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Dirty Hotels and Why You Should Always Pack Antibacterial Wipes
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We’ve all heard the horror stories – hotel guests sharing their beds with bed bugs, cockroaches popping in for some late night company and dodgy looking stains revealing themselves on sheets and towels.
When it comes to hotel cleanliness experts suggest hotels may not be as spick and span as we would like them to be – and there are certain items, in particular, you may want to douse with an antibacterial wipe upon arrival, or steer clear of altogether.
Remote Control
Not surprisingly, the TV remote control is considered to be the dirtiest item in most hotel rooms. Why? Everyone uses it and it rarely gets cleaned. In fact, a TODAY show investigation found one remote control harboring colonies of E-Coli, which most often comes from fecal contamination – ewww. Experts suggest bringing antibacterial wipes with you to immediately wipe down the remote, telephone, light switches and door handles, all of which can harbor harmful bacteria and germs.
Hotel Room Seat or Sofa
According to a Women’s Health article hotel guests should never sit directly on the hotel room’s chair or sofa. “Never sit on a couch or chair without laying a towel or sheet down first,” one hotel employee confided to Women’s Health. “Many guests sit on them naked, and yes, some leave stains behind. And much of the time, the stains are basically just dabbed with cleaner until they can’t be seen anymore.”
Ice Bucket
Never use the ice bucket without a plastic bag liner, unless of course, you don’t mind your ice frolicking in the stagnant remnants of vomit. “Always use the plastic bag that comes with the bucket,” a hotel employee told Women’s Health. “When a guest needs to throw up and can’t make it to the bathroom, guess what they use?”
Bed Spread
Before you unpack – and long before you hop into your hotel bed – experts suggest you should always check the sheets, pillows, and bedding for signs of bed bugs. According to Simple Most you should go one step further and actually remove the bedspread from the bed. Why? It rarely gets laundered.
“Housekeepers have a ton of rooms to clean every day, and have to haul ass to get them done between check-out and check-in. This usually means that we have to cut corners to keep up with the demand,” a hotel employee shared with Women’s Health. “Sheets get washed daily, but blankets are usually only washed once a week, while the bedspreads barely ever get washed—maybe once a month, longer if there aren’t any obvious stains.”
Ditto goes for those spare blankets and pillows in the closet. They may have been there for months, or longer.
Glasses
According to an ABC investigation, you may want to leave your environmentally friendly habits at home and use the plastic-wrapped plastic cups instead of the hotel room glasses.
The investigation found that most glasses had not been cleaned since the last occupier, with many hotel cleaners simply rinsing the glasses with water and wiping with a towel – sometimes using the same rag used to clean the bathroom or spraying the glasses down with window cleaner.
