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Photo Gallery of Really, Really Bad Hotel Rooms
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A bad hotel is usually the last place I'd think of taking a photo of while on vacation. Usually, I try to repress even the memory of a bad hotel immediately after leaving.
But not all folks.
MSNBC recently held a contest for readers to submit photos of their worst hotel stays. Yes, there are indeed travelers in this world so disgusted by their hotel room that they document it with photographs.
MSNBC has taken the very best (i.e. worst) photos and have populated two galleries with such joy. I was, however, rather disappointed that MSNBC doesn't identify any of the hotels pictured (can you say lawsuit?).
Nonetheless, the cringe-worthy photos are still worth a visit. In addition to the expected various stains and other filth, the galleries have some rather amusing shots as well. Here are just a few of my favorites:
- Graffiti in a closet
- Hot dogs left in the room safe
- Boa constrictor in the shower
- Bloodstained pillow
Filed under: Hotels and Accommodations
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Calli Nov 5th 2008 3:57PM
Anyone with bad stories about their travels should consider posting them in dontgothere.org!
Dave Luna May 23rd 2007 11:12AM
Wow, and I've always cringed about a hotel pillow that smelled of feces. After reading that list, I've decided that I really have no room to complain.
Loretta Jun 5th 2007 8:13PM
We stayed at a B&B last year that was haunted and disgusting the ceiling was falling down and the windows were shut closed, the name of it was the Lakeside Inn in Lake Weir Florida. I have no idea if its still working now, or if the spirits took over but we never want to go back there, the owners were very very nice, bill and sandy but the place had too many haunts, too much for us to bear..
Tim Orris Jun 5th 2007 8:38PM
I am in hotels 350 nights a year for last 20 years. Most "bad hotels are really bad previous customer, Somebody snuck flea bitten dog in so room has fleas, or kept cat in room for two weeks so smells like cat urine, or brought bed bugs or roaches into room, or smoked in non smoking room, or got mad and damaed tv or phone. Pet peaves are hotels that promice to deliver paper,but don't, or forget to tell you they have faxes or overnight package for you, You don't find out till your 5 hours away. Most lack eough electric plugs or have postage stamp desks to small for laptop let alone printer files ect.
Other pet peave is hotels that let semis run all night in parking lot to run freezers, drivers always seem to be in room far side of hotel.
jeanne pagano Jun 5th 2007 9:05PM
Transvestite Ghost in a Provincetown guesthouse
I am a straight woman and found one of the few small budget guestrooms available in town on a hot summer night in P-town. Alone in the tiny old room I put on my red lipstick a shade called NY Red as I looked in a bathroom mirror. To my horror I saw in the reflection behind me this big ugly very male Drag Queen smiling mimicking me putting on lipstick. I screamed and turned around very quickly and no one was there! I realized in an instant I had just seen a ghost. I went out bought incense and burned it in the room and chanted my mantra quietly praying for the ghost to move towards the heavenly light and leave the earth.
Crabby McSlacker Jun 5th 2007 9:24PM
So first you make me afraid to go on roller coasters or other amusement park rides, and now I can't even stay in a hotel room without getting the heebie-jeebies.
Thanks guys!
(Crabby has a grouchy little blog of her own and she's always trying to get people to come visit. Take pity on her even though she's annoying and visit her at:
http://crankyfitness.blogspot.com/)
dave Jun 5th 2007 9:31PM
My worst experience had to occur last year when we stayed at a Motel 6 Just south of Atlanta. It came equipped with a crack pipe in the room, toilet been used and not flushed-floater, and at last the bed was not made.
Donna Lundsen Jun 6th 2007 11:25PM
I still have nightmares about The Sea Dip Hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida. Home of the winged Cockroaches the size of a man's thumb or bigger.
We should have known this was going to be the hotel of horrors when these mutant cockroaches were flying about in the elevators. When we got to our hotel room we didn't spy any of them, however, the worst was yet to come.
As we settled down for the night, we had sat up against the headboards of the bed. We all got out our beach novels and began to read a few chapters before turning out the lights and going to sleep. But evidently the cockroaches wanted a good read, too. There were multiple pairs of antennae peeking out from behind the headboards of the two twin beds. These cockroaches were so bold and, obviously, so numerous that they couldn't even wait for the lights to go out before they made themselves comfortable. The Sea Dip should meet face to face with a huge wrecking ball. Even so, those monster roaches would probably survive the demolition.
cj42 Jun 5th 2007 10:09PM
L.A. airport hotels are the worst ever!
Be so careful to not stay at a reputable chain and even then it can be horrid.
I remember checking in late around 10p.m. with others and an elderly woman from India was in front of me. The coupon she had was for a discount with the hotel and thier shuttle bus brought her over from the airport. She was tired and yet was told the coupon was no good and they had no rooms for her at all! She was told to take a taxi back to the airport and thankfully a nice lady offered her to stay in the room she was occupying. Then the room I had was well over 100 nightly and it was an absolute dump. My niece was suppose to sleep on a chair that was a joke of a hidabed and the queen bed was barely a double. Its only about monies with the services near the airport. They do not care about people and its really crime ridden.
Its transient and people are exhausted from travel so they can get away with it in L.A., they are all high strung and extremely rude -fly into another port if you can!
Kathy Jun 5th 2007 10:15PM
I stayed in a real bad hotel only once...I layed awake most of the night afaid I'd get bitten by bugs...couldn't wait tii first crack of dawn to get out of there...never again...
Julie Jun 5th 2007 10:32PM
We booked a room in New Orleans and it was scary to say the least- I honestly thought it was a lived in room- like in boarding house and the guy vacated as soon as we checked in. There was condoms on the floor, porno mags in the drawer and cigarette butts in the toliet. Needless to say, we moved to another room, my cheapo boyfriend made me stay at that same hotel and we moved across the street 2 the second floor and I caught the drunk guy who checked us in peeking thru the key hole of our front door! No lie!! And when I opened the door he hauled ass down the hall! OMG it waslike being in the twighlight zone. The next 2 nights we stayed in a high end star time share, that I paid for. I do laugh though when i think of that crazy night stuffing tissues in the key hole and checking them throughout the nite to make sure they were still there. LOL
stephanie Jun 5th 2007 10:43PM
After 13 hours of driving we pulled up to our condo with 5 kids in tow and exhausted in Orlanda, FL, walked in, and the upstairs bathtub had been left running and was overflowing, there were dead roaches and other bugs on the floor, the beds were either unmade or stained, and there was a bra and a pair of blood-stained panties in one of the drawers. Since then, nothing surprises me!
MJ Jun 5th 2007 11:13PM
We were driving from San Diego up the coast. We stopped at the Malibu Motel. A wealthy town. Beautiful view! But the room was horrible. It had a screen on the huge front window but no glass! The bathroom window was jammed open with no screen. The furniture was like early Salvation Army. I didn't sleep all night, thinking that anybody could come in the front "window" or giant rodents/flying insects would come in through the bathroom.
Steve Jun 5th 2007 11:17PM
I experienced a bad motel a few times. On instance was when I travelled down to a place in LaPort, Tx. I went down for a church convention. When i got there I got with some friends and we went out to find a place to stay. Since we got there late, all of the better and less better hotels and motels were full.
We had to drive a bit a ways from where the church was to find one. We tried various ones as we drove but, they were full too. finally we came to one on the outskirts of town. I should have known something was wrong when I heard the manager start negotiating the price.
As we entered the room, we immediately noticed the poor condition of it; the black mold(something I did not know was dangerous at the time)surrounding the inside and outside of the coverless air-vent. What was even worse was after a long day of being in church we were ready for showers and tooth brushings. Unfortunately, when I turned the water on it came out completely brown; not for just a while, but as long as I kept the water on. Needless to say, there was no tooth-brushing with water and no showers. We just had to triple up on deodorant the next day. Did i mention that I also had a room-mate that snored? Not part of the "bad hotel" story I know but, part of the bad stay.
Brenda Jun 5th 2007 11:45PM
We decided to visit Myrtly beach, SC at the last minute without making hotel reservations, well we found that all the nice places to stay were booked so after driving around we found "The Barnicle" at the end of a fishing peir. The only room they had was an efficiency room with a very small kitchen next to the bedroom. You guessed it, the room stunk and we found shrimp left in the kitchen sink and remnamts of fish cut up on the counter, the shower was so dark we couldn't see to shower,or the condition of it, so we didn't shower, the door to the room was secured by a rope, no lock and roaches everywhere! We slept on top of the covers in our clothes. We were lucky to get out of their the next day to another, much nicer place. Tip: If its near a peir, look out! Plan ahead and research and book ahead the places you will stay.
Lindsey Bell Jun 5th 2007 11:41PM
These pictures invoke memories of my stay in Nice, France, the summer between my junior and senior year of college. Seven of my friends and I traveled throughout Europe that summer and found ourselves on the French Riviera on one of the busiest weekends of the year. We arrived in Nice around 11 p.m., without hotel reservations, having spent the last two nights on a train and not having showers for the previous two days. We all ended up having to stay in one room. We drew straws to see who was going to get to sleep in a real bed and who had to sleep on the floor. Should have been the other way around. When we pulled back the covers, the sheets were covered with matted hair and mysterious stains and greasy spots. There was no bathroom. Instead, the shower and toilet were beside the bed - no shower curtain, no privacy wall, doors, nothing. The toilet would not flush and was filled to the brim. If someone had been brave enough to sleep in the bed, one false move and a limb would have ended up in that mess. The shower was indescribable. Mold, standing water and more matted black hair covering the drain. The horror of that has not faded in the last 8 years. I just wish I had pictures so all the rest of the world could be gagging right now too.
Bill Jun 5th 2007 11:46PM
In response to # 5 - we are retired and when
traveling are on a limited budget. We had two
occasions this year to need a motel for a couple
of nights. We chose Motel 6 because they have a
recognizable name. NEVER AGAIN. Both times (and
they were in completely different states) the
rooms were neat but definitely not clean. Had to
contact the office for towels, toilet paper, etc.
Ashley Jun 5th 2007 11:48PM
One time when I was younger, my family and I decided to take a vacation. We were driving from Tennessee to the Grand Canyon, and we had to take a hotel in the middle of Oklahoma. Bad choice! There was water damage on the side of the hotel that for some reason, the manager and workers were unaware of and/or decided to ignore, which led to an awful smelling room, mold, and...get this...TONS of crickets. They were in the toilet, in the shower, the drawers, even in the beds! Maybe not the worst of hotel stories, but certainly a terrible experience.
James Jun 9th 2007 3:47PM
Hey to steve buddy listen i live in la porte texas
and let me tell you, make reservations before you get here, my power went out at home and we were trying to find a decent hotel, all of the decent chains were booked, we were going to go to a new place called the scottish inn and when i got there the guy asked us if we were staying the whole night...... He was talking to another guy at the time as well and i heard something fishy going on in more than one of those rooms let me tell you...... so once again when you are going to anywhere in texas that is pretty urban...well anywhere in USA really........ make reservations......
Crystal Clear Jun 6th 2007 1:21AM
I was in a motel with my then fiancee in Glen Allen,Va and since most of the well known hotels was full(It was during the NASCAR races) we had to stay in this motel. It was a small motel and it was in a dark area (Bates motel ring a bell?) that should have been a warning for what was about happen. Soon as we entered the room it smelled of cigarette smoke and trash. I looked down the carpet was dirty, I look up the walls needed a paint job and it was kind of molded. We had food with us so we had to make sure the room had an fridge. I opened the fridge and it smelled so foul I nearly threw up, plus it wasn't cold it was unplugged. I was exhausted and decided I would just pull the comforter and blankets off cause no telling when was the last time they washed those. Soon as my fiancee pulled the blanket off a huge cockroach ran around the bed. I screemed and looked at him and said thats it we are leaving and getting our money back and thats what we did and found another and cleaner room elsewhere.