Ever woken up in bed with a stranger? Andrea Lewis went to a European conference and explains how she woke up with three different people. And it's not what you think

I was pleased to accept an invitation to present a research poster at a recent International Medical Students' Congress in Europe. Due to a particularly busy schedule that week I had to miss the start of the conference.

Friday 11.30 pm: I arrived at my allocated accommodation late on the first evening of the two day conference. I was surprised to find that I was not only sharing a room but also a double bed with another student. However, by coincidence, or perhaps design, I was relieved to discover that my bed partner was not only from the same medical school as me but the same year and preclinical dissection table too.

Saturday 8 am: After a cosy night's sleep my roommate, who was leaving for home that afternoon, packed up her belongings. Safe in the assumption that the conference organisers had booked the room for me for a second night, I left it in slight disarray before going to present my poster.

Saturday 6 pm: At the end of a busy final day of the conference, all the students were invited to a closing party. This turned out to be somewhat compulsory for the financially limited as there were no buses returning to our accommodation until 11 pm. However, despite the inevitable sleep deprivation that would ensue due to my early morning flight home, it did give me the chance to make some new friends, one of whom was a Belgian medic, Pierre (fictitious name to protect his identity).

Saturday 11.15 pm: I returned to my hotel and was looking forward to a quiet night on my own. But just as I was unlocking the door to my room I was surprised to hear a male voice coming from behind it. A few minutes later I was confronted with a complete stranger, scantily clad in boxer shorts. Looking past the startled man I was confused to see that the room had been cleaned and that all my belongings had disappeared. Apologising profusely I made a sharp exit thinking I must somehow have asked for the wrong key. On my return to the ground floor the receptionist confirmed that the room was not booked in my name for the night but to my alarm, neither was any other. It seemed there had been some confusion between the conference organisers and the hotel staff.

After asking where my clothes were, I was directed to the hotel meeting room where I discovered that housekeeping had gathered my belongings into a big plastic bag before dumping them in this communal room for the day. A quick check confirmed that nothing was missing so I next concentrated my efforts on my lack of accommodation for the night. The obliging receptionist was forthcoming with a spare room, and I once more began to enjoy the prospect of a peaceful night's rest in a double bed by myself.

Sunday 1.30 am: I had been asleep for about half an hour when I awoke to find the light on and another complete stranger standing in the middle of the room. Her shocked expression was accompanied by a shriek of "Oh no, my clothes." We recognised each other from the conference, and after I had pointed her in the direction of the hotel meeting room she returned a few minutes later with a plastic bag full of belongings. Having been in the same worrying situation myself not two hours before I sympathised with my fellow student's lack of accommodation and invited her to hop into the double bed.

Sunday 2.30 am: After our disconcerting experiences we both eventually fell into an uneasy sleep, but not 10 minutes later I was jerked awake again by the shrill of the telephone ringing. It was Pierre, whom I'd met at the party, saying he had a big problem and asking if I could help. I wearily pulled my fleece on over my nightclothes and made my way to reception where he was waiting.

The luckless Pierre had also returned home from the party to find that his room was occupied and that his clothes had disappeared. He had heard from the receptionist that the other half of my double bed was free for the night and wondered if he could "borrow" it. Resisting the urge to make a joke about original chat up lines I informed Pierre that unfortunately the bed space had already been taken by a female student in the same position.

But after explaining that there were no free hotel beds in the area and that he had already tried all the other people he knew at the conference Pierre begged me to let him stay. Once again sympathising I found myself agreeing to wake up my current roommate to ask her if she minded Pierre sleeping on the floor. She agreed, and the receptionist miraculously appeared with a fold-up bed, which was positioned in such a way that there was just enough space to squeeze it in against the double bed.

Sunday 4 am: Finally, I was able to indulge in some uninterrupted sleep and so it was that I spent the second night of the conference in bed with two strangers.