5 weird things European tourists swipe from hotels
Of course you're supposed to leave hotel rooms the way you found them. But quite a few suitcases are heavier when the guests leave than they were before - and not all souvenirs have been paid for.
Works of art
The theft of art objects is a big problem in luxury hotels. According to a survey by travel site Wellness Heaven, 34 percent of five-star hotels polled said that paintings had been stolen from their rooms. The cheaper the hotel, the fewer art thefts there are. Obviously, an oil painting in a luxury suite is more interesting than a poster in a two-star hotel.
Blankets
How big does your suitcase have to be if you want to smuggle out a bedspread? Fifteen percent of the 1,000 surveyed said that blankets disappeared from their rooms. Pillow thefts were reported nearly as frequently (13 percent). Both items are stolen four times more often in expensive hotels than in mid-range hotels.
Televisions
Almost all hotel rooms are equipped with televisions - until guests quietly slip them out the door. TV thefts are particularly problematic in larger hotels. Five percent of surveyed hotels reported the disappearance of televisions - even though removing them often means wading through a pile of cables and detaching them from the wall. The thieves must have brought along the right tools.
Mattresses
If you thought it was tough to exit a hotel with a bedspread or TV in hand, what about a mattress? Surprisingly, some hoteliers report that thieves have simply transported them via elevator to the parking garage in the middle of the night. Five percent of five-star hotels have lost mattresses. In pricier hotels, they can carry up to a four-figure value.
Pianos
The most brazen theft was reported by an Italian hotelier. The piano in the lounge of his luxury hotel suddenly disappeared. Three unidentified people had simply rolled it out of the hotel and down the street - and were never seen again. Fortunately, that was the only case of piano theft reported.