Hoteliers Reveal Bizarre Items That Guests Steal From Luxury Hotels

Sauna benches, mattresses, stereo systems, a grand piano - these are just some of the things that guests at luxury hotels have been known to steal, a survey reveals. While instances of hotel guests walking away with soaps and shampoos are pretty common, hardly raising an eyebrow anymore, the survey hotel and spa reviewer Wellness Heaven found that people are actually getting away with stealing bulkier, more bizarre items too.

Wellness Heaven asked 1,157 hoteliers which items are most commonly stolen and found that "the overwhelming majority of guests steal towels and bathrobes". The survey interviewed four- and five-star hoteliers, and found a "striking difference in the theft behaviour between guests in four-star and five-star hotels."

49 hotels reported that mattresses had been stolen from their premises since January 2018, CEO of Wellness Heaven Tassilo Keilmann told CNN. "On request, some hoteliers informed us that this only happens in the middle of the night - using elevators which lead directly to the underground parking," the survey report states.

Tablet computers or "suite pads" are also commonly stolen - 8.2 times more frequently in five-star hotels.

"Artworks are popular objects of desire in luxury hotels (5.5 times higher theft probability). Tablet computers and mattresses are also being stolen a lot more frequently in five-star hotels."

The list of bizarre items that guests have managed to steal from luxury hotels includes a toilet seat, the head of a rain shower, a stuffed boar's head and benches from a sauna, among other things. Most surprisingly in one case in Italy, people actually managed to steal a grand piano from a hotel lobby.

"Once I walked through the lobby, I noticed that something was missing, and soon after I learned that three unknown men in overalls had taken away the grand piano, and it never reappeared, of course," the hotelier told Wellness Heaven.

Watch the video above to find out more about the things that guests steal from luxury hotels.