Heartbroken over what I left in a hotel room
 

Ever since I went on a cross country trip as a 23 year old, I have brought along a tiny stuffed animal with me on vacation. I was driving cross country with a friend that I didn't know that well and I wanted to have another "friend" along on the trip in case we ended up not getting along well. Ever since that trip my tiny stuffed animal has been a travel companion in my carry on suitcase. He went to Mexico, Jamaica, Italy, Aruba, St Martin and Turks and Caicos and various places in the US. My husband and I went to Philly recently and I left the stuffed animal behind. I called the hotel and they checked their lost and found box but it wasn't there. I said that I would pay a reward for it but they never called back. Has anyone else ever lost something of sentimental value in a hotel? I was very sad and actually shed a few tears on this one. I guess I'm a just a sentimental person.

I once left a favorite T-shirt - rather tattered - in a hotel back East. Worn it as a nightshirt when the weather got humid - the holes made for great ventilation - LOL!

I realized my mistake on returning to the West Coast and called the hotel immediately. They put on a search and found the t-shirt! Whoo-hoo!

Keep calling and ask to speak to housekeeping. Hope this works! Good luck!

18 karat gold earrings I bought in Zurich in 1968.....BOO HOO, I am weeping still........

A favorite sweatshirt from my alma mater....my daughter's feather pillow....a cable knit cardigan.....a cool umbrella I left in a Hong Kong taxi....just "stuff"...but I miss them!!

Boy did you ever bring up a sad memory for me. I left my 3 year old daughter's beloved Gund teddy bear in a hotel room. She was broken hearted. I called and checked and rechecked - no one ever turned it in. I kept buying similar teddies for about 4 years, but none were ever the same. Believe me, I cried as many tears as she did.

Mind you, daughter is now 21. But amazing how some things are just very special and not replaceable.

Similar to OP story but with a happy ending....we left my toddler's favorite kitty stuffed animal in a hotel room on our tour of the southwest. Fortunately, some ways down the road to our next stop she asked where it was and after searching through everything made the trek back to our room and it was still buried in the bed. So an hour or so later, the trip was saved!

Hi travel, well your post certainly reminded me of a sad event. We were in Italy and my husband bought me a beautiful braclet in Capri, a necklace in Florence and two wonderful belts in Rome.

Next trip I took all of them. Two nights before we were going to fly home from the Malpensa Airport in Italy we stayed at a hotel in Gallarte as a friend of ours lived there.

Stupid me (I hate living out of a suitcase) I put those items in a dresser drawer. The night before we left we had a beautiful dinner but I had food poisoning all night. Consequently I was so "rundown" the next morning but had to be at the airport to catch our flight home. We packed up in a hurry and our friend took us to the airport. After I got home I discovered that I had left those special items in the hotel room drawer in Gallarte. We contacted the hotel. Nope, they had no information or clue as to what happened to them. So end of story. But my heart still breaks everytime I think about it.

P.S. Every since than I never put jewelry in a drawer but in by purse. And always, no matter what, open every drawer up in the room..never have lost anything else since than.

It wasn't just the monetary value of the items but the sentimental value..so sure understand how you and everyone else feels.

Was your stuffed animal on or near the bedding - that is how stuff often gets permanently lost in hospitals - once it goes thru the industrial strength washers and dryers, there is little left. One of the most commonly lost items in this way - dentures!.

Our son left his wallet on a table in a hotel - it took them 2 days to "find" it (even though he knew exactly where he left it and reported it within hours), but somethow all the cash was never found. Expensive lesson, but more replaceable than an item of sentimental value.

gail,
That reminds me of when my step mother was in the hospital and they lost her dentures. It absolutely devasted her! She was doing kidney dialysis (sp?) and eventually she just gave up and died peacefully (w/o dentures:) Pam

I left my brand new gift - a gold seahorse pendant - in a hotel room on Jekyll Island, Georgia. Within 8 hours I realized and called the hotel. I knew I had laid it on the nightstand. Never saw it again.

Happy ending: my husband ordered another one (custom made yikes) and within two weeks gave me a replacement. I've had the new one for about 12 years now! I am not losing it!

Pam/Gail: I have heard that losing dentures is the absolute worst thing for the elderly...they cannot eat, they are embarassed to speak, etc. So sorry about your step-mom, Pam.

What often happens with the dentures is that since a person is ill, they lose weight and dentures do not fit properly. While in bed they fall out into bedding - gone forever.

Similarly, my daughter's friends have lost about a zillion "retainers" (the things you wear after braces to "retain" teeth in position) on lunch trays at HS 9wrap in paper napkin, throw out with trash).

I have reached a new low in Fodors addiction and posting to be discussing this! The down-side of working a 4-day week.

Don't feel bad gail - I've seen alot worse things discussed here on Fodor's than dentures and retainers :) Pam

Travelenthusiast,
Traveling in Italy I picked up some Cheese's and truffle salsa (to die for). I put them in the Hotel fridge to keep cool before my flight back home. I hope the maid enjoyed them! Grrr.

I left my engagement ring behind in a hotel in Wales. We were just a few miles away when I realised and my heart sank! The manager was noncommital but said they'd look for it and to call back in a couple of hours, yeah right!

I was so relieved when they found my ring and promised to mail it but couldn't believe where they'd discovered it.... in a banana skin, in the trash! The trash can had been right next to the dresser where I'd left my ring and my son, an 18month old toddler at the time, had eaten a banana for breakfast.
I'm very grateful that someone went to all that trouble and today I treasure the ring even more because I almost lost it! :)

This is not on the same level, I'm sure, but when I was about 7 I left my favorite teddy bear in a hotel. At the time, of course, you can imagine it was a major crisis! I had trouble sleeping without him.

Fortunately, we DID get it back, several weeks later- the housekeeping staff had folded the bear up with all of the sheets and put it through the washer. His fur never quite looked the same, but the sentiment allowed me to love him anyway!

My favorite Chico's jacket, one opal earring, a bathing suit that FIT(! always check the bathroom door hook), but the worst were those stupid beanie babies my daughter insisted on traveling with. Lost a couple (in the bedding?), and many years later, she still opens all the drawers, shakes the blankets (amazing how many socks can be found that way), and looks under the bed if there's space. There was more upset over those dumb stuffed animals...

Favorite nightgown at the Grand Canyon North Rim motel. I normally check through the room pretty well, but somehow I missed it. And it was one of those cotton ones that had achieved the right amount of softness after many washings, but still looked good . . . you know the kind I'm talking about?

Still miss that gown! :(

Good news! I received a phone call today from the hotel and they found my stuffed animal. They are sending him "home" COD. I thought you might want to hear a happy ending.

What a great ending to your original post. So glad to hear your traveling friend is on his way back home!