Blogs
Are you a superstitious soul or do you think it’s a load of twaddle? Either way, when it comes to the hospitality industry, it appears there are certain rules to go by, and with some guests religiously living by their superstitious antics when out and about visiting your establishments, we wanted to find out more, in celebration of Friday the 13th.
The rules for operators
Not everyone would notice, but many hotels and restaurants skip straight from 12-14 when it comes to tables numbers, hotel rooms and floors, as to not put guests off. After all, you don’t want to give superstitious guests any reason to have a bad experience, and with guests requesting to move tables and rooms when you’re fully booked – it’s easier to simply avoid a potential problem.
Dropped some salt rushing around on your shift? Pick it up and throw it over your shoulder to remove your impending curse. In the kitchen, you should cut a cross into your loaf of bread before baking, this is so the devil won’t sit on it - hot cross buns now make a lot more sense.
Superstitious guests
13 friends: If you’re out to dinner with 13 people, you might want to ditch one of them. Remember when Jesus dined with his 12 disciples and the 13th man in the room betrayed him?...
Book in advance: When it comes to hotel stays, you’re much more likely to be allocated a haunted room that previous guests have complained about, if you just turn up, so book in advance to be on the safe side.
Knock knock: Once you’ve checked into your hotel, you head to the lift and walk along the corridor, room key in hand, but what do you do before unlocking it? Knock three times. Apparently, this will let spirts know there’s someone here to stay and they will vacate the room for you.
Occupy all beds: Right, so you’re now standing in the room, are you alone? Are there two single beds? If so, put your luggage on the one you’re not going to be sleeping in and un-make the bed– again this will let the spirits know there’s no room for them to stay.
Shoes: Next, you might want to kick back and relax, so you take your shoes off… be careful though. So that a spirt doesn’t step into your shoes, allowing them to track where you are, ensure your shoes are facing opposite directions. Turn one upside down, back to front, throw one across the opposite end of the room if you have to. Anything to ward off those ghostly ghouls!
Bathroom: Of course, it’s not just the bedroom you need to worry about. You’ve had enough of relaxing and now need the loo, just be sure to flush it before use, removing all negative energy from the bathroom.
Mirrors: It’s time for bed but whatever you do, do not sleep facing a mirror – it is believed they are a portal to another dimension, and can soak up your soul whilst reflecting negative energy back into you. So, whether you have to switch sides of the bed, put a towel over the mirror or have a total re-shuffle of the furniture, it’s more than worth it!
