[Reddit Post] The hotel pool never reflects properly at night.

Posted by u/NightShiftClerk — r/NoSleep

I’ve been working nights at the Fairbridge Suites for almost four years now. It’s not a bad gig — quiet most of the time, good pay, free coffee. I used to think the creepiest part of the job was the occasional drunk guest or flickering hallway light.

That changed after I started covering the pool area.

The 3 A.M. Reflection

The pool is indoors — a small rectangular one on the first floor, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows. There’s a rule that no one’s supposed to swim after 10 p.m., but the night staff checks it hourly anyway for safety.

The first time I noticed something was off was a few months ago. I was doing my rounds around 3 a.m., clipboard in hand, just walking past the big glass doors that look into the pool room. The lights were dimmed — only the emergency ones on — but I could see the water.

Except… I could also see movement.

There were people — reflections of people — standing along the pool’s edge. I remember at least three shapes. One was sitting on the diving board. Another stood in the corner. None of them were actually there when I looked through the door.

I blinked, leaned closer, and the reflections just… stayed there. Still. Like they were waiting for something.

I told myself it was the lighting, or maybe the ripples from the filtration jets.

But then I saw one of them turn its head toward me.

The Lifeguard’s Story

We have a lifeguard, Dan, who handles maintenance during the day and locks up at night. I mentioned what I saw, jokingly, like “Hey, your pool ghosts are back.”

He didn’t laugh.

He said, “They always show up around 3.”

Apparently, it’s a known thing between the night staff. Dan said the cameras pick up faint motion by the water, like people pacing, but there’s never anyone in the room.

Last year, one of the security guards — an older guy named Tom — swore he saw himself in the reflection, but not how he looked then. He said he looked older, and his reflection was lying face down in the water.

He quit two days later.

Last Night

Last night was worse.

The reflection wasn’t matching anything.

The pool room was empty, but the water’s surface showed a full crowd — people sitting on deck chairs, standing at the edge, even a family splashing in the shallow end. They were moving, laughing, like the place was alive again.

And in the middle of it all, I saw me.

I was standing by the doors in the reflection, clipboard in hand, just like I was at that moment.

Only my reflection leaned forward… and waved.

Then it stepped closer — into the water.

And the reflection rippled out, breaking apart.

I ran.

The Reflection That Followed

Today, the manager called me into the office. He asked if I’d been swimming after hours. I told him no. He said maintenance found wet footprints leading from the pool doors down the hall — size 11 sneakers, same as mine.

He even showed me the footage.

It was me.

Walking from the pool area toward the lobby at 3:12 a.m.

But here’s the thing — I never opened those doors. I never went inside.

I don’t do the rounds anymore. Dan covers the pool after 2 a.m. He says sometimes the reflections still show people floating, face down.

He says one of them looks just like me.