TIFU Not Returning The Second Pair Of The Physical Key To The Hotel Guesthouse In Italy

On 22 June 2026, I (25M) arrived in Napoli after an 8 hour train ride from Pisa (using the Regionale trains) with two layovers in Rome (Roma Ostiense and Roma Termini). I booked a very decent and highly rated guesthouse on Booking.com. When I arrived, I was greeted with a lockbox, with my hotel key in it. I followed the instructions and retrieved my hotel key packet, which includes the keys for the portoni (front doors to enter the apartment complex), the keys to enter the guesthouse lobby (on the 5th floor (6th floor if you are American)), and the keys to enter the private hotel room with a private bath (there are two rooms in the guesthouse).

However, popular to Italian stereotypes, the portoni is notoriously tricky to enter and exit. I tried following the directions of the B&B owner, but my entry keys (regardless of me trying) don't properly work, so I effectively asked a resident leaving the property to kindly grant me entry, and they did. Luckily, opening the guesthouse lobby doors and private hotel room doors are rudimentary and I could unlock these doors in a heartbeat.

Adjacent to my B&B room, there is a second key hanging just outside in the hotel lobby that only grants you access to the portoni (front doors of the apartment complex) and guesthouse lobby, so it is less equipped than the first key which grants access to the portoni, the guesthouse lobby, and the hotel room.

On 23 June 2026, I was hanging out in Napoli, but because getting out of the apartment complex requires you to unlock using the key, I have to use the keys to get out. I had trouble with it despite following the directions as the portoni doors are notoriously stiff, so it took me 5 minutes of repeated twisting (multiple attempts) just to get out.

On 24 June 2026, because I knew the outer doors are notoriously hard to enter and exit, I brought down two keys (the first pair, which includes the portoni, the guesthouse lobby keys, and the hotel room keys, and the second pair, which only includes the former two). Given the time constraints as I had 30 minutes before the Flixbus from Napoli Centrale to Roma Anagnina leaves and walking from the guesthouse to the bus station commands a 15 minute walk, I left the first pair (which includes the entrance to the apartment via the portoni, the entrance to the guesthouse lobby, and the entrance to the hotel room) in the key box, but unfortunately, that was all the keybox could fit. Because of time constraints and me being unnecessarily stressed out (to make matters worse, I was kinda burnt out after a months long Europe trip, especially with the 35+ degree C temps), I accidentally took the second pair with me (which includes the portoni keys and guesthouse lobby keys) and realized it when I was already at the Flixbus heading for Roma Anagnina 10 minutes in.

I apologised to the B&B owner and luckily, they told me to send it to a Poste Italiane. Luckily, even though I didn't have a bubbled envelope, the closest Poste Italiane to my accommodations was not crowded and I was able to secure a spot almost immediately after entering. Luckily, the Poste Italiane facility is a 3 minute walk from the Felice Spesa, a store which sold exactly what I needed to send the mail. I bought the bubbled envelope, added the "Destinatario" address as the exact address of what the B&B guesthouse owner showed in Napoli and added the Mittente address with my name and my Roma B&B guesthouse accommodations address.

I sent the key as well as the envelope to the Poste Italiane employee on 24 June 2026 and paid a little less than 10 Euros to send it.

Yet, today is 20 July 2026, and it has been 3 weeks since I returned to the US (I returned home on 27 June 2026). A few hours ago, despite the fact I sent the second pair of the physical keys exactly to the address provided on the WhatsApp by the B&B guesthouse owner, they now claim it is "never delivered". I don't know what to say. I am paranoid they may fine me an exorbitant amount of money or press criminal charges against me, but they definitely know the keybox code for the hotel, know that my hotel room keybox is in the left (in fact, that was one of their earliest messages), and the keybox does contain the entryway to the portoni, the guesthouse lobby, and the hotel room, more than what the second pair (the pair I accidentally forgot to return but then mailed back to Napoli) included.

TL;DR: I accidentally forgot to return the second key pair (the keys to the front apartment door and the guesthouse lobby) and even though I mailed it to the exact address the B&B guesthouse owner provided, they claimed it never arrived. I did return the first pair to the keybox, which includes the keys to the front apartment door, the guesthouse lobby, and the hotel room. The second pair is the "backup" keys, and that was what I forgot to return.