From false teeth to blow-up dolls, the hardworking housekeepers of the UK's hotels have had to deal with some very strange lost property. Jungmin Seo sees what they've found
Amelia Lawrence, executive housekeeper, the Grove, Watford
"We have had many interesting things left at the Grove due to the variety of guests who come to the hotel. We have had boxes of flip-flops with pink feathers left after a wedding, as the bride didn't want her lady guests having sore feet when they were dancing the night away. We had a very large Chinese group of 500 people stay with us in 2014, and when they left we had 500 pairs of pyjamas, 500 sun hats and a vast array of Chinese food left behind.
"In the spa we have everything from water bottles to swimming costumes, £250 designer trainers, Beats headphones or Apple AirPods.
"We also have golf range finders, golf shoes and even travel bags for golf clubs. We wondered how that guest managed to get their clubs home. Phone chargers are the most common item left behind.
"Every employee in the department is in a lost property WhatsApp group, and as soon as something is found a picture is taken and sent to everyone so we have a record of the item. The accountability is also now with the person who took the photo, so the items do not get ‘lost' on their way to our large lost property storage facility.
"The evening supervisor collates the lost property and ensures she has all the items according to the pictures sent that day. The following day the office co-ordinator contacts the guests who checked out of the rooms to ask if they want the item returned, and we then send it to the guest free of charge. Our posting bill is in the region of £2,500 a year just for returning property.
"Many of our guests live locally so we have also been known to hand-deliver items, especially if a child has left behind their special toy and won't be able to sleep without it. (That one was a 40-mile round trip.)
"About half of the items are not claimed, so we clear out our store every month of things we have held for at least two months. Our staff get first dibs on the items and then whatever is left is given to charity."
Michael Hedges, general manager, the Clermont, Charing Cross, London
"We once had a case of ‘human' lost property. The concierge booked a car on behalf of a couple. The husband went to the bathroom and his wife was waiting for the driver in the lobby. Their driver arrived, so she jumped in the car and set off to explore London and only realised that she was ‘husband-less' when she arrived at Westminster Abbey! Her husband was still standing at the concierge desk making plans for the evening.
"We're always amazed by the number of people who leave all of their belongings in the hotel. This happened only last month, when a couple checked out, went to Heathrow and caught a flight – but only took their carry-on luggage. The rest of their belongings were still in their room and they only realised when they reached Melbourne and their bags never appeared on the carousel.
"Looking back through our logs, the smallest-value item we have ever reported as lost property was a half-eaten bag of crisps."
Jean Roberts, executive head housekeeper, Hotel du Vin
"I think the strangest items I found in a drawer were giant African snails. I had to phone the RSPCA to collect them. Poor creatures. Apparently they were very valuable items on the resale market. I found them in the top drawer of a chest of drawers – they weren't even in a box, just loose. What a shock. We had to spring clean the room after they were retrieved. How they forgot them, I'll never know.
"We were once refurbishing a room and in the roof space we found a blow-up doll. It came tumbling down. We always wondered why the guest always asked for that particular room! The hotel was the Leeds City Hilton, on both occasions. We were running on 98% occupancy levels and always busy. This was about 20 years ago."
The Stafford, London
"Many years ago, we had a regular guest, an American film director, who left the only copy of the script for his latest film with us. He had travelled on to Ireland to secure a leading actor and needed the script to be delivered to him there that evening. It was far too sensitive to be couriered or faxed (this was before email existed), so the only way to get it there securely was in person. Needless to say, it was something of a blockbuster after it was released. No names though!"
Sally Russell, general manager, Harbour Hotels Brighton
"Our general manager in Chichester has apparently found a good amount of marriage certificates in rooms, which has caused a good deal of panic in the days post-wedding. He also found 120 Krispy Kreme doughnuts in a room with a note saying ‘thanks for having us'.
"My front of house manager once found £5,000 in cash in a bedroom safe. When we contacted the guest they were on a driving tour of the UK and had forgotten about it.
"I once found some false teeth in a safe. I'm not sure if it was finding used false teeth or the thought that a guest felt they needed to keep them super-safe which I found more odd."
Housekeeper, De Vere Hotels
"A garden gnome, which after three months I hid in my sister's garden. The Quality Street tin full of vibrators was also memorable."
Russell Imrie, managing director, Queensferry Hotels
"We have all the usual items, such as clothing, books, toiletries and phone chargers, but nothing which is extra exciting. We must have very boring guests!"
Fernanda Lewis, executive head housekeeper, the Goring, London
"We have managed to reach out our guests and their personal assistants and they have collected their lost property within hours. Among the items we have had are an electric rice cooker, wigs, a spraygun, an inflatable sausage pillow, live crickets in a box and Egyptian papyrus art."
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