‘This feels like a hate crime’: Holiday Inn guest vows never to stay there again after she discovers what the staff did to her stuffed animal

Sure, you might get a giant bed that feels like sleeping on a cloud and a classic robe hanging in the closet, but a hotel room never truly feels like home. It’s nice to bring some familiar things on vacation, like your pillow (no judgment here). But even if your hotel stay doesn’t become horrifying (seriously, there are so many ways your hotel room can freak you out), you might find yourself in a strange situation.

TikTok user @crunchwrapenthusiast shared the kind of story you don’t hear every day, one that makes you stand still and wonder “why???” After she stayed in a room at a Holiday Inn, she was stunned to discover that when her room was cleaned, her sweet little stuffed bear ended up in some dip.

Emma wrote in the caption of her video, “my first stay as a silver elite member and now my 23 yr old bear reeks of heluva dip.” She also explained, “Never staying at the holiday inn again, they moved my bear off the bed and PUT HIM IN CHIP DIP.” There are so many thoughts running through my head right now. First of all, that bear must smell terrible! The most popular Heluva Good! dip is French Onion, and there’s no getting around the fact that no one wants their childhood toy to reek of that. Secondly, if an adorable bear is lying on a hotel bed, why not let them enjoy some necessary R&R?

People were just as flabbergasted in the comments, although some focused on why Emma hadn’t thrown her dip away. She replied she hadn’t remembered to and never left a hotel stay without cleaning up. One person wrote, “How a hotel treats my stuffed bear determines everything.” I bet there were good intentions here and it was an honest mistake. Maybe they thought the bear wanted a snack? Someone else commented, “This feels like a hate crime.” Some housekeepers shared that they always try to leave a stuffed animal tucked into bed, which is a lovely image.

My pick for best comment is from the Holiday Inn itself. The chain tried to make up for the situation and wrote, “We apologize for dipping your bear. Bears belong in arms, not in salsa. They’re for hugs, not hummus. Can you DM us on Instagram, please?”

I know how Emma feels as once, on a family vacation as a kid, I left my favorite stuffed animal behind and we only realized it once we were at the airport on our way home.

I bet a lot of people have experienced a similar situation as Emma (although maybe not with the chip dip). At least she didn’t forget her beloved stuffie! A 2012 survey by Travelodge found 35% of adults in England have teddy bears with them when sleeping. As it turns out, 75,000 stuffed toys were left in hotel rooms from 2011 to 2012, which is very sad to hear about. Sometimes there is a happy ending, though. According to The New York Post, when a young girl thought she would never see her little dog again, kind people from the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal Studios in Orlando mailed him to her home in England.

Emma saved her bear, though, and washed and dried him off in the hotel sink. He looked a bit overwhelmed by the whole situation. Maybe he needs another vacation!