Guest finds seal sleeping in her hotel room in the Netherlands

A guest staying at a beachside hotel in the Netherlands found a surprise visitor in her room. 

Local media reported that the guest was staying at Pier 7, which has hotel rooms right on the beach in Vlissingen, a city in the southwestern Netherlands. A hotel employee told local media that the guest took her dog for a walk, and accidentally left the door of her beachfront room open behind her. That allowed a seal to slip in. 

When the guest returned to the room, the seal was lying on the floor. The guest called the hotel —  and they asked the Sea Animal Rescue Team, an animal welfare organization to help remove the seal. 

“We often get strange messages and aren’t surprised so quickly, but when we received a message tonight we couldn’t believe it at first,” the animal welfare organization said on social media. 

The seal was “completely relaxed,” the organization said. The Sea Animal Rescue Team said that grey seals like this one can be dangerous and bite humans, but generally will find a resting place and settle there. The seal had been asleep when the guest returned but was awoken by the hubbub. That caused it to “become quite grumpy,” the animal welfare organization said. 

The animal rescue team was able to move the seal to a “safe, quieter place,” the welfare organization said on social media. 

“These guests’ holiday became an adventure to never forget,” the welfare organization said, in part. “You only experience this in our beautiful Vlissingen, right?”