Guests at five-star hotels are stealing mattresses, survey finds

Bedding of bedroom in hotel
Bedding in a hotel.

While some people who visit five-star hotels might pinch fluffy towels, toiletries and even toilet paper, other light-fingered guests have been setting their sights on larger, more unusual items.

According to a survey, the theft of luxury mattresses from hotel rooms is a growing concern among hoteliers, as are people unscrewing “rain effect” shower heads and taking TVs, coffee makers and even artwork from the walls.

The study, by Wellness Heaven, a spa and hotel review website, found that 4.2% of the 1,157 hoteliers surveyed have had mattresses go missing.

The researchers found that five-star hotels were eight times more likely to have mattresses stolen than four-star hotels.

small shampoo bottles in wodden basket in hotel room
The survey found more popular items to steal include towels, bathrobes, hangers, pens, cutlery, cosmetics and even batteries. (Getty)

With advances in sleep technology in recent years, luxury mattresses can cost thousands of pounds.

But it’s not easy to sneak a mattress past reception without rousing suspicion.

The research found that most mattresses go missing in the middle of the night from hotels that have lifts down to underground car parks, with the guilty parties being able to make a quick getaway.

Over 7% of those surveyed reported that guests have taken light bulbs out of light fittings, while 9.1% said remote controls had been stolen.

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Popular items to steal include towels, bathrobes, cutlery, cosmetics and batteries, but some reported being baffled by fixtures disappearing.

In one instance, an Austrian spa hotel’s pine bench went missing from a private sauna. The theft was only realised when a guest complained that they couldn’t relax in a “standing sauna”.

In Italy, a hotel reported that a grand piano had been taken from its lobby.

The Times reported that the owner “learnt that three unknown men in overalls had taken away the grand piano” and it never reappeared.