Always Throw a Water Bottle Under the Hotel Bed: A Flight Attendant Reveals Why

Carefully checking your hotel room as soon as you check in helps ensure your safety and prevents unexpected incidents. The space under the bed is one area you should never overlook.

After a long flight, all most people want is a good night’s sleep in the comfort of a hotel room.

However, in May 2023, a shocking incident occurred in Tibet (China) when a tourist discovered a body hidden under a hotel bed. At first, the guest was unaware of the tragic situation and, exhausted from long travel, even slept on the bed that night.

In light of such worrying incidents, a flight attendant who frequently stays in hotels due to her flight schedule shared her personal experience.

Esther, a Dutch flight attendant with extensive experience at European airline KLM, revealed that she always throws a water bottle under the bed when she checks into a hotel room.

Having stayed in hotels all over the world, Esther emphasizes the importance of personal safety. She uses the habit of tossing a water bottle under the bed as a precautionary measure.

This simple trick serves as a proactive step to help her feel safer during her stay.

She explained that this method makes it easy to detect whether someone might be hiding under the bed. If you throw the bottle under the bed and it does not roll out the other side, you should check underneath—either by yourself, with a travel companion, or with the help of hotel staff.

If there is no one underneath, the bottle will roll out from the opposite side. In the worst-case scenario, you should leave the room immediately and contact hotel security.

Why should you check under the bed when checking into a hotel?

To stay safe while staying at a hotel, guests should inspect everything in the room upon arrival, such as the bed linens, TV, refrigerator, and electrical outlets. However, many people often forget about the space under the bed.

Besides checking whether someone might be hiding there, inspecting under the bed also helps you assess how clean the room is.

If not properly cleaned, this area can collect dust, hair, cigarette butts, food wrappers, or other items left behind by previous guests.

Moreover, it can be a hiding place for insects such as ants, cockroaches, beetles, or bed bugs. Some insects can cause allergies, itching, or even transmit diseases.

More dangerously, the space under a hotel bed could also be used to hide suspicious items, weapons, or illegal substances that could cause trouble for guests.

Therefore, checking under the bed when you first enter a hotel room is an important step in protecting your own safety.