3 Unconventional Hotel Room Service Requests That Will Leave You Baffled

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There are some pretty telling signs as to whether you're Team Hotel or Team Airbnb. Pining for a cocoon of space and privacy? Nothing beats an Airbnb. But if you lean toward breezy check-ins and housekeeping, you're best suited for a hotel. A survey by travel rewards site Upgraded Points shows that hotels are getting their fair share of love from U.S. travelers: 62% of respondents would rather stay in a hotel than a rental. It all boils down to hotel amenities and conveniences — travelers are drawn to what hotels bring to the table, from swimming pools and gyms to housekeeping and room service.

And who doesn't love room service during a holiday? Who would turn down breakfast in bed, fresh towels, or extra pillows? Room service should totally be a priority on your trip — but travelers can be a bit too particular about their requests. Case in point: hotel subreddits like r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk and r/askhotels are filled with hotel staff spilling the tea on the most bafflingly unconventional room requests they've received from guests. A little more digging uncovered a trove of oddities documented in hotel booking platform Hotels.com's Hotel Room Innsights Report, an annual survey of more than 400 of the platform's partner hotels across Asia, the U.S., South America, and Europe.

Just how unconventional are we talking? The requests span everything from the supernatural and superstitious to specific culinary demands to framed photographs of celebrities. And while some establishments do their best to grant them, no matter how strange, there's a fine line between quirkiness and entitlement that is best left uncrossed. 

America has some of the best haunted hotels to stay at if you're brave enough. This definitely wasn't the case for one guest who asked hotel staff to put their "Ghostbusters" hat on: "I went up on the roof at 11pm to check for ghosts on the request of the guest staying in a five figure suite," shared u/leicanthrope on r/askhotels. "It wasn't even one of the bits of the hotel rumored to be haunted." 

While some guests request room changes due to issues like a mismatched booking or the dreaded see-through bathroom, others have reasons that are much more niche. One guest reportedly asked to switch rooms because of a lizard on the window — which they described as "the symbol of the devil." Meanwhile, u/meegieweegie had recalled two particularly strange room change requests: one guest claimed there were people in the trees watching him through the windows, while another insisted that "a bunch of nuns entered her room and messed with the thermostat" while she was out. 

In hindsight, these seem pretty tame compared to the guest who asked hotel staff to shut off the Wi-Fi because "it was disturbing her brain waves and misaligning her chakras" — a request concerning not just her room, but for the entire hotel. Then there was a request that defied all spatial logic: when Redditor u/agntwildcat worked at a Hilton connected to a convention center — flanked by a Marriott at the opposite end — a guest asked whether their Hilton room could be connected to a room in the Marriott. "I was truly speechless," shared the Redditor. So are we.

Hotels are generally willing to grant unconventional requests if you ask nicely — and judging by how often it comes up on Reddit threads, we're convinced that requesting an in-room celebrity photo is a surprisingly popular ask. What's even more impressive is the lengths hotel staff will go to make it happen, which speaks volumes about their dedication to meeting a client's wishes. "Hospitality at its core thrives on human connection," Harry Francis, the lifestyle director of an Alexandria, Virginia-based hotel, told nonprofit advocate AARP. "When guests are kind, curious and engaged, staff naturally want to go the extra mile."

Redditor u/parkinglotnacho's birthday request for a photo of actor Alfonso Ribeiro — best known for "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" – was fulfilled by hotel staff, complete with cake and drinks. Other celebrity picture requests mentioned in the threads include Tom Selleck, Nicolas Cage, and "Happy Days" actor Scott Baio, among others. Some requests were oddly specific, like a photo of Tom Hanks and his dog from "Turner and Hooch," or Keanu Reeves and Patrick Swayze in a particular surfing scene from "Point Break."

Some requests go even further. One guest mailed a life-sized cardboard cutout of Jeff Goldblumto a hotel, asking for it to be set up in their room before their arrival. "I happily accommodated that one, naturally," shared u/GrandCanOYawn. Another Redditor printed a photo of "Wade Duck" for a guest who wanted some company because they were "afraid of the bath." 

As for food-related room service requests, let's just say certain guests like to think outside the box. And after Hotels.com's Hotel Room Innsights Report recounted a list of requested items not on the room service menu, it's clear just how imaginative these requests can be. 

The list included caviar hotdogs, goat milk, burnt toast, no-egg white omelette, melted ice cream, blowfish, and a serving of bison — plus a specific request for 4 pounds of bananas. Guests got cheeky about it too: there was even a request for "a high five from a team member, " which would verify that the staff actually read their request. Meanwhile, u/Grillparzer47 had to turn down a request to mail a forgotten hamburger and fries from a guest's hotel room to their California location. Redditor u/humbridge's comment speaks for all of us: "Must have been a REALLY good hamburger." 

Some requests take luxury to another level, like a bathtub filled with Evian water for a child to "bathe in the purest water." Other unusual asks include vitamin-infused "diet water" and pre-boiled bottled water. Luxury hotels have leaned into over-the-top food offerings as well. Houston's The Post Oak Hotel is giving strong "burger, but make it extra" vibes with a $1,600 Wagyu burger nestled between a caviar-infused brioche bun, while dialing a dedicated hotline from a Park Lane New York hotel room reportedly gets you in-room caviar and roe.