just '****', quite loudly.
Stephen Hendry not threatening me with violence if I didn't allow him room service <have to be careful legally here, the pain... the pain>
Entire rooms stolen.

10-03-2011 09:37AM

ch750536 wrote: »

Entire rooms stolen.

Lol
"I'd love to check you into room 114, but unfortunately it was stolen"
"oh that's terrible, the whole room?"
"yes, there's just a big gap in the wall now..."

cock robin · 10-03-2011 09:38AM

I'm with most posters who think this is all urban myth. With hidden cameras and such like it would be very dangerous for staff in hotels to act the bollix in this day and age. However when I was in the Defence Forces back in the 80s I did see a steak wiped under and around the rim of a toilet then trod on before being cooked and handed to a certain company segrent cos he was a wanker. He ate it and survived. Ah! those were the days. Revenge is a dish best abused and trodden on

ch750536 · 10-03-2011 09:43AM

bluewolf wrote: »

Lol
"I'd love to check you into room 114, but unfortunately it was stolen"
"oh that's terrible, the whole room?"
"yes, there's just a big gap in the wall now..."

everything was gone, carpet, light fittings, radiator.

10-03-2011 09:46AM

ch750536 wrote: »

everything was gone, carpet, light fittings, radiator.

Oh I know yeah, i just meant your post struck me with an image of someone carrying off the room itself and leaving a big hole in the wall :pac::pac:

mikemac · 10-03-2011 10:08AM

Ever see that Mr Bean episode when he locks himself out of the room by walking out into the corridor instead of the bathroom?
And goes around the hotel naked

That's happened way more often then you think.
In a hotel that does 3 weddings a week you're almost certain to come across it lots of times over a summer.
You'd be down in reception and some naked man strolls down cool and confident (I'd be mortified) and wants a replacement key.
Or they call you from the corridor

The only "famous" person I met who was an absolute wanker to staff was Patrick Bergin
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000920/
Always talking down to staff :mad: and demanding VIP treatment, treated people like dirt but he was based in Tipperary himself so a local.

newmug · 10-03-2011 10:57AM

ch750536 wrote: »

Personally witnessed or involved in during my 10 years of hotel work:

Eggs poached in piss <but they deserved it>
Hotel cat that sleeps on the veg.
Returned food sent to another guest.
Steak deep fried to cook it quicker.
Staff member fapping under the bar counter.
Guests secretly spitting on the breakfast buffet.
Theft of Corrs bandmember underwear.
Staff hiding under the bed in a guests room.
Beds not changed.

Haha brilliant, that tops the OP's list anyday!

kdogkeith · 10-03-2011 11:10AM

I worked in a hotelmyself, did the bar kitchens etc. I didnt get to see the rooms but the kitchen was infested with mice and one of the chefs just threw a box of cereal at it.
There was salt and vinegar in the staff room where we ate lunch and there was a fly in the vinegar.
As far as the food goes there was nothing hugely wrong, it was really nice in fact. But after the lunch rush the meat was left uncovered in the kithen for several hours and served to diners later.
Hygene was very poor.
Ive never gone back sinse i stopped working there.

A few months back i heard about how the manager of the hotel went into a guests room and used the shower during while the guests were in bed.

Truley · 10-03-2011 11:29AM

Never saw anything too bad. Alot of little tricks with the food, for example sprinkling water on old breadrolls before putting them in the oven, or reusing side salad from other customer's plates. Sometimes food would be left standing uncovered too long. My biggest gripe was with the waiting staff who would have appaling personal hygiene, the chefs were fine.

phill106 · 10-03-2011 11:36AM

Worked in front and back of house of 4 star hotels for years, you wouldn't get away with 1/10th of the stuff that is mentioned there, with all the hygiene checks and outside inspectors etc.
I do agree about cups in room just being washed in the hot tap in the rooms though!
Dont agree about putting nasty stuff in food, or sheets not being changed. Happens rarely with the sheets, and housekeeper would get a bollocking, as would supervisor who is supposed to check the rooms of the staff under them.
Fapping at the bar counter? There would certainly be cameras to stop theft at every hotel bar, so thats just ridiculous!

wyndham · 10-03-2011 12:00PM

marcsignal wrote: »

Yes, German Cockroach and Oriental Cockroach. Most commonly found in Hotel Kitchens and Laundrys because of the humidity. Here's a tip, if you see a cafe or restaurant next door to a laundry, there is a higher possibility they may be more susceptible to a cockroach problem. They will live in the laundry, and feed in the restaurant kitchen.

In the early 90s out of 220 pest control contract calls I dealt with, per 6 week cycle, maybe 10 of those calls were contracts relating to cockroaches. The other 210 were relating to Rats and Mice. However, from talking to people I know who are still in the pest control game, the amount of contracts relating to cockroaches has shot up in the last 10 years. Today in Ireland, your average pest controller will have nearly as many calls for Roaches to deal with as Rats and Mice, particularlly in City Centres.

People travelling from exotic parts of the world (Africa, Far East) are fairly likely to bring cockroach eggs home with them in the folds and lining of their luggage. They also get here on ships carrying fruit like bananas etc. They lay eggs in the joints of the containers they're transported in which end up being delivered to hotel kitchens. The heat and humidity in the hotel kitchen will allow the eggs to incubate.

Having said all that, if a hotel is clean, and sprayed regularly by a professional, there isn't much chance you'll see one.

What about bedbugs? Ever get callouts for them?

dubtom · 10-03-2011 12:09PM

I met a housekeeper from a hotel in Dublin who claimed that 25% of their rooms were closed due to bed bugs. She said you should always check the wall behind the bed for little spots of blood where the bugs have been splattered. It's a common problem in Hotels apparently.

GEasy · 10-03-2011 12:22PM

I can only comment on the hotel I worked in for four years. Nothing but the highest standard was upkept (It was a three star). I worked pretty much everywhere at one point so I knew my way around the place and what did and didn't go on. Chefs were great too ! Serious headers! When it came to food though they were very serious. Kitchen was cleaned spotless EVERY night, by me a lot of times too. Leftovers that weren't eaten by customers were always binned too (hear they're reheated alot).

Proper ingredients were used in the food too, which I admire the chefs for. None of that Smash shít to thicken up soups or the like.

Hotel secrets you need to know!

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