# Hotel room pranks **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 25, 2021, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936 "2021-11-25T13:37:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mark\_Finn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@Mark\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mark_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/1 "2021-11-25T13:37:09Z")
Have any of you done any (or other pranks which don’t cause damage) of these in a hotel (just before checkout), and what results? I have had the first two done to me, and they can work just as well in a friend’s room if you have a couple of minutes alone. 1. Just before checkout, set the alarm clock to go off at 3 am. If it’s a radio alarm, make sure it’s tuned to a heavy-metal station and the volume is up full. Alternatively - see if you can request a wake-up call on the phone (without human intervention). Set it for 3 am (if you already have another alarm set - set this one for 4 am). Set it for the next 3 or 4 days if that’s an option. It works even better if answering the “phone alarm” results in dead air rather than a “Good morning, this is your wake-up call” message. This might not work if you have to ask a human for a wake-up call, since they will know that you are checking out. 2. Unplug the TV. This works best of the outlet is behind some hard-to-move furniture. Unplug it and push the furniture back against the wall. Then try to hide the plug/cord as much as possible. Assuming housekeeping doesn’t want the TV on while they are doing their work - this can be a challenge to the next guest - maybe needing an “expert” sent from the front desk. 3. This sometimes works: inside the bathroom, turn the lock on. Leave, and close the door. It might be a challenge (or require professional help) to unlock it. 4. Upon checkout on a hot day - turn the heating on full. 5. Upon checkout on a cold day - turn the a/c on full, and/or open the windows. 6. In a deserted elevator lobby, push the highest floor number in any open elevator, and leave before the door closes. Works best when a large group is approaching, towing many bags, but who can’t see you. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/2 "2021-11-25T13:38:41Z")
No. I try not to do shitty things to hardworking staff and harmless travelers in the name of “fun”. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/3 "2021-11-25T13:41:35Z")
Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/4 "2021-11-25T13:45:28Z")
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**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/5 "2021-11-25T13:45:47Z")
Closing this until review by an MPSIMS moderator. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/6 "2021-11-25T13:51:12Z")
I’m going to move this to the pit, so posters can respond to the op. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/7 "2021-11-25T13:53:44Z")
---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/8 "2021-11-25T14:09:24Z")
I take a hot shower, then use a finger to write “I’m watching you” on the mirror. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/9 "2021-11-25T14:09:57Z")
These aren’t pranks they’re just being an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/10 "2021-11-25T14:21:17Z")
Pranks are mutually enjoyable, even if one side is shaking their head ruefully because they got got. This is just ruining somebody’s day, running, and giggling over the fact that you’ve hopefully made other human beings miserable. So I guess my answer is no. Except for the elevator thing. I’m pretty sure I did that a couple times as a kid. What an absolute dick move, young Bravo. Shame on you. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/11 "2021-11-25T14:22:25Z")
Yes nothing there is a prank (Except Kayackers), it’s a being a dick. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/12 "2021-11-25T14:34:10Z")
> [@saje](#): > > No. > > I try not to do shitty things to hardworking staff and harmless travelers in the name of “fun”. This. I detest even “amusing” pranks and practical jokes, and nothing above (with the possible exception of the mirror one) even manages to be amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/13 "2021-11-25T14:40:38Z")
I thought a hotel prank was to call room service and ask them to send up more room. ---
**Author:** ![flurb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/51bf81/32.png) [@flurb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flurb)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/14 "2021-11-25T15:08:26Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I take a hot shower, then use a finger to write “I’m watching you” on the mirror. I hate to be Kevin Killjoy, but even this “prank” could backfire if the room’s next occupant is a victim of stalking or domestic abuse. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/15 "2021-11-25T15:19:12Z")
Bathroom door locks, all that I’ve ever paid attention to, can usually be opened from the outside trivially easily, if you just have the right tool. Depending on the style of the lock, this is either a tiny jewelers screwdriver or simply a stiff paperclip. BTW: Note, the OP doesn’t say he’s ever done these things. He says two of them have been done to him. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/16 "2021-11-25T15:27:56Z")
When a friend got married, some guys got into the hotel room where my buddy and his new wife would be staying. They put fine confectionery sugar in the bed. Doesn’t sound like much but you get in the bed, you don’t feel a thing, but at night, you get warm, maybe you sweat a bit…and you wake up stuck to the sheets, ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/17 "2021-11-25T15:34:37Z")
Not a prank (more like an anti-prank) , but once when I was packing up on the day of my departure, I realized I had a very small amount of plant material in a baggie that I didn’t want to take on the plane with me. I had, during my stay, noticed that the closet was oddly shaped, with a weird niche that wasn’t visible when the door was opened, I also noticed that no one ever cleaned that little piece of closet. Then I started remembering one of my best hotel room experiences, it was late at night, I was hungry and craving a sweet, I opened the bedside table and found that a recent guest had left an box of Oreos with an entire unopened sleeve. So I took the small bag of plant matter and stuck it in that niche along with a small pipe and a disposable lighter. I envisioned a weary traveler looking for relaxation idly reaching into that niche and getting a pleasant surprise. Sometimes I wonder if my little gift is still there, but I’d like to think my “weary traveler” fantasy played out at some point. And by the way, I think the OP is a shitty person. Seriously, who thinks it’s amusing to fuck with a fellow human being like that? I thought about the last time I took an airport / hotel shuttle and how the other passenger on the shuttle was at the hotel because his son was having a kidney transplant. I hope no one thought it would be funny to wake him up in the middle of the night. Jeez…. How can you refer to this as a prank that doesn’t cause damage? Property over people, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/18 "2021-11-25T15:52:16Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > Pranks are mutually enjoyable, even if one side is shaking their head ruefully because they got got. This. Plus, the “pranks” in the OP seem particularly pointless since you’ll never see or know the results. But maybe I’m just a [Stiffly Stifferson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jORviU2oyMQ). ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/19 "2021-11-25T16:03:55Z")
> [@Mark\_Finn](#): > > Just before checkout, set the alarm clock to go off at 3 am. If it’s a radio alarm, make sure it’s tuned to a heavy-metal station and the volume is up full. Alternatively - see if you can request a wake-up call on the phone (without human intervention). Set it for 3 am (if you already have another alarm set - set this one for 4 am). Set it for the next 3 or 4 days if that’s an option. It works even better if answering the “phone alarm” results in dead air rather than a “Good morning, this is your wake-up call” message. This might not work if you have to ask a human for a wake-up call, since they will know that you are checking out. OP is a stupid fucking asshole. I’ve had this happen to me twice. Alarm going off at 4am with the volume cranked. It may have been inadvertent rather than a prank, of course. Once was before a very crucial event in my life which ended up not screwing things up did unnecessarily add to my stress. How is this in any way funny, you fucking sociopath? ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2021, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936/20 "2021-11-25T16:15:05Z")
OP, you’re a regular Professor Chaos, aren’t you? [![](https://www.nicepng.com/png/full/919-9196974_professor-chaos-the-5th-grader-with-a-degree.png) ](https://www.nicepng.com/png/full/919-9196974_professor-chaos-the-5th-grader-with-a-degree.png) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hotel-room-pranks/954936.md?page=2)