You want to choose the best hotel on your next trip, and one of the big considerations is hygiene. This guide is going to help you understand just where the dirtiest parts of your hotel room are so you can find out for sure whether your hotel is really offering five-star room cleaning.
1. The Pillowcase
When you leave a hotel, you expect the pillowcase to be changed and the next guest to have a new, clean pillowcase. This does happen, most of the time. But even in the top hotels, the maids have been known to simply fluff up the pillow and put it back on the bed when there are no visible stains. Disgusting, right?
2. The TV Remote
You’re back from a hard day’s tourism and all you want to do is kick back with a beer and switch on the hotel TV. Hold it right there – think about your own cleaning routine. Do you disinfect your TV remote? Most of us must admit that we don’t disinfect the TV remote on a regular basis at home. Well, if you don’t do it on a regular basis, the chances are the hotel cleaning lady doesn’t either. It’s likely it never even crosses their minds. But, disturbingly, repeated studies have found hotel TV remotes to contain everything from E. coli to fecal matter.
3. The Top Blanket
Top blankets tend to be decorative. They make the room look nice. You might have laughed at your clean freak of a mom who quickly tossed away that same blanket and prohibited you from touching it, but she’s right. Testimonies from hotel employees and hidden investigations have revealed an awful truth. Those top blankets are never cleaned. They’re only cleaned when the stains start to show up. Even at the top hotels, they may wash these blankets as little as four times per year. Now think about just how many guests are coming through a room.
4. The Mugs
Tea and coffee facilities in a hotel room are standard. You might use them or you might not use them. But these aren’t like the cups that come from a restaurant or a bar. They harbor a dark truth about them. Maids will do one of two things. They’ll rinse the cup out in the bathroom, without using any detergent or even hot water. Alternatively, they’ll use a special cleaning liquid. And most alarmingly of all, these cleaning liquids state that humans must not drink them. Now imagine that getting into your digestive system. Therefore, more hotels are supplying plastic disposable cups.
5. The Phone
Making a fast call to room service to bring you some more nachos is a common part of a vacation. But if you hold that phone to your ear you’re finding three times the number of germs as you would on any other item. The phone can have more germs on it than the toilet bowl! It falls victim to the fact that cleaning staff often overlook this item. They figure that you’re not going to know whether it’s being cleaned, so why would they put in any effort at all? They don’t.
What Should You Do on Your Next Hotel Trip?
Don’t trust the hotel when they say they keep everything clean; they’re only going to give you one answer. Don’t take any chances. Throw away the top blanket and consider turning the pillowcase inside out. Bring some disinfectant wipes or liquid to spray over some of the most touched surfaces. And if you have any concerns that something hasn’t been changed since the last guest, don’t be afraid to complain. This is your vacation, and the customer really is always right in this situation. Most hotels will listen to what you have to say and make the necessary changes immediately. Where are you vacationing to next?
