MONROE - Some hotel guests who leave behind items in Monroe will have to realize something is missing in order to get it back.
Guests of another motel will get a phone call letting them know of the forgotten items.
Jane Thoman, who co-owns and manages Super 8 and AmericInn motels in Monroe, said it is corporate policy of both chains not to call guests about lost items.
"It may have been someone on a rendezvous who wasn't supposed to be at the hotel," Thoman said.
Instead, Super 8 and AmericInn staff document the item and hold it for 90 days. Should the guest return for another visit, items are returned. If the guest calls about the items, they are shipped to the guest at their expense.
If something isn't claimed after 90 days, hotel staff can take the item. Thoman takes the majority of the items to St. Vincent dePaul.
So does Gasthaus Motel owner Teresa Gobeli. She does it whenever the lost-and-found basket gets full.
At her motel, she requests a phone number in case an item is left behind. She isn't afraid of blowing someone's rendezvous cover.
"If they're not supposed to be here and they're dumb enough to leave their home phone number, I can't help that," Gobeli said.
Thoman and Gobeli said the most common item left behind is a cell phone charger. Pillows and eyeglasses also are common remnants of guests' stays.
While those items are the most common, it's the most unusual ones that make Thoman and Gobeli laugh.
Thoman said one time, some men left behind a dolly used for moving large, bulky items.
"I don't know how they could have left that behind," Thoman said. "It's so big, it's kind of hard to miss."
Gobeli said she's had a 40-pound packed suitcase left behind. Recently, a couple left behind a shopping bag full of graduation presents. Transient workers at Swiss Colony often leave behind ready-to-bake items from the food pantry when they leave; Gobeli's rooms do not have an oven.
Only a few hotel guests leave items behind. Fewer still decide to take something with them when they go, and we're not talking about the shampoo, soap or conditioner.
"It's just part of the room rate, really," Thoman said. "It doesn't happen that much to really do anything about it."
Thoman said towels are the most common items taken from her hotels. During one man's visit, Thoman said, all the towels were taken. On his second visit, it happened again, and hotel staff questioned the man.
It turned out that while the man was checking out of the hotel, an employee of his was in the room, unbeknownst to him, taking the towels.
Thoman has had a comforter taken, and one time, a guest staying on the first floor stole the television.
"He actually helped us out, because we were getting new TVs," Thoman said. "That was one less TV we had to worry about."
Gobeli sees toilet paper being taken from Gasthaus rooms.
"It's a little nervy for someone to take toilet paper," Gobeli said.
She tries to keep good inventory of items in each room, but sometimes that doesn't stop the determined.
"We had one guy steal the glass plate in the microwave oven and the triangular thing it sits on," Gobeli said. "His parole officer found out and the items were returned. What use would a guy have for such items?"
Guests of another motel will get a phone call letting them know of the forgotten items.
Jane Thoman, who co-owns and manages Super 8 and AmericInn motels in Monroe, said it is corporate policy of both chains not to call guests about lost items.
"It may have been someone on a rendezvous who wasn't supposed to be at the hotel," Thoman said.
Instead, Super 8 and AmericInn staff document the item and hold it for 90 days. Should the guest return for another visit, items are returned. If the guest calls about the items, they are shipped to the guest at their expense.
If something isn't claimed after 90 days, hotel staff can take the item. Thoman takes the majority of the items to St. Vincent dePaul.
So does Gasthaus Motel owner Teresa Gobeli. She does it whenever the lost-and-found basket gets full.
At her motel, she requests a phone number in case an item is left behind. She isn't afraid of blowing someone's rendezvous cover.
"If they're not supposed to be here and they're dumb enough to leave their home phone number, I can't help that," Gobeli said.
Thoman and Gobeli said the most common item left behind is a cell phone charger. Pillows and eyeglasses also are common remnants of guests' stays.
While those items are the most common, it's the most unusual ones that make Thoman and Gobeli laugh.
Thoman said one time, some men left behind a dolly used for moving large, bulky items.
"I don't know how they could have left that behind," Thoman said. "It's so big, it's kind of hard to miss."
Gobeli said she's had a 40-pound packed suitcase left behind. Recently, a couple left behind a shopping bag full of graduation presents. Transient workers at Swiss Colony often leave behind ready-to-bake items from the food pantry when they leave; Gobeli's rooms do not have an oven.
Only a few hotel guests leave items behind. Fewer still decide to take something with them when they go, and we're not talking about the shampoo, soap or conditioner.
"It's just part of the room rate, really," Thoman said. "It doesn't happen that much to really do anything about it."
Thoman said towels are the most common items taken from her hotels. During one man's visit, Thoman said, all the towels were taken. On his second visit, it happened again, and hotel staff questioned the man.
It turned out that while the man was checking out of the hotel, an employee of his was in the room, unbeknownst to him, taking the towels.
Thoman has had a comforter taken, and one time, a guest staying on the first floor stole the television.
"He actually helped us out, because we were getting new TVs," Thoman said. "That was one less TV we had to worry about."
Gobeli sees toilet paper being taken from Gasthaus rooms.
"It's a little nervy for someone to take toilet paper," Gobeli said.
She tries to keep good inventory of items in each room, but sometimes that doesn't stop the determined.
"We had one guy steal the glass plate in the microwave oven and the triangular thing it sits on," Gobeli said. "His parole officer found out and the items were returned. What use would a guy have for such items?"