The Main Character of the Week is turn down service—and the mess it made.
You go to a hotel, a high-end one at that, and then enjoy a night on the town. But upon returning to your room, you discover that something’s missing.
The room service you’ve ordered and planned to enjoy as a late night treat is gone. It’s because of a whole other type of service you didn’t realize it was included.
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What is turn down service?
So what is turn down service? It’s fancy housekeeping that happens at night. The gist is guests are made extra comfortable by late shift workers who come in and tidy up their room while they’re out.
The same principle of: You’re on a cruise ship, return from dinner, and there is an elephant made out of a towel on your bed.
“Not to be dramatic but I would’ve cried,” user Asya Jasmire commented on a viral TikTok video of this happening to social media star Bran Flakezzz.
It’s the most-read story we published this week because it’s funny, relatable, and more importantly a PSA effectively outlining this little-known hotel service.
Mr. Flakezzz could have been any of us.
Coincidentally, I’m writing this in a hotel room. Work trip. I’ve been here three days and I’ve been wondering if this has been happening to me the whole time. This hotel is nice enough to have expensive, organic treats on the desk and complementary, nice water served in glassware. But I think they keep rotating the treats and tidying up my room in the evenings.
The story’s resonance comes from its uncertain terms. Privacy is paramount when it comes to our hotel stays. The conventional wisdom about who gets to come in the room from the hotel staff while we’re here is murky. The world is dangerous enough without worrying if the $27 chicken fingers you planned to wolf down after the show are safe.
Talk about a new fear unlocked.
Main Character of the Week is a weekly column that tells you the most prominent “main character” online (good or bad). It runs on Fridays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
