What Tourist Finds in Hotel Bathroom Leaves Internet Stunned: ‘Please Help’

A traveler turned to the internet for help identifying a puzzling item they encountered during their hotel stay.

The Redditor, u/Dante1776, shared an image of a curious metal contraption mounted next to the toilet, asking fellow users in the subreddit r/whatisthisthing to help crack the case.

“Found in hotel bathroom. Looks like bottle opener but it’s mounted right next to the toilet,” they wrote. “Staff said it was already there when they got the job… please help!”

The post quickly took off, garnering more than 14,000 upvotes and hundreds of comments as Reddit sleuths debated the object’s purpose.

Some took a humorous approach, whilst acknowledging it was a bottle opener.

“For drinking while doing other things,” one user joked.

“Seriously, I guess some people haven’t discovered the simple joy of shower beers yet?” another chimed in.

“Best place to drink them. I’m sober now and drinking a shower Mountain Dew Zero just isn’t the same,” someone added.

Others offered theories as to why the common kitchen item was placed in the bathroom.

“Hotels add bottle openers near features where people will try to open bottles like that ledge. It’s to prevent damage. They’re usually in the bathroom where there is a hard surface counter,” explained one commenter.

Another user offered a tongue-in-cheek theory: “It’s so you can shake up a Coca-Cola and use it as a bidet. /s In all seriousness, I can’t imagine it being anything other than a bottle opener. Very weird spot for it though.”

Eventually, Redditor u/ProudPaddedPro offered a well-informed explanation that seemed to settle the matter.

“So it’s a bottle opener and I can explain why it is where it is,” they wrote.

According to them, around 15–20 years ago, even budget hotels began installing tile and granite in their bathrooms for a more upscale, durable look. However, maintenance teams soon noticed a surprising issue: guests were cracking tiles by using the countertop edges to open bottles.

Rather than constantly replacing damaged tiles, hotels opted for a cheaper fix. By mounting a $1 bottle opener in the bathroom, they could prevent costly repairs caused by guests popping bottle caps on fragile surfaces.

The explanation wasn’t just a theory—u/ProudPaddedPro said it came directly from a senior vice president of capital planning at a major discount hotel chain.

Reddit users were fascinated by the strange-but-smart hospitality hack, with one even inspired to turn it into a trivia question.

“I run trivia at least once a week. I wonder how I could phrase it as a question?” they mused.

Another user had the perfect suggestion: “What common kitchen gadget is frequently installed in hotel bathrooms to prevent damage to countertops?”

Newsweek reached out to u/Dante1776 for comment via Reddit. We could not verify the details of the case.

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