Noise Ranks High in Hotel Misbehavior

Inattentive parents who let kids run wild, hallway hellraisers and those who berate hotel staff for minor inconveniences are the biggest annoyances of fellow guests, says Expedia, in its first Hotel Etiquette Study. 

 Other major types of annoying fellow guests include: 

•  In-room revelers/noisemakers nearby (52% of respondents); 
•  Bickerers (26%); 
•  Poolside partiers (22%); 
•  The “loudly amorous” (21%); 
•  Overly affectionate couples in a public hot tub (20%); 
•  Drunk business travelers (12%); and 
•  Elevator chatterboxes (6%). 

The survey also found that Americans differ about hotel tipping habits. A full 27% of respondents don’t tip hotel employees at all, 3% have attempted to tip a hotel employee to secure a room upgrade and more than half tip their housekeepers (who are tipped more than any other employee). 

Four out of 10 tip for room service, 31% tip the valet, 21% tip the porter, just 10% tip the concierge and 7% tip cabana attendants. 

 Americans do take discreet—and sometimes indiscreet—liberties when they stay at hotels: 

•  26% of Americans have hoarded toiletries to take home with them; 
•  9% have shoehorned multiple people into their room overnight without telling the hotel; 
•  8% have secretly taken items from their hotel room; 
•  6% sneak down to the pool first thing in the morning to “reserve” a spot by placing towels on chairs; 
•  5% have smoked in a nonsmoking room; and 
•  2% have deliberately eavesdropped on guests in a neighboring room.