5 Strange Hotel Traditions from Classic Resorts Around the World

Some hotels are remembered for grand ballrooms , famous guests, or incredible views. Others become known for traditions that sound a little strange or made up. From marching ducks to champagne bottles opened with swords, these rituals have survived for decades. Better still, all five of these strange hotel traditions are still being performed today, keeping some wonderfully odd pieces of hotel history alive.

The Peabody Duck March, Memphis, USA

According to The Peabody Memphis , five mallard ducks still make their famous journey through the hotel lobby every day at 11 a.m., returning at 5 p.m. The Memphis tradition began in the 1930s after general manager Frank Schutt and a friend returned from a hunting trip, drank a little too much Tennessee whiskey, and placed duck decoys in the lobby fountain. 

A former circus animal trainer, Edward Pembroke, created the formal march in 1940 and became the first Duckmaster. That's the strange part: a drunken joke eventually produced a red-carpet ceremony, a rooftop duck palace, and an actual hotel job titled Duckmaster. 

La Quebrada Cliff Divers, Hotel Mirador, Acapulco, Mexico

At Hotel Mirador in Acapulco, dinner can come with a view of people deliberately jumping off cliffs. Travel Courier reported in June 2026 that visitors at the hotel's La Perla restaurant can still watch La Quebrada's famous divers plunge from heights reaching roughly 35 meters, with multiple performances taking place at night. 

The dives began as an Acapulco tradition in the 1930s, while Frommer's adds that Swiss bandleader Teddy Stauffer later helped turn them into entertainment for visitors around Hotel Mirador's cove. The hotel continues to embrace the spectacle because its cliffside position provides outstanding views. It's a strange dinner-side entertainment, but one that's endured for decades and is a perfect addition to our strange hotel traditions list.

Black Rock Torch Dive, Sheraton Maui Resort, Hawaii

Marriott states that Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa has held its cliff-diving ceremony every evening at sunset since the resort opened in 1963. The ritual honors Kahekili, the last chief of Maui , and takes place at Pu'u Keka'a, better known as Black Rock. A torchbearer lights torches along the rock before making the final dive into the Pacific, continuing a story connected to Hawaiian history and spiritual tradition. 

That's what makes it unusual. A modern resort has turned an ancient test of courage into a nightly tradition lasting more than 60 years.

Champagne Sabrage, St. Regis Resorts Worldwide

Few hotel happy hours involve a sword. St. Regis properties around the world continue the tradition of champagne sabrage, where a trained person slides a saber along a bottle and knocks away the cork and glass collar.

The official St. Regis website states that sabrage is now the signature ceremony of its Evening Ritual series, marking the transition from daytime into evening. The practice itself is associated with the era of Napoleon and has become closely tied to the ceremonial style of the St. Regis brand. Current properties continue performing it, including locations that hold the ritual every evening. 

There's something wonderfully old-fashioned about it. Staff wielding ceremonial sabers around champagne bottles certainly isn't standard hotel service.

The Peace Old Jazz Band, Fairmont Peace Hotel, Shanghai, China

Shanghai's Fairmont Peace Hotel keeps a piece of the past alive every night. Fairmont states that its famous Old Jazz Band still performs 1920s and 1930s music inside the hotel's Jazz Bar on the Bund. The group is recognized by Guinness World Records and remains a central part of the hotel's throwback atmosphere. 

The band itself formed around 1980, building on the Peace Hotel's much older connection with jazz and Shanghai nightlife. I particularly like this tradition because there's no reenactment required. These are veteran musicians simply keeping an old sound alive. What's strange is that, in a city transformed by decades of enormous change, sitting inside a 1929 Art Deco hotel and hearing jazz played nightly feels wonderfully out of sync with the world around it.