More Hotel Guests Steal Mattresses Than You Might Think, Survey Reveals (Video)

Plenty of people end up taking home small things from hotels, especially those little, complimentary soaps. But what about the bigger stuff, like hairdryers, bathrobes, or mattresses?

Well, those go missing more than you might think. Yes, even the mattresses.

A study by Wellness Heaven revealed that about 4.2 percent of the 1,157 four and five-star hotels (634 four-star hoteliers and 523 five-star hoteliers) surveyed have reported their mattresses mysteriously going missing. Obviously, these mattresses aren’t just getting up and walking out in the middle of the night. Metro reported it seems hotel guests have managed to sneak them out in the middle of the night.

Making your home bed feel like a hotel bed is certainly a goal for a lot of people out there, but hopefully most would stop short of actually taking home the bed itself.

It’s unclear how many hotels deal with this particular situation, but some hotel chains have opted for simply charging the guest for the missing item (depending on what it is), or even pressing charges for theft. In the most extreme cases, some hotels ban guests who have been caught stealing.

But mattresses aren’t the only big ticket items that have gone missing, according to Wellness Heaven. According to the survey, in one case a grand piano was taken from a hotel in Italy. “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 hotel owner told Wellness Heaven.

In other cases, strange objects have also been taken as trophies. One hotel in France reported that a guest was caught trying to steal a stuffed boar's head (unsuccessfully, apparently) and a hotel near Salzburg said wooden benches were taken from a private suite’s sauna.

In general, the survey showed most people tended to get sticky fingers around hotel towels (79.7 percent of four-star hotels and 74.7 percent of five-star hotels surveyed), bathrobes (66.6 percent of four-star hotels and 63.3 percent of five-star hotels), and hangers (51.8 percent of four-star hotels and 46.2 percent of five-star hotels).

Other items that are reported stolen include pens, cutlery, cosmetics, batteries, wall art, blankets, pillows, and even light bulbs.