When it comes to the joys of staying in a hotel with paper-thin walls and neighbors who apparently believe volume limits are a personal attack, I thought I’d heard it all.
I’ve heard of hotel guests being treated to couples enthusiastically umm, “connecting,” kids screaming for breakfast at 6 a.m., family arguments that should really have been mediated by a professional, and the occasional mystery thump that makes you wonder if someone is rearranging furniture—or committing a felony. And sometimes you (or I) get a front-row seat to all of it, simply because your room shares a wall.
But one thing I had never heard of—nor, thankfully, experienced—was being woken up by a full-blown church service happening next door.
And no, I’m not talking about a hotel near a pilgrimage site. Or a resort hosting a church retreat – that’s just a convention, but with more hymns.
I mean an honest-to-God church service… in a regular hotel room.
Church is in! (evening service)
About 2 months ago, someone on the r/Hilton subreddit wrote in about a church service that was being held in the Hampton Inn where they were staying – apparently in the guest room right next door.
Redditor/user DoNotNeedInspiration said that they stayed at a Hampton Inn for a night. Around 7:00 pm, they started hearing a keyboard and singing coming from the connecting room.
They called the front desk. The response? “Oh, that’s a church service. It should be over in about an hour.”
First of all: excuse me?
Second of all: if the front desk knew a church service was happening—and apparently knew the schedule—why was anyone booked into the connecting room next door?
The author of the post said they then texted back the employee who had asked how their stay was going. Oh, and by the way – THAT person said the service was going to last until 9pm! But no worries—they’d ask them to turn the speakers down. (According to the guest, this had approximately zero effect.)
The rest of the story went into what the Hampton offered the author for their troubles (spoilers – it wasn’t much. 5,000 points. But by the end of the conversation, they had upped it to a 50% discount on the room for that night. DoNotNeedInspiration appeared to be satisfied with that, presumably because sometimes you just want to go to sleep and move on with your life).
Another hotel church service (complete with sunrise)
As the thread continued, people chimed in with explanations and hot takes:
- Small churches sometimes rent hotel spaces because it’s cheaper than owning a building
- Others suggested adjusting expectations because, hey, it’s “just a Hampton” (to which OP fairly noted: yes, a Hampton, not a Motel 6)
- A former GM recommended invoking Hampton’s 100% satisfaction guarantee
And then… things escalated.
Another commenter, Ceskygirl, shared an even more unhinged experience. They once stayed in a hotel room next to a preacher who held a Zoom church service at 7 a.m. Not quietly, either.
According to the commenter, they were “privileged” to hear him screaming, clapping, and passionately calling on the Lord for an hour and a half.
But wait—there’s more!
After the service ended, the preacher proceeded to get into a loud, aggressive argument with his wife, complete with wall-slamming and language that probably wasn’t covered in Sunday’s sermon. The front desk tried calling the room. No answer. Since the couple was checking out soon, staff opted to… just let it happen.
Because apparently nothing says “hospitality” like adjacent marital warfare.
Ceskygirl’s response was to grab all her stuff and check out. End of. The front desk didn’t offer any sort of compensation, “because she was “checking out anyway.”” Too bad, so sad.
Over to You
So now I’m curious: what would you have done if your hotel stay came with complimentary worship services—or bonus domestic drama—through the wall?
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2 comments
In the case of “domestic drama” call the cops and report suspected domestic violence. That will get the hotel’s attention.
What would I have done? Walked into the church service wearing a bathrobe and asking where the breakfast where and when breakfast was being served. And then not leaving until that happened, while playing a loud computer game on my phone.