Never Use This One Thing on Your Hotel Bed, Experts Warn

At one point or another, we have all had to stay at a hotel. Hotels can hold different experiences for all of us, however, there are a few things that you need to keep in mind in case you ever find yourself in one for whatever occasion. There have been many sanitary issues regarding hotel stays before, as it happens with everything else.

Regardless of how COVID emphasizes on the sanitary side of things, absolute certainty about a hotel’s cleanliness cannot be easily given. So, if you ever watched those horror shows where they show how clean the inside of a hotel room really is under a black light, then you might want to keep reading this article. 

The first speculation of horror is that your duvet does not necessarily get washed after every guest. Regardless of how many stars your hotel of choice has, you would expect that the sheets get washed regularly and after every customer leaves, but unfortunately that is not how it works in the real world.

Hotel expert even says that the first thing he does when he gets to his room is take the duvet off. And another study actually found that duvets “are rarely washed, if ever.” A big yikes moment!

A good thing about this though is if you are not sure how clean everything is, you can always ask someone who works there or takes care of cleaning. Of course every hotel has its own protocol when it comes to cleaning, but some things are standard, they might just differ in how they are done and when.

What you can do to find out would be either researching your hotel online, or asking the front desk about their policies and protocol. If you are still uncertain and uncomfortable you can ask them to bring you a fresh sheet! Most hotels would do it as long as it is not a liability. 

Anything colorful you need to be careful about, especially decorative bedding and throw pillows. That might sound a bit odd since anything meant for decorative purposes is not used much anyway during service, but those are still things you need to avoid just in case. These items cannot be easily washed, which is why they come in usually darker tones and colors.

Anything brightly colored would wear out with them and since they cannot just be thrown for a wash, clients and customers would be able to easily spot any stains on them. So next time you think that it would be a good idea to snuggle those pillows, think about all the hidden stains that are most likely still there. 

TV remotes and every item that is high-touch also needs to be handled with care. Almost every hotel has a TV and a remote control, and those are surfaces on which germs thrive. Once again, you cannot wash the remote, and all those small closely spaced buttons definitely make it hard to properly clean it over and over again.

What you can be sure of is that, most likely, they are not thoroughly cleaned after every guest. If you do find your remote in a plastic bag, that might indicate that it has been cleaned prior to your arrival. However, if you are still not sure, you can simply sanitize it yourself, that way you can also clean it properly and know it.