Top 5 Things Saudis Leave Behind in Hotels, as Revealed by Cleaning Staff

2026-07-05T15:18:25.093Z

During the summer season, hotels around the world witness hundreds of cases daily of Saudi guests forgetting their belongings. Passports and wallets top the list of lost items, followed by luxury perfumes, phones and electronic devices, then clothes and accessories, and finally cosmetics and medicines. Lost-and-found departments report occasionally finding items...

A tourist may leave the hotel carrying beautiful memories and photos, but often forgets valuable items inside the room, starting a new journey led by cleaning staff and hotel lost-and-found departments, who confirm that the summer season sees hundreds of cases daily, especially with increased travel.

Hospitality officials say that Saudi travelers, due to their high frequency of travel abroad, are among the most eager nationalities to recover their belongings, but some items are not discovered missing until arriving at the airport or even returning to the Kingdom.

According to officials in the Lost & Found departments of several international hotels, there are five categories of items that recur noticeably among Saudi guests.

First: Passports and Wallets

Passports and personal wallets top the list of items that cause emergencies in hotels, as some travelers forget their passports in room safes or desk drawers and only discover it while completing travel procedures at the airport.

Front desk staff confirm that hotels handle these cases with top priority, immediately contacting the guest, airline, or tourism office to return the passport before the flight.

Second: Luxury Perfumes

Perfumes rank second, especially given Saudis' tendency to buy international brands while traveling.

Cleaning staff say they constantly find expensive perfume bottles in bathrooms or on dressing tables, after the guest placed them in a visible spot and left without remembering.

Third: Phones and Electronic Devices

Mobile phones, smartwatches, wireless earphones, and iPads are among the most valuable lost items.

These devices are often forgotten beside the bed, on desks, or inside room safes, and some hotels need to charge them to identify owners and contact them.

Fourth: Clothes and Accessories

After days of shopping, some travelers leave shopping bags or new clothes inside wardrobes, along with sunglasses, belts, ties, and watches.

Cleaning staff confirm that the most forgotten clothes are jackets and men's robes (abayas), especially during early departures to the airport.

Fifth: Cosmetics and Medicines

The list also includes personal care products, cosmetics, electric shavers, as well as medicines that travelers put in the fridge or bathroom and then leave without remembering.

Hotel officials note that some medicines are disposed of according to health regulations if not claimed within a specified period.

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Employees at international hotels confirm that the lost-items list is not limited to usual items but sometimes extends to strange belongings, such as bags full of jewelry, luxury watches, laptops, and even large sums of money left inside room safes.

In some cases, the guest returns within a few hours to retrieve their belongings, while some items remain stored in lost-and-found departments for months or even years before being disposed of per hotel regulations.

Tips Before Departure

Hospitality experts advise travelers, especially during holiday seasons, to conduct a "final round" inside the room before checking out, including opening the safe, checking drawers, wardrobe, bathroom, under the bed, and device chargers—the places where most forgetfulness occurs.

Hotel workers believe that these few minutes can save travelers hours of anxiety and prevent the loss of items whose material or personal value may far exceed the cost of the trip itself.