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AIBU?

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Original poster

AIBU - shouldn’t be woken up by hotel staff at dawn every day?

105 replies

ICantGetNoSleepHere · 09/09/2026 04:58

Name changed for this. I work away from home twice a month and generally use one particular hotel chain, which over the years I’ve found to offer comfortable beds and security for a lone female traveller at decent prices (if booked in advance). I’ve paid £185.a night of that is relevant.

I’m staying in one I haven’t stayed in before - this is my third night. On each night, at 4:20am one of the bedroom doors near me has slammed shut. (You know how most hotel rooms now have those auto close features and this one has heavy doors.). It’s very loud and has woken me. It takes me ages to get back to sleep. (I can’t wear earplugs as they cause me to get ear infections.)

The first time it happened I just figured it was a careless guest leaving for a flight but when it happened again last night I figured it must be a staff member, most likely their breakfast chef. I mentioned it to reception, who initially denied it but eventually admitted that their breakfast chef sleeps in for the first part of the week. I asked them to ask them to be/ bit more careful with letting their door slam as it must disturb a number of guests.

It’s just happened for the third time. WIBU to email the manager in hopes they can resolve it? I’m due to stay here again in a fortnight as it’s near a conference I am attending but I honestly feel sick at having had so little sleep during this stay. (I have a demanding job and didn’t get back to the hotel till about 11:30pm last night. I closed my door very carefully so as not to disturb other guests so I know it is possible to come and go with very little noise at all.). I can’t remember the last time I had to complain at a hotel and this isn’t about compensation or anything like that, but for this amount of my employer’s money per night I feel that I should be able to expect the kitchen staff not to wake me at dawn! AIBU?

OP posts:
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Whoopiedooo · 18/09/2026 12:07

Yes a win but I'd also like to know what they said about the cleaning (and reception) attitude. A free night is worse than nothing if they are going to bring attitude like they did last time.

GreenFootstool · 17/09/2026 19:13

I would say yes, but I'd also want an acknowledgement that the room cleaning teams were acting inappropriately with your personal belongings and that they will be spoken to about this.

Original poster
ICantGetNoSleepHere · 17/09/2026 18:09

UPDATE: had no response to my email (or even an acknowledgement) so I rang today and got through to a deputy manager. I explained the issues and sent them the email I sent last week. They were incredibly apologetic on the phone.

I have had a follow up advising that they don’t believe it was a staff member, but likely air crew whose employer rent a room permanently from them and pick them up at 4:30am each day.

They are still investigating, but have further apologised and offered me an insignificant number of membership points and a free night to be taken in the next 6 months in a room not near the air crew one. (I had suggested a 50% refund so this is 33% equivalent and some change.)

I do have some theatre tickets next month for my daughter’s birthday and haven’t booked accommodation so could use it for that, booking a second night for free with points. Much as I don’t really want to stay there again it is well located and I suspect they might be on their best behaviour.

Do I count this as a win, do we think?

OP posts:
Original poster
ICantGetNoSleepHere · 09/09/2026 20:40

Brackenandbrave · 09/09/2026 19:58

You should have asked to move rooms after the first disturbed sleep.
also you should invest in a Snoozeband. They are pretty good at blocking out sound

Surely that would have been an over-reaction. It could just as easily have been another guest leaving for a flight or whatever and accidentally letting the door slam.

No guarantee that whoever was near me in the new room couldn’t have done the same.

Only when it was repeated did this become a less likely scenario and I tried to address it calmly and politely. I’m sure I would be like a bull in a china shop if I had to start work at 4:30am.

After that it appeared to be deliberate, plus the weird housekeeping stuff. At which point it warrants a complaint.

I’ll look at a snoozeband as they have been recommended.

OP posts:
Brackenandbrave · 09/09/2026 19:58

You should have asked to move rooms after the first disturbed sleep.
also you should invest in a Snoozeband. They are pretty good at blocking out sound

MooseMuff · 09/09/2026 18:37

ICantGetNoSleepHere · 09/09/2026 05:02

Oh, also I got back last night and my hair products/straighteners etc were in a tangled mess on the desk and definitely not how I had left them in the morning. I was also only left 1 mug which was clearly gritty with dishwasher soap, but I wonder if the concierge spoke to the chef yesterday, who has told the housekeeping staff and that was their little protest?

God knows what they have done to your kettle! I'm serious! You need to make a complaint now! And take it further - please. How dare someone come into our room and do this, bloody awful service for a regular customer.

Original poster
ICantGetNoSleepHere · 09/09/2026 18:23

Wexone · 09/09/2026 18:13

Ah ok when i had to travel for work I tried to get a blow dry before I went to ensure my hair looked decent I know your struggles 🙈 that's how I coped
also dyson is well worth investment

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On my boycott list, sadly. I have the Shark but don’t travel with that.

OP posts:
Original poster
ICantGetNoSleepHere · 09/09/2026 18:22

Now heading home after what feels like the longest day. Rage has not subsided but I have a 3 hour train journey to craft my complaint to the manager which will be very direct and clear.

i book the hotels through our work travel portal, so get corporate rates but not able to book directly with hotels to negotiate prices. The other hotels I’ve stayed in in this chain are great so I’ll just go back there and travel when needed. But I’m not prepared to let this go. So whatever response I get will determine the Google review I leave and share with the travel
provider. They can remove hotels from the listings and they potentially lose out on hundreds of nights of occupancy a year from our employees.

Stayed in the same branded hotel in another city in the summer and they wouldn’t even let me check in until the room had been double checked by the head of housekeeping. I think it’s entirely possible that the chef was whinging about being spoken to in the staff room, having been told which room complained and someone deciding they would serve a lesson. Unfortunately, with my professional experience I can usually guess the chain reaction before being told what happened. But we’ll see what they try.

I actually have a friend who was very senior in this chain some years back so might buy him a beer and see what he thinks too. These tend to be very small circles and my network is massive.

Thanks for all the support though. Good to know I’m not over reacting. I do let lots of things go and do have low expectations of the consideration of others, sadly. But this has pushed me.

OP posts:
Wexone · 09/09/2026 18:13

ICantGetNoSleepHere · 09/09/2026 18:10

That’s what I have: invisible layers. It just grows back so quickly!

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Ah ok when i had to travel for work I tried to get a blow dry before I went to ensure my hair looked decent I know your struggles 🙈 that's how I coped
also dyson is well worth investment

Original poster
ICantGetNoSleepHere · 09/09/2026 18:10

Wexone · 09/09/2026 11:40

I have very very thick hair - i grew out my layers as it was creating the mushroom head you describe or even worse i looked i ahd two heads of hair. My hair dresser thins my hair now with more underneath taken out and the top layer get longer and heavier to keep weight down so much better - ask your hairdresser next time to do this

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That’s what I have: invisible layers. It just grows back so quickly!

OP posts:
PippaDee123 · 09/09/2026 14:52

I'd honestly be really surprised if a breakfast chef had the power to make the entire staff of the hotel pissed off with you and getting revenge after a pretty minor complaint.

EatingSky · 09/09/2026 12:39

ICantGetNoSleepHere · 09/09/2026 09:23

I have provided a photo. I didn’t think about it immediately and thought they might have knocked it cleaning. But then I picked up the mug (there were previously 2) and the outside was all gritty. Coffee wasn’t replaced but otherwise the room looked fine.

I usually don’t have housekeeping as I am barely in the room and don’t need extra towels etc for a 3 night stay. I’ll
stick to that from now on. And my other preferred hotels. I am not good in the morning so try to be walking distance from the office so I don’t have to be around too many people on transport first thing.

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More likely housekeeping is just rubbish, and the hotel in general
is low quality…don’t stay there again.

PuggyPuggyPuggy · 09/09/2026 11:51

ICantGetNoSleepHere · 09/09/2026 08:38

Yes. But it’s not good wavy, sadly. And it’s so thick that I have to have layers to remove weight, hence high mushroom risk.

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fair enough! I've spent my adult life thinking of my hair as "unruly as soon as it gets to shoulder length" but "mushroomy" really gets to the heart of the matter 😆

Wexone · 09/09/2026 11:44

Askandyforcompo · 09/09/2026 10:49

Oh mate, you really don't. It's not a holiday you know. You are stuck either on your own or with colleagues you may not even like in the evenings. The travel is brutal. You miss your own bed and home. If you are somewhere wonderful it's frustrating not being able to see it properly. Hotels can be crap as referenced in this post. Try running a conference for 2000 people when you've been awake since 4am. Or when you haven't slept at all because wedding guests are frollicking in the corridor. Or people are shagging all night next door. Or your room is next to the kitchen extractor fan which sounds like a fighter jet. Or you arrived at 10pm after working all day then travelling for 5 hours to find you are double booked and the solution is to get a taxi to their sister hotel 45 minutes away.

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Its horrendous aint it - One of my worse was the kitchen was right underneath meant and my bedroom stank of chip fat 😤Try getting rid of that smell before you go face people
I thank the lord my current job doenst require hardly any travel like i used to have to do

Wexone · 09/09/2026 11:40

ICantGetNoSleepHere · 09/09/2026 08:38

Yes. But it’s not good wavy, sadly. And it’s so thick that I have to have layers to remove weight, hence high mushroom risk.

Show quote history

I have very very thick hair - i grew out my layers as it was creating the mushroom head you describe or even worse i looked i ahd two heads of hair. My hair dresser thins my hair now with more underneath taken out and the top layer get longer and heavier to keep weight down so much better - ask your hairdresser next time to do this

WhosGotTheKeysToMyBimma · 09/09/2026 11:23

Work travel is the pits and stuff like this just makes it more stressful.

I would be upset too OP. Please complain to the GM when you get a chance.

I have to laugh at people thinking staying in a hotel for work is a perk. It really isn't. Whether it's a budget hotel or pricy, they're all less comfortable than your own home.

I sometimes have to stay in a hotel due to distance (I pay for them myself) and price is no indicator of quality tbh. The rooms might be bigger but the TV is still shit and I resent paying £££ for breakfast when all i want is cereal!

ThreadGuardDog · 09/09/2026 11:06

I would post a review saying exactly what happened - be calm and coldly factual. Then I’d email or write to the manager of the hotel in exactly the same way, enclosing that photograph and telling them that this was not the way you left these items that morning, and it has left you feeling very unsafe as you had no idea if your other belongings left in the room had been similarly tampered with. Be clear that it’s for this reason that, although the hotel is convenient for your regular work trips, you will not be using it again.

RockinCara · 09/09/2026 11:04

I used to stay in hotels all the time and slamming doors was one of the most annoying things! But the pile of your things knocked over and piled up is awful. What horrible staff. And stupid! Obviously most people are going to complain again about the housekeeping staff after that and take thing further.

Redheadedstepchild · 09/09/2026 11:00

Assuming this IS a Hilton or similar chain, they operate on a franchise model. So:

Complain to duty or general manager and also to the customer service email on your points app/the phone number on your Membership/Honors card.

You're not a serial complainer and are a valued and loyal customer, it's just a shame that this particular franchisee has let the side down etc, you have always been so happy in the past, travel frequently for business bla, bla.

Play it right and they might put some points on your card.

99bottlesofkombucha · 09/09/2026 11:00

My public review would include detailing the housekeeping petty revenge after I complained. Nasty bunch!

Askandyforcompo · 09/09/2026 10:49

Stinkybooks · 09/09/2026 05:35

£185 a night sounds like a huge amount to me. I’ve just booked a night away in a room the looks lovely for much much less than that. Are you staying in a generally expensive city? I wish my job meant free trips away!

Oh mate, you really don't. It's not a holiday you know. You are stuck either on your own or with colleagues you may not even like in the evenings. The travel is brutal. You miss your own bed and home. If you are somewhere wonderful it's frustrating not being able to see it properly. Hotels can be crap as referenced in this post. Try running a conference for 2000 people when you've been awake since 4am. Or when you haven't slept at all because wedding guests are frollicking in the corridor. Or people are shagging all night next door. Or your room is next to the kitchen extractor fan which sounds like a fighter jet. Or you arrived at 10pm after working all day then travelling for 5 hours to find you are double booked and the solution is to get a taxi to their sister hotel 45 minutes away.

LlynTegid · 09/09/2026 10:28

MsGreying · 09/09/2026 09:26

Never stay here again.
Vile creatures playing vile games need the sack.

Trust pilot. And a letter to the CEO on LinkedIn.

.

Agree.

If you could be guaranteed confidentiality, I would put in as part of a complaint a willingness for it to be used as part of a disciplinary process. Though from what you describe, I doubt it would be kept confidential.

WildLeader · 09/09/2026 10:23

And when you’re checking out, TELL them what’s happened and that you’re going to put in a complaint

WildLeader · 09/09/2026 10:22

Even premier inn in the city is over £200 a night.

@ICantGetNoSleepHere if you budget is higher, SPEND IT! It’s there for a reason and tbh, if you’re spending a regular amount of hotel nights and book in advance, perhaps you can even negotiate on the price of the hotel

you’re there to work. Work needs proper sleep, and you need to be safe, secure and valued.

this hotel clearly ISNT the place for you.

LilacReader · 09/09/2026 10:15

GooseCreekandtheRiver · 09/09/2026 09:26

This is the Hilton DoubleTree isn’t it? I think I recognise the decor. If it’s the one I am thinking of it’s just not a great hotel - lots of little issues. I would just stay somewhere else next time. I know you probably like to collect the points, but not worth it IMO.

We definitely need to know the name of the hotel - obviously depending on their response!