Top 5 Weird Things Left Behind in Holiday Villas and Hotels
Celebrities, newborns, the deceased, and everybody in between have one thing in common—the tendency to leave behind peculiar things after a holiday. Of course, certain items appear more frequently than others: cell phones, ipods, pyjamas and sex toys are frequently forgotten in the shuffle to check out. Here are some of the weirdest things left behind in rented villas and hotels:Oddly enough, guests who leave behind their prosthetic limbs are almost as yawn-inducing as those who forget their shampoo. In 2008 alone, hotel chain Travelodge reported finding 80 artificial limbs in its associated branches.
Of course, there are a few notable leavings that distinguish themselves from the usual forgotten flotsam and jetsam, including the hollowed-out bible containing 250 dollars, a 6 by 6 foot model helicopter powered by remote, and 8 CD’s recorded by actor Russell Crowe. There was a melted wok atop a toilet full of burnt charcoal. Some unlucky soul did not pack their glass eye, and someone else neglected to grab a set of car keys to a Porsche. One hopes all of these were simply spares. And don’t forget about the full-size skeleton, left perhaps as a silent protest against slow room service.
But these items only serve as a warm-up to the top five most unexpected things left in hotel rooms.
5.) A corpse.
Talk about ‘do not disturb.’ For three days, a maid at a motel in the US did not clean the room of a sleeping guest out of respect for his slumbers. On the third day, however, it became apparent that the sleeping guest was not asleep.
4.) An Inflatable Sheep.
There’s an old joke about Scotsmen and sheep, but it became all too literal for the Travelodge branch in Edinburgh,when hotel staff discovered an inflatable sheep amongst the unmade bed and used water glasses.
3.) A Horse.
More logistical questions are raised than answered with the discovery of a real, live, full-size showjumping horse at a hotel in Droitwich in Worcestershire. How did it get past the reception desk? Why did no one hear it? Did it tip the bellman on its way out?
2.) Two briefcases of collectible celebrity spectacles.
The most bizarre items left behind in hotel rooms are those which could be considered weird in any context, regardless of the environment or setting. Such is the case with two briefcases filled with collectible celebrity spectacles from such pop luminaries as Elton John. What is the appropriate venue for this, exactly?
1.) A baby.
It really happened to us: a popular leave-behind at airports (in 2008, babies were left behind at the Vancouver and Jerusalem airports), babies and infants sometimes are overlooked by frantic family members as they attempt to get to their next destination. The family in question left the villa in Portugal in two cars, in a hurry. Mum thought dad had the baby. Dad thought mum had the baby. Neither of them had the baby. The maid had arrived to clean the villa and found the baby alone and has been leary of the English ever since.