Hotel rooms are supposed to be a break from real life, which makes it very unfortunate that several of the things inside them are significantly dirtier than anything you’d tolerate at home. Hotel staff and industry insiders have rounded up seven items to avoid, and some of them will ruin things you were previously enjoying just fine.
TV Remote
Hotel housekeepers consistently say the TV remote as the single dirtiest object in the room, per Pubity. Studies have found it can carry bacteria, including E. coli and staph, and cleaning between the buttons thoroughly enough to matter is apparently not happening. Set it down and use your phone to find something to watch. Or, hot tip: bring a ziplock bag and put the remote in it before you use it.
Kettle or Coffee Machine
The kettle has reportedly been used to heat food and wash clothes. Like, for real. The coffee machine situation is worse. TikToker Angela Riihiluoma, citing a 20-year hotel industry veteran, was direct about it: “Never ever, ever, ever, ever use the coffee machine in a hotel room. Because apparently, some people like to use it as a urinal. So I don’t care how addicted you are to coffee. Don’t touch the coffeemaker.” Neither item gets deep cleaned between guests. Nasty.
Bedspread
Unlike the sheets, bedspreads are not washed after every stay. Guests use them as footrests, drag them onto the floor, and pretty much treat them like furniture rather than bedding. Pull it off when you check in and don’t look back.
Glasses and Cups
“Do not use the glasses that they put in the bathroom,” Angela continued. “Apparently, housekeepers only have so much time to turn the room, and so more often than not, they’re just wiping them with Windex. They won’t even wash them.” Grab something from the minibar or bring your own.
Shower Dispensers
Those built-in refillable dispensers accumulate bacteria over time and are rarely cleaned between guests, per Pubity. They’re also especially vulnerable to tampering, which in this day and age could mean anything is in there.
Ice Bucket
Frequently used for things that are not ice, according to hotel staff. The specifics have been left to the imagination, but the recommendation is to avoid using it, unless there’s one of those disposable plastic bag protectors, and get your drinks cold another way.
Hotel Robe
Some hotels don’t wash robes between stays and rely on a visual inspection instead. Looking clean and being clean are operating as two entirely different standards here. I think we can all agree.
The general consensus online was that the only logical response is to stop staying in hotels entirely, buy a new house at every destination, or just accept the risk and never think about it again. The choice is yours.
The post 7 Things You Should Never Touch in a Hotel Room, According to People Who Work There appeared first on VICE.
