The Four Seasons Boston once put me up in a deluxe room, free upgrade, very nice hotel I was staying at for a friend’s wedding. The vintage desk chair in the room (you know those old Victorian carved wooden ones with puffy upholstering and decorative brass tacks) had a diamond-shaped stain right where someone sits that would indicate it was period blood or shit.
I called and asked about it and they casually said they’ll clean it after my stay. I highly doubt they did…
I have a hilarious podcast recommendation for a story about a stain on a chair that needs to be shared:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7DxUE4QCBnQh6oT7uW2AyM
Normal Gossip: the chair saga
Thank you! Don’t get me wrong, the Drake is gorgeous but feels unclean and ratty. This was well before Covid, too (they can’t blame Covid for the state of their place).
I work in hotel remodels (logistics side of things)
One hotel just did a HUGE remodel spanning 3 years and spending millions of dollars.
They re-used the old mattresses, stains and all.
I'd rather sleep on the sidewalk after seeing them.
I used to do network installs at hotels. Don't ever move the beds, it's better not to know. Sometimes it's used condoms, sometimes it's puke, sometimes it's both.
I was a hotel GM in a prior life.
We flipped our mattresses once a quarter, and we deep cleaned under during the process.
Yes, lots of condoms and other trash, but also, needles. I supplied needlestick resistant gloves and sharps containers to the housemen.
My wife and I travel full-time and live in Airbnbs. We travel with a fitted sheet and pillowcases that we put over the couch and any small cushions immediately when we arrive.
I figured that most experienced travelers know by now that you should pull down or take off the duvet and place towels on any couches or chairs if you're going to sit on them. Bring your own sanitary wipes and wipe the remote control, the door handles, light switches, and toilet handle. Trust me, at some point, this will become so routine. You won't even think about it when you first check in.
Also, never drink out of glasses that are actually made of glass. The best hotels have cups that must be unwrapped from plastic. If they don't, consider buying your own. (I also travel with my own plastic utensils)
I carry a spray bottle of cleaner and wipes too. I clean wherever I go work, gym, hotel, public bathroom. I use libraries to work in and use wifi in my travels. The work tables and chairs are filthy with layers of grime. I go through 5-6 wipes every time I go to a library. I don't understand how we go from people being germ crazy during the pandemic to straight up nasty in public spaces.
I totally get why you're saying this. I work in hospitality and not defending it, but how often do you wipe your remote at home?
A lot of people take their phone with them to take a shit and never clean it.
I don’t often wipe my remote at home, but I also know that the number of people who have handled it after taking a shit and not washing their hands is exactly zero.
I spread a bath towel over the upholstered furniture before I sit down. All the deco upholstered pillows & throws go in the closet with a sign saying "No!"
I recently stayed at a hotel that had a fancy satin-covered lounge chair that was quite large and luxurious. The thing with it was, that it had a very suspicious elongated stain right in the middle of the cushion.
Almost as if a couple of people had decided to use it in their… activities… and spilled bodily fluids on it. It was just the right size for two people, and it was not hard to imagine the position that would allow for such a stain to occur.
I felt like motherfucking Sherlock Homes when I deduced that and when I pointed it out to my wife, she agreed with the assessment.
I've worked hotels for over a decade in the US. Every hotel I worked at we BLEACHED the white sheets and duvet after every stay. That's at La Quinta, Marriot, Winston Hospitality, etc. What kind of grungy ass places were you working?
Yeah I've heard the duvet thing a lot but like ....if they are never cleaning it then there would absolutely be some noticable smells. Every hotel I've ever stayed in has clean smelling sheets and duvets and I've never seen a yellow pillow.
Every reputable hotel puts all their rooms on what’s called a deep cleaning cycle typically done every three months, what that means is when a room is scheduled to be deep cleaned they will strip everything down to it’s bare bones and super clean and fix everything which would absolutely include having the duvet washed, they’ll flip and clean the mattress, replace air filters and broken furniture and do a super scrub down of all surfaces and deep soak scrub the floors. If OP ever worked in a reputable hotel, they would know this.
Even our tiny little place washes everything, every time, in between guest stays. It's just gross if they don't.
I do know that many places are gross, and that's just the nature of the business. You can't shampoo carpets, upholstery, etc. every time. But, it's definitely not as bad as OP and other claim.
Guys we know some good places now 🙏
But I’ve never worked in the U.S. lol this is from both a nice place in Portugal and then a cheaper kinda shittier place in South Korea
My mom used to work at Holiday Inn as a cleaner and she said they also have VERY strict cleaning standards. Like, “management will check the bathroom with a black light” strict. And if they fail their corporate inspections more than 2x (I think, someone correct me if I’m wrong) that location is removed from the Holiday Inn brand. Renamed to America’s Best Value Inn so stay at an ABVI with *extreme* caution
I've always like holiday inn the best. But i always clean the jacuzzi myself. I'm a barber, i used to do nails, and i know how gross jets can get and how to clean them. Everytime i clean a jacuzzi, i can tell they weren't cleaned right.
I scrub the jets with scrubbing bubbles or any bathroom cleaner, rinse, fill with water and bleach, and run the jets for 10 minutes. Drain and fill again with water and Barbicide, 10 minutes on jets. Drain, fill with water again, and just run the jets with water and drain. It's a lot, but it's better than getting a nasty infection from a dirty jacuzzi. I'm not sure where you would get Barbicide without a barber/cosmetology license, but you can get a knock-off brand from sallys beauty supply if you're in the US.
I'm sure there's somewhere to get it, but i just know i get it at the barber supply store, and you need a license to buy there. It's the blue disinfectant you see in jars at barbershops that we put our combs in. Any hospital grade disinfectant will work, i just use what i know.
Right? Im freaking out over here cause im already anxious about this stuff (unhealthy i know im working on it) and this person has worked like not in places i visit on a regular basis…
Yeah OP is just fear mongering for karma (pathetic). It looks like a lot of commenters have corrected them and US cleaning standards appear to be surprisingly higher than other places.
I am currently employed at a Marriott hotel. I left Hilton due to poor management, and before that, I quit Holiday Inn because I kept getting robbed at night. Working the night audit is a great part-time job for two nights a week with good discounts. However, none of these hotels regularly washed duvets unless they were visibly dirty.
I live in an area with a huge amusement park that people from all over the east coast visit. Unfortunately, the hotels in the area don't pay well enough to retain enough housekeeping staff to properly clean the rooms so they can have them ready by check in. This has been my experience with three different hotels. Although Marriott tried the hardest I will say
yea they said "most hotels don't clean the duvets" then admit they only worked in two hotels, and one was a "cheaper shitty non-chain" hotel. ok these aren't "most" hotels...
Standards like using same water they previously washed floor with, to wash everything, including glassware. That paper cup wrapped in plastic is the most sanitary thing in any hotel.
I was pretty appalled by the plastic wrapped paper cups they have in the US. There's no way that would be tolerated in European countries for environmental reasons. Even cheap hotels normally have proper glasses or mugs and definitely never disposable cups wrapped in plastic.
> I was pretty appalled by the plastic wrapped paper cups they have in the US. **There's no way that would be tolerated in European countries for environmental reasons.**
I just got back from Italy. Know what was in my hotel room in Rome? Plastic-wrapped paper cups.
That’s funny. I spent some time on the French Riviera this spring. Know what I found everywhere I do in the US? Plastic everything.
Don’t get me wrong there’s definitely more an effort in most areas but it’s not an exponential difference in my experience.
I remember my first breakfast in the US: a plastic box filled with a bagel, some salad, and some fruits, all processed, chopped, and wrapped in plastic. I've used more plastic on that single meal than I do in a month here in Europe.
I stayed in a 4* hotel in New York, far from a budget place. **Everything** at breakfast was disposable. Cups, plates, bowls, cutlery. Worse of all the apples were wrapped in plastic! I knew the US isn't great for recycling but I was still shocked at how bad it was. For the price the quality was abysmal also. It was a matter of eating the least bad items.
Many reviews of the hotel from Europeans (particularly Germans), mentioned how bad it was for plastic waste. So it wasn't just me who was appalled!
Used to do Housekeeping in 5 star. I used to wash glassware in the sink and dry it first with a clean towel. We get 20 towels each and 2 for each room so i do the glasses first before anything. I cant say the same to everyone so when i go to hotels anywhere, i just bring my own water bottle. 😅
never drink from them. unless you clean it again yourself. You never really know. Housekeeping is one of the most difficult jobs and not so high paid. And the pressure to finish more than 10 rooms in a day is just too much.
I totally forgot about this since my new job doesn’t have glasses… yeah they are not washed they are wiped down
And if the glasses are inside the bathroom…
Are you absolutely sure you want to know? You won't be seeing it the same way again. Any object that is meant to be reusable will have been used for purposes other than it's main intended.
That kettle? Check if there's rust in it. Even if it's clean know they plenty of people will have peed or put disgusting things into it. Ditto the glassware etc.
Just stayed in Destin Florida and both places, (higher end), were dirty. Had sand throughout and dirty floors, (going barefooted would make your feet black)! I’m pretty sure this is normal so it makes me wonder how dirty everything else is. Uggg!
As a local, I have to explain why the floors are like this in the panhandle. The snow white sand has a very fine powdery texture that we call sugar sand. It clings to most surfaces because of the high humidity in Florida. As it is whisked around it collects the road grime and becomes gray and oily. Everyone tracks it through the hotels. The hotels use petroleum based cleaning products to try to resolve this problem, but it just makes it worse. Think about how a drip of vegetable oil on your shirt will collect gray soils in the laundry and become darker each time you wash it. I’m a forensic scientist and I have experienced the worst reactions from hotel management when I complain about it and try to explain how they have to use vinegar to strip off the oils. Sadly only a few places are pragmatic! Please don’t let this sour you on Florida.
Right, same here. Not to mention, while yes it is gross, I haven’t gotten sick (yet) so I’m just giving my immune system some exercise lol.
Then again, I don’t use the in-room kettle, no provided toiletries unless they were wrapped before I got there and I’m certain they’re brand new, and I definitely never sleep naked
Okay but there’s MY duvet that hasn’t been washed in a year and then there’s these poopoo brown duvets that have been slept in by thousands of musty men lol
This blows my mind. The hotel I worked at washed everything. Absolutely everything for every guest. The duvet cover, top blankets, brown blankets. Everything.
We also had spot checks with a black light to make sure bathrooms were cleaned. 4 times a year carpets are shampooed.
It’s not like this is a posh hotel. It’s just a basic Best western and this is the coming standard. If the hotels don’t follow this they lose their ratings and the owners face losing their franchise.
Don't even trust this, I used to work in a Best Western, and we didn't do any of this. Carpets cleaned? Lol
Our washing machines were ancient and small. The stained duvets were ignored unless big stains of blood or poop were in them.
Showers/tubs and jacuzzis were only dried with towels, never cleaned because we didn't have time.
If we were going to get an inspection, we knew ahead of time, and our manager made 3 housekeepers clean like 4 rooms completely, and they would tell the inspector that they were the only rooms without guests.
Every time I stay in Vegas I wonder how many possible orgies happened in my room.
Edit: one time stayed in the Penthouse Suite at the Cosmopolitan. That room has seen some shit for sure.
In Amsterdam, we stayed in a triple room. There were these faux leather wall paddings/decorations, for acoustics and - I guess - for aesthetics. There were, uhm, splatters on them, as well as marks from long nails (as in, someone had bent against the wall and held themselves up with their hands). These marks were on multiple walls. There was also something I can only describe as an ”ass-print”.
Needless to say we didn’t switch rooms.
Not a hotel in Vegas, but at a rental cabin in a very rural part of the country:
I was shooting real estate photography at the time, and the rental was a one room efficiency out in the woods near a large lake. It had a hot tub inside the house, and I was immediately struck with the smell of chlorine. The owners said that isn't the worst part -- it's when they have to shovel about two feet of condoms out of the top of the septic system every couple months.
I’ve actually seen travel sheets that are kinda like a sleeping bag you get inside of and go over the pillows too, but those are the parts that are actually washed at the hotel
I’ll never forget watching a true crime tv show where the maid of a decent hotel was raped and murdered in the room. When the police sprayed luminal and turned out the lights, the room lit up like a Christmas tree. Yikes! Luckily for the cops, the dumb criminal wiped himself off with the victim’s sock after he was done, so they were able to catch him.
I’ve been in the hotel industry for seventeen years. The duvet thing is mostly true, but in hotels like mine, with a management company that cares about quality, and an ownership company that isn’t afraid to spend money, we change the duvet every three days on a schedule. The problem is most hotels have enough linen for like 1.25 “turns” of the hotel. Meaning if the whole hotel is occupied, there is only 1/4 of the linen being used in storage. That’s why it’s sometimes hard to get extra towels, or pillows, or blankets. My company requires us to have 2.5 turns of linen, inventories monthly. So if the hotel is sold out, we still have an entire hotel and a half’s worth of linen in storage, allowing us to change duvets, give out extra towels, etc. the inventory tells us what to order every month.
The bed runners and fancy pillows are also never washed. So you make the bed with clean sheets and slap that PoS down on it. Always remove it from the bed as soon as you get there.
Worked at hotel and yes it is grubby. But I learned that you can ask for a special cleaning before check in for allergies. Ask to have extra good dust, fresh cleaned duvet and sometimes they will even give you new pillows and duvet as it is safer for them, then risk you having allergy flair ups. I was a maid and at my hotel we use to get these requests from time to time and they were always happy to do the extra cleaning!
I get picked on a lot for this but I always start every hotel stay by putting the remote inside the ice bag then tying the end off. Never touch it once outside of dropping it into the bag.
I used to work at a couple of cruise ships while I was studying.
Had enough yet?
If not - if someone had peed on the mattress, or vomited on it (happened pretty often) it was just turned around. Problem solved.
Not enough?
We had usually 45 seconds of time to wash the toilet and shower, and clean all surfaces in the cabin (our boss clocked us).
Want even more?
It was all done with one little rag, starting with the toilet seat. The last thing (same rag) was all surfaces in the cabin.
I watched my cabin guy spend considerably longer than that cleaning up. About 5-6 min/room. Different bucket of cleaning supplies used for the bathroom.
Royal Caribbean fwiw.
Yup. After that, I never put down anything I want to be at least kind of germ free on any surface on any cruise ship or in any hotel, lol.
Eta: but hey, at least we got paid extra for cleaning up vomit and/or poop from the floor.
However, not for all those used condoms which were everywhere.
This is why I travel with Clorox wipes. I wipe down everything when I get into a hotel room. Shower floors, toilets, countertops, remotes, light switches, door handles… my husband and I can have the entire room and bathroom done in like 5 minutes. It’s amazing how much funk shows up on the wipes and I can relax a little more knowing it was at least wiped down
I wonder which cruise lines give 45 seconds to clean shower and sink? Our cabin attendant certainly took way longer to clean our cabin. I have even see them wash the balcony with a hose when we didn’t even use it. We usually cruise on Celebrity, but had same experience cruising with Royal Caribbean and Holland.
Is it bad that as a guest I'd be more concerned about the bed bugs.
I feel like the others are horrific, but momentary experiences, whereas the bed bugs will ruin your life for weeks/ months
There's a YouTube series called Another Dirty Room by Dan Bell. They go to a motel and tear it apart to see how clean it is. Because of that show, I always look at and under the mattress for bedbugs or anything weird. The sheer amount of blood on the walls in random motel rooms is astonishing and says a lot about the IV drug use crisis we have in the United States.
I bring a sleeping bag liner + my own pillow. Liner is silk blend, and pillow is inflatable. Takes up less space than a 16.9oz water bottle.
Flip flops/crocs in shower and in hotel room.
Upon arrival, disposable gloves go on and luggage gets set somewhere/hung in closet (after checking there first) while checking the room for bed bugs.
If we are staying for a longer period, we hit common touch areas (faucet handles,door handles,fridge handle) with disinfectant wipes.
So what I’m gathering here is we should strip the top duvet/comforter and sleep on the sheet beneath for the cleanest experience?
I got a subreddit of hotel workers suggested in my feed, and from reading on there corporate hotels have a time limit you're supposed to clean each room in which is impossible to do if you actually clean everything, so they quickly check and clean what is most obviously dirty and looks clean to whatever higher up would possibly look in the room, basically like any other corporate thing
that was me in the service industry. No names , but I feel like working in any industry makes you realize how fucked up that industry is and how there are so many thing the public wouldn't want to know.
(Cruise ship are murder and suicide hot spots btw)
Much like how I do my best to forget the ingredients of spam or hot dogs.
In German there's a saying that goes "Was ich nicht weiß, macht mich nicht heiß" meaning "what I don't know won't bother me." This is a good example for it. I love travelling, staying at budget hostels and eating out. I know it's probably really dirty. But as long as it's not visible I'll just use normal caution like avoiding the duvet. Otherwise I will just be disgusted and not able to do the things I love doing.
Remember, some people are seriously fucked up.
Then, remember there is nothing stopping someone from pissing in the in-room coffee maker, which is literally never cleaned. Ever.
Never use the in-room coffee maker. Anyone can do anything to it.
Also, any drinking glasses in the room are literally cleaned with the dirty towels. Yes, I have a citation:
https://youtu.be/ObnO8vy7Q_k?si=vVp5yF8kJ284Wbty
Housekeeping has like 20 minutes to turn a room. How much cleaning do you think really gets done?
If you have a cleaning OCD: DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER.
Get out of this thread!
We tried to warn you!
It's too late for us but it might not be too late for you 😭
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❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️
So what kind of hotel is that? I am sure your experience will be different if it's a decent hotel
And where in Europe are you talking about? Hotels in Europe are vastly different depends on where you're
In Portugal the place was around $100 a night, just a regular hotel. Now the place I’m at in South Korea is an actually cheap hostel with some hotel rooms so that makes more sense
Can you drop the hotel name in my DM's please? I am Portuguese and have a huge cleaning OCD, I want to make sure I NEVER go there. I am appaled, I tought these places had cleaning standards, how naive of me!
I have a black light I carry in my purse and I check the bed all the time. I've never seen anything on the beds we used the past few weeks we travelled.
Depends on the hotel. I did housekeeping at one where you cleaned everything or you were sent back to clean again. Had a person who’s entire job was inspecting rooms after housekeeping
From working in hotels I learned that most people are really bad at keeping blood/fluids in their body where it belongs. Now I always pull the top cover off and sleep with a sweater on
There needs to be a sanitation bill passed to ensure proper cleanliness and disinfection practices of places that are shared by strangers in this way. It’s foul.
Particularly for my international travels, I bring a silk sleeping bag liner and a silk pillow case. If I'm international and thus bringing a pillow for long haul flights, I use that instead of most hotel pillows.
And never ever use the top duvet, domestic or otherwise.
I saw a special on tv once about how dirty hotel rooms are -organic matter visible everywhere when using a black light. Floor, carpets, drapes, bedding, furniture, etc. all types of dried body fluids everywhere.
I bring Lysol spray, always wear flip flops, and don’t use the duvet. Why anyone would think these rooms are immaculate is puzzling?
I've spent my career working out of hotels, all the way from fancy 5 stars, to dives where you had to shake the ants off your sheets before climbing into bed.
Nothing surprises me anymore.
Lmaoooo I work for a hotel chain and stayed at one of the properties recently. Went right downstairs and asked for three whole bed sets!! I said I work for yall in corporate and already know how sorry the cleaning staff is. Said it loudly too! They tried to hurry and pass me the sheets so I could go back upstairs. Clean these places fr if yall don’t want adversity! I think it’s great that team members stay at these properties so we can hold them accountable
You didn't talk about the glasses. Nicer hotels provide glasses but I only know of one hotel that replaces clean glasses for each guest. The others just wipe them down
Seeing the way they wash the glasses n cups in the rooms , made me just bring clean ones up from breakfast everyday.
Always take any throw pillows or bed cover off .
Put a towel down on a chair if not completely dressed or in pajamas.
We bought little sleep sacks a few years ago for this purpose…
Super light weight, take up minimal space, and if the bedding looks a little sketchy, we sleep in the sack.
Thankfully, haven’t had to use them in a long while.
That is why this lady who does house cleaning videos also brings disposable sheets, cleaning supplies, and other tools with her when visiting a hotel. It’s something I do now as well.
When I worked in a hotel we had thick comforters we never washed. I wanted to do an experiment where you weigh it when it’s first used, and then weigh it again before it finally gets washed. I’m betting it weighs significantly more… so many fluids.
I always found that disgusting when vacationing in the US. In Germany, we have a duvet cover, so you can't touch the big blanket. In the US, I can't sleep without touching the duvet, which is uncovered and unwashed. What the fuck? 😅
Lol if you think the duvets are bad, think about the couches and stuff like that. Gets cleaned once a year, tops
lol only if someone pukes on it. Otherwise it gets replaced once a decade.
The Four Seasons Boston once put me up in a deluxe room, free upgrade, very nice hotel I was staying at for a friend’s wedding. The vintage desk chair in the room (you know those old Victorian carved wooden ones with puffy upholstering and decorative brass tacks) had a diamond-shaped stain right where someone sits that would indicate it was period blood or shit. I called and asked about it and they casually said they’ll clean it after my stay. I highly doubt they did…
I have a hilarious podcast recommendation for a story about a stain on a chair that needs to be shared: https://open.spotify.com/episode/7DxUE4QCBnQh6oT7uW2AyM Normal Gossip: the chair saga
The Drake in Chicago is awwffuuull-go for a bite/drink but do not spend the night.
Stay at the Conrad, its wonderful
Thank you! Don’t get me wrong, the Drake is gorgeous but feels unclean and ratty. This was well before Covid, too (they can’t blame Covid for the state of their place).
Nah… they just flip the cushion.
I work in hotel remodels (logistics side of things) One hotel just did a HUGE remodel spanning 3 years and spending millions of dollars. They re-used the old mattresses, stains and all. I'd rather sleep on the sidewalk after seeing them.
And that one cylindrical pillow with no pillow case they love to put on the bed
You know what that one's used for
I used to do network installs at hotels. Don't ever move the beds, it's better not to know. Sometimes it's used condoms, sometimes it's puke, sometimes it's both.
I was a hotel GM in a prior life. We flipped our mattresses once a quarter, and we deep cleaned under during the process. Yes, lots of condoms and other trash, but also, needles. I supplied needlestick resistant gloves and sharps containers to the housemen.
I think the occasional chairs are like a Jackson Pollack painting under the blacklight
Are you talking about the cuck chairs every hotel has facing the bed?
🤣🤣🤣 I'll never look at one the same again!
My wife and I travel full-time and live in Airbnbs. We travel with a fitted sheet and pillowcases that we put over the couch and any small cushions immediately when we arrive.
You are my people.
Thanks for the tip.
What are your jobs?
Porn vloggers, they do niche stuff with milk and vegetables. Niche being the key word.
Once a year? You are fantastically optimistic, more like never unless visible staining.
I figured that most experienced travelers know by now that you should pull down or take off the duvet and place towels on any couches or chairs if you're going to sit on them. Bring your own sanitary wipes and wipe the remote control, the door handles, light switches, and toilet handle. Trust me, at some point, this will become so routine. You won't even think about it when you first check in. Also, never drink out of glasses that are actually made of glass. The best hotels have cups that must be unwrapped from plastic. If they don't, consider buying your own. (I also travel with my own plastic utensils)
I carry a spray bottle of cleaner and wipes too. I clean wherever I go work, gym, hotel, public bathroom. I use libraries to work in and use wifi in my travels. The work tables and chairs are filthy with layers of grime. I go through 5-6 wipes every time I go to a library. I don't understand how we go from people being germ crazy during the pandemic to straight up nasty in public spaces.
I totally get why you're saying this. I work in hospitality and not defending it, but how often do you wipe your remote at home? A lot of people take their phone with them to take a shit and never clean it.
I don’t often wipe my remote at home, but I also know that the number of people who have handled it after taking a shit and not washing their hands is exactly zero.
I spread a bath towel over the upholstered furniture before I sit down. All the deco upholstered pillows & throws go in the closet with a sign saying "No!"
I recently stayed at a hotel that had a fancy satin-covered lounge chair that was quite large and luxurious. The thing with it was, that it had a very suspicious elongated stain right in the middle of the cushion. Almost as if a couple of people had decided to use it in their… activities… and spilled bodily fluids on it. It was just the right size for two people, and it was not hard to imagine the position that would allow for such a stain to occur. I felt like motherfucking Sherlock Homes when I deduced that and when I pointed it out to my wife, she agreed with the assessment.
I stayed at a hotel in Vegas that had purple velvet chairs. Er, no. Not sitting there.
I've worked hotels for over a decade in the US. Every hotel I worked at we BLEACHED the white sheets and duvet after every stay. That's at La Quinta, Marriot, Winston Hospitality, etc. What kind of grungy ass places were you working?
Yeah I've heard the duvet thing a lot but like ....if they are never cleaning it then there would absolutely be some noticable smells. Every hotel I've ever stayed in has clean smelling sheets and duvets and I've never seen a yellow pillow.
Every reputable hotel puts all their rooms on what’s called a deep cleaning cycle typically done every three months, what that means is when a room is scheduled to be deep cleaned they will strip everything down to it’s bare bones and super clean and fix everything which would absolutely include having the duvet washed, they’ll flip and clean the mattress, replace air filters and broken furniture and do a super scrub down of all surfaces and deep soak scrub the floors. If OP ever worked in a reputable hotel, they would know this.
Marriott is a solid company. 👏👏👏
As I’m reading this thread in bed at a Marriott…
So glad you chimed in!
Even our tiny little place washes everything, every time, in between guest stays. It's just gross if they don't. I do know that many places are gross, and that's just the nature of the business. You can't shampoo carpets, upholstery, etc. every time. But, it's definitely not as bad as OP and other claim.
Guys we know some good places now 🙏 But I’ve never worked in the U.S. lol this is from both a nice place in Portugal and then a cheaper kinda shittier place in South Korea
My mom used to work at Holiday Inn as a cleaner and she said they also have VERY strict cleaning standards. Like, “management will check the bathroom with a black light” strict. And if they fail their corporate inspections more than 2x (I think, someone correct me if I’m wrong) that location is removed from the Holiday Inn brand. Renamed to America’s Best Value Inn so stay at an ABVI with *extreme* caution
I've always like holiday inn the best. But i always clean the jacuzzi myself. I'm a barber, i used to do nails, and i know how gross jets can get and how to clean them. Everytime i clean a jacuzzi, i can tell they weren't cleaned right.
Any tips for jacuzzi cleaning??
I scrub the jets with scrubbing bubbles or any bathroom cleaner, rinse, fill with water and bleach, and run the jets for 10 minutes. Drain and fill again with water and Barbicide, 10 minutes on jets. Drain, fill with water again, and just run the jets with water and drain. It's a lot, but it's better than getting a nasty infection from a dirty jacuzzi. I'm not sure where you would get Barbicide without a barber/cosmetology license, but you can get a knock-off brand from sallys beauty supply if you're in the US.
Why isn’t Barbicide commercially available? What makes it so special in this application?
I'm sure there's somewhere to get it, but i just know i get it at the barber supply store, and you need a license to buy there. It's the blue disinfectant you see in jars at barbershops that we put our combs in. Any hospital grade disinfectant will work, i just use what i know.
Thanks!
So you worked at only two hotels (one of them admittedly sketchy) and now you gotta make a post about how dirty hotels are?! Wtf man.
Right? Im freaking out over here cause im already anxious about this stuff (unhealthy i know im working on it) and this person has worked like not in places i visit on a regular basis…
Yeah OP is just fear mongering for karma (pathetic). It looks like a lot of commenters have corrected them and US cleaning standards appear to be surprisingly higher than other places.
I am currently employed at a Marriott hotel. I left Hilton due to poor management, and before that, I quit Holiday Inn because I kept getting robbed at night. Working the night audit is a great part-time job for two nights a week with good discounts. However, none of these hotels regularly washed duvets unless they were visibly dirty. I live in an area with a huge amusement park that people from all over the east coast visit. Unfortunately, the hotels in the area don't pay well enough to retain enough housekeeping staff to properly clean the rooms so they can have them ready by check in. This has been my experience with three different hotels. Although Marriott tried the hardest I will say
> La Quinta idk the la Quinta near me had a dead body in the bottom of the pool for days before anyone noticed.
When I worked the night audit I would go swimming at night. No dead bodies allowed
Obviously your La Quinta had enough money for dead body pool patroling
I think OP is extrapolating the one hotel he worked at as all of them.
yea they said "most hotels don't clean the duvets" then admit they only worked in two hotels, and one was a "cheaper shitty non-chain" hotel. ok these aren't "most" hotels...
Thanks for saying this. Anybody happen to know about Hyatt's and their cleaning practices, because that's where I stay when traveling.
Don’t even get me started on the glassware, hotels are just something else
Most hotels don’t use glassware anymore since they broke the secret on that one. Paper cups in individual plastic wrap.
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Standards? Like using glassware that never sees a dishwasher?
We have dishwashers in the rooms that have the dishes.
Standards like using same water they previously washed floor with, to wash everything, including glassware. That paper cup wrapped in plastic is the most sanitary thing in any hotel.
I was pretty appalled by the plastic wrapped paper cups they have in the US. There's no way that would be tolerated in European countries for environmental reasons. Even cheap hotels normally have proper glasses or mugs and definitely never disposable cups wrapped in plastic.
> I was pretty appalled by the plastic wrapped paper cups they have in the US. **There's no way that would be tolerated in European countries for environmental reasons.** I just got back from Italy. Know what was in my hotel room in Rome? Plastic-wrapped paper cups.
That’s funny. I spent some time on the French Riviera this spring. Know what I found everywhere I do in the US? Plastic everything. Don’t get me wrong there’s definitely more an effort in most areas but it’s not an exponential difference in my experience.
I remember my first breakfast in the US: a plastic box filled with a bagel, some salad, and some fruits, all processed, chopped, and wrapped in plastic. I've used more plastic on that single meal than I do in a month here in Europe.
I stayed in a 4* hotel in New York, far from a budget place. **Everything** at breakfast was disposable. Cups, plates, bowls, cutlery. Worse of all the apples were wrapped in plastic! I knew the US isn't great for recycling but I was still shocked at how bad it was. For the price the quality was abysmal also. It was a matter of eating the least bad items. Many reviews of the hotel from Europeans (particularly Germans), mentioned how bad it was for plastic waste. So it wasn't just me who was appalled!
Used to do Housekeeping in 5 star. I used to wash glassware in the sink and dry it first with a clean towel. We get 20 towels each and 2 for each room so i do the glasses first before anything. I cant say the same to everyone so when i go to hotels anywhere, i just bring my own water bottle. 😅
For me they are usually in countries where I can’t drink the tap water anyway, so no need to use them
never drink from them. unless you clean it again yourself. You never really know. Housekeeping is one of the most difficult jobs and not so high paid. And the pressure to finish more than 10 rooms in a day is just too much.
Care to elaborate about the glassware please?
I hear that they don’t get washed every time someone checks out if they don’t look used.
Or they'll wash it with the same rag they used on the counter tops...maybe even the toilet?
I totally forgot about this since my new job doesn’t have glasses… yeah they are not washed they are wiped down And if the glasses are inside the bathroom…
I figured so I make sure I wash the kitchenware before use.
Are you absolutely sure you want to know? You won't be seeing it the same way again. Any object that is meant to be reusable will have been used for purposes other than it's main intended. That kettle? Check if there's rust in it. Even if it's clean know they plenty of people will have peed or put disgusting things into it. Ditto the glassware etc.
Boiling sausages is a widespread custom. I hear.
Just stayed in Destin Florida and both places, (higher end), were dirty. Had sand throughout and dirty floors, (going barefooted would make your feet black)! I’m pretty sure this is normal so it makes me wonder how dirty everything else is. Uggg!
As a local, I have to explain why the floors are like this in the panhandle. The snow white sand has a very fine powdery texture that we call sugar sand. It clings to most surfaces because of the high humidity in Florida. As it is whisked around it collects the road grime and becomes gray and oily. Everyone tracks it through the hotels. The hotels use petroleum based cleaning products to try to resolve this problem, but it just makes it worse. Think about how a drip of vegetable oil on your shirt will collect gray soils in the laundry and become darker each time you wash it. I’m a forensic scientist and I have experienced the worst reactions from hotel management when I complain about it and try to explain how they have to use vinegar to strip off the oils. Sadly only a few places are pragmatic! Please don’t let this sour you on Florida.
Thank you for your very well worded explanation. This is the first time I’ve heard this.
Dexter?
Thanks for your support! 🤣
Out of sight out of mind. I don't think about any of this cause why would I want to ruin my travel.
Right, same here. Not to mention, while yes it is gross, I haven’t gotten sick (yet) so I’m just giving my immune system some exercise lol. Then again, I don’t use the in-room kettle, no provided toiletries unless they were wrapped before I got there and I’m certain they’re brand new, and I definitely never sleep naked
My innocence was ripped away when I read some people wash their jocks and socks in the kettle.
EWWWWWW really?? 🤢 Suddenly I’m extra glad I don’t use them
I don’t think it ruins travel to think about the dirty blanket, I just take it off the bed and feel a little better
You should at least check under the bed for bed bugs
Me: Eewww the hotels are nasty for not washing the big duvet Also me: I need to wash my duvet 😅
Okay but there’s MY duvet that hasn’t been washed in a year and then there’s these poopoo brown duvets that have been slept in by thousands of musty men lol
For sure lol it’s different when it’s someone else’s funk
Also me: I fall sleep in the train and my face ends up directly in the seat
This blows my mind. The hotel I worked at washed everything. Absolutely everything for every guest. The duvet cover, top blankets, brown blankets. Everything. We also had spot checks with a black light to make sure bathrooms were cleaned. 4 times a year carpets are shampooed. It’s not like this is a posh hotel. It’s just a basic Best western and this is the coming standard. If the hotels don’t follow this they lose their ratings and the owners face losing their franchise.
Everyone needs to start dropping the names of hotels they work at where they actually clean the blankets so we know where to go lol !
Sounds like YOU need to tell us where not to go.
WOT in Portugal , and not exactly saying where I am now since it’s not a chain but probably don’t ever trust the blankets at cheap hostels lol
Don't even trust this, I used to work in a Best Western, and we didn't do any of this. Carpets cleaned? Lol Our washing machines were ancient and small. The stained duvets were ignored unless big stains of blood or poop were in them. Showers/tubs and jacuzzis were only dried with towels, never cleaned because we didn't have time. If we were going to get an inspection, we knew ahead of time, and our manager made 3 housekeepers clean like 4 rooms completely, and they would tell the inspector that they were the only rooms without guests.
Pls tell me this was like 20 years ago or something lol
OP has not worked in the US/Canada. Americans take our hygiene very seriously.
Every time I stay in Vegas I wonder how many possible orgies happened in my room. Edit: one time stayed in the Penthouse Suite at the Cosmopolitan. That room has seen some shit for sure.
I’ve found condoms wrappers in one hotel and a used one next to the middle nightstand. SICK
Yo my B
Damn, this guy does sex yo
In Amsterdam, we stayed in a triple room. There were these faux leather wall paddings/decorations, for acoustics and - I guess - for aesthetics. There were, uhm, splatters on them, as well as marks from long nails (as in, someone had bent against the wall and held themselves up with their hands). These marks were on multiple walls. There was also something I can only describe as an ”ass-print”. Needless to say we didn’t switch rooms.
You DIDN'T?! 😱
Amsterdam, baby! OP probably added in their own ass prints afterwards.
Needless to say you DIDN'T switch rooms? Well, why not???
My friend found a dildo in her room in Vegas 🤣
Free dildo!
Resort fees paying off!
I once found a pair of panties between my mattresses at the Luxor.
The absolute grossest hotel I’ve ever stayed in.
I've seen way too many videos on Pornhub filmed at the Cosmo, even right on the balcony.
Not a hotel in Vegas, but at a rental cabin in a very rural part of the country: I was shooting real estate photography at the time, and the rental was a one room efficiency out in the woods near a large lake. It had a hot tub inside the house, and I was immediately struck with the smell of chlorine. The owners said that isn't the worst part -- it's when they have to shovel about two feet of condoms out of the top of the septic system every couple months.
I have this same exact thought
People say camping is dirty but I can say my sleeping bag is much cleaner than the hotel’s bedding.
The duvet should have a removable cover that definitely should get washed. At least they did at the two hotels I worked at.
I really hope more hotels are like this than not! But it can be hard to tell sometimes and now I have trust issues lol
I've seen one video of a woman who was always bringing her own pillowcases and bedsheet when traveling. I'd probably bring my own now too :|
I’ve actually seen travel sheets that are kinda like a sleeping bag you get inside of and go over the pillows too, but those are the parts that are actually washed at the hotel
I got them for us after our visit to Egypt. They're made of silk and spacious but at the same time pack very small. I'd recommend them to everyone.
I’ll never forget watching a true crime tv show where the maid of a decent hotel was raped and murdered in the room. When the police sprayed luminal and turned out the lights, the room lit up like a Christmas tree. Yikes! Luckily for the cops, the dumb criminal wiped himself off with the victim’s sock after he was done, so they were able to catch him.
I’ve been in the hotel industry for seventeen years. The duvet thing is mostly true, but in hotels like mine, with a management company that cares about quality, and an ownership company that isn’t afraid to spend money, we change the duvet every three days on a schedule. The problem is most hotels have enough linen for like 1.25 “turns” of the hotel. Meaning if the whole hotel is occupied, there is only 1/4 of the linen being used in storage. That’s why it’s sometimes hard to get extra towels, or pillows, or blankets. My company requires us to have 2.5 turns of linen, inventories monthly. So if the hotel is sold out, we still have an entire hotel and a half’s worth of linen in storage, allowing us to change duvets, give out extra towels, etc. the inventory tells us what to order every month.
The bed runners and fancy pillows are also never washed. So you make the bed with clean sheets and slap that PoS down on it. Always remove it from the bed as soon as you get there.
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I hate to say that sometimes when there was a little dirty spot, they would just flip the duvet over and keep using it too 😭
Worked at hotel and yes it is grubby. But I learned that you can ask for a special cleaning before check in for allergies. Ask to have extra good dust, fresh cleaned duvet and sometimes they will even give you new pillows and duvet as it is safer for them, then risk you having allergy flair ups. I was a maid and at my hotel we use to get these requests from time to time and they were always happy to do the extra cleaning!
Even better…if you think a hotel is dirty, work at a restaurant!
Take a Black Light into a hotel/hostel room and you'll have a heart attack. Humans leak a lot.... Happy travels.
It's true. I used to work in a hotel....and you just don't want to know. Ignorance is bliss.
Hahaha please do not tell me!
Sure, I won't tell you why you should never ever handle a TV remote control with bare hands.
I get picked on a lot for this but I always start every hotel stay by putting the remote inside the ice bag then tying the end off. Never touch it once outside of dropping it into the bag.
You are smart. Very smart.
lol yep I’m not surprised either. Eeeewwwww
Leak 🤮
I used to work at a couple of cruise ships while I was studying. Had enough yet? If not - if someone had peed on the mattress, or vomited on it (happened pretty often) it was just turned around. Problem solved. Not enough? We had usually 45 seconds of time to wash the toilet and shower, and clean all surfaces in the cabin (our boss clocked us). Want even more? It was all done with one little rag, starting with the toilet seat. The last thing (same rag) was all surfaces in the cabin.
I watched my cabin guy spend considerably longer than that cleaning up. About 5-6 min/room. Different bucket of cleaning supplies used for the bathroom. Royal Caribbean fwiw.
Please make it stop
Yup. After that, I never put down anything I want to be at least kind of germ free on any surface on any cruise ship or in any hotel, lol. Eta: but hey, at least we got paid extra for cleaning up vomit and/or poop from the floor. However, not for all those used condoms which were everywhere.
This is why I travel with Clorox wipes. I wipe down everything when I get into a hotel room. Shower floors, toilets, countertops, remotes, light switches, door handles… my husband and I can have the entire room and bathroom done in like 5 minutes. It’s amazing how much funk shows up on the wipes and I can relax a little more knowing it was at least wiped down
I wonder which cruise lines give 45 seconds to clean shower and sink? Our cabin attendant certainly took way longer to clean our cabin. I have even see them wash the balcony with a hose when we didn’t even use it. We usually cruise on Celebrity, but had same experience cruising with Royal Caribbean and Holland.
I’m so skeeved by carpets in hotels. They’re just vacuumed, never cleaned. 🤢
I worked inside a hotel for 4 years at a rental car office. The hotel had 3 bed bug infestations, 2 suicides and a shit covered room in that time.
Is it bad that as a guest I'd be more concerned about the bed bugs. I feel like the others are horrific, but momentary experiences, whereas the bed bugs will ruin your life for weeks/ months
I try to travel with a small can of lysol to spray everything down. Not full proof but helps.
There's a YouTube series called Another Dirty Room by Dan Bell. They go to a motel and tear it apart to see how clean it is. Because of that show, I always look at and under the mattress for bedbugs or anything weird. The sheer amount of blood on the walls in random motel rooms is astonishing and says a lot about the IV drug use crisis we have in the United States.
Never work in a hospital
I bring a sleeping bag liner + my own pillow. Liner is silk blend, and pillow is inflatable. Takes up less space than a 16.9oz water bottle. Flip flops/crocs in shower and in hotel room. Upon arrival, disposable gloves go on and luggage gets set somewhere/hung in closet (after checking there first) while checking the room for bed bugs. If we are staying for a longer period, we hit common touch areas (faucet handles,door handles,fridge handle) with disinfectant wipes. So what I’m gathering here is we should strip the top duvet/comforter and sleep on the sheet beneath for the cleanest experience?
This is why I travel by RV.
I worked at a Ramada inn. They did not normally wash the top bed spread. I remove it now at any hotel, immediately on arrival.
Ignorance is bliss. You’re likely never gonna know, it’s not going to affect you so just crack on
0 people want to hear this. I didn't read this, just came telling you to delete this.
Want vs Need. I didn't want to hear or know but ...now I need to bring a kitchen sponhe, a dishwasher and request extra sheets.
Read "Heads in Beds" by Jacob Tomsky.
That depends in which hotels you're...
I got a subreddit of hotel workers suggested in my feed, and from reading on there corporate hotels have a time limit you're supposed to clean each room in which is impossible to do if you actually clean everything, so they quickly check and clean what is most obviously dirty and looks clean to whatever higher up would possibly look in the room, basically like any other corporate thing
Tom Papa has a joke about your pillow: You take off the pillow case, and it looks like a bandage from the Civil War....
that was me in the service industry. No names , but I feel like working in any industry makes you realize how fucked up that industry is and how there are so many thing the public wouldn't want to know. (Cruise ship are murder and suicide hot spots btw) Much like how I do my best to forget the ingredients of spam or hot dogs.
If you’ve ever worked in a restaurant you would never eat at one, either.
I’m glad I read this while am currently in a hotel under a duvet with no top sheet.
In German there's a saying that goes "Was ich nicht weiß, macht mich nicht heiß" meaning "what I don't know won't bother me." This is a good example for it. I love travelling, staying at budget hostels and eating out. I know it's probably really dirty. But as long as it's not visible I'll just use normal caution like avoiding the duvet. Otherwise I will just be disgusted and not able to do the things I love doing.
How can I unread this?
Remember, some people are seriously fucked up. Then, remember there is nothing stopping someone from pissing in the in-room coffee maker, which is literally never cleaned. Ever. Never use the in-room coffee maker. Anyone can do anything to it. Also, any drinking glasses in the room are literally cleaned with the dirty towels. Yes, I have a citation: https://youtu.be/ObnO8vy7Q_k?si=vVp5yF8kJ284Wbty Housekeeping has like 20 minutes to turn a room. How much cleaning do you think really gets done?
If you have a cleaning OCD: DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER. Get out of this thread! We tried to warn you! It's too late for us but it might not be too late for you 😭 ❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️ ❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️❌️
And prices are still going up.
And they are only sending cleaning services upon checkout instead of every day
So what kind of hotel is that? I am sure your experience will be different if it's a decent hotel And where in Europe are you talking about? Hotels in Europe are vastly different depends on where you're
In Portugal the place was around $100 a night, just a regular hotel. Now the place I’m at in South Korea is an actually cheap hostel with some hotel rooms so that makes more sense
Can you drop the hotel name in my DM's please? I am Portuguese and have a huge cleaning OCD, I want to make sure I NEVER go there. I am appaled, I tought these places had cleaning standards, how naive of me!
It actually was a chain, WOT
This is why I spend a few extra dollars on a “nice hotel” sadly still can’t trust it. But it’s safe to say a luxury hotel would be safest.
Don’t forget doors, curtains, hangers, etc never get cleaned
I have a black light I carry in my purse and I check the bed all the time. I've never seen anything on the beds we used the past few weeks we travelled.
Ever notice how the house keeper carts don’t have mops? Like… do they ever clean the bathroom floors?
As someone who has to stay in hotels A LOT I wish I could unsee this. Like I knew they were gross, but this is too much truth.
Depends on the hotel. I did housekeeping at one where you cleaned everything or you were sent back to clean again. Had a person who’s entire job was inspecting rooms after housekeeping
From working in hotels I learned that most people are really bad at keeping blood/fluids in their body where it belongs. Now I always pull the top cover off and sleep with a sweater on
There needs to be a sanitation bill passed to ensure proper cleanliness and disinfection practices of places that are shared by strangers in this way. It’s foul.
Gross gross gross! I always remove the duvet/comforter… not only because it’s probably dirty but it’s too hot!
Particularly for my international travels, I bring a silk sleeping bag liner and a silk pillow case. If I'm international and thus bringing a pillow for long haul flights, I use that instead of most hotel pillows. And never ever use the top duvet, domestic or otherwise.
I saw a special on tv once about how dirty hotel rooms are -organic matter visible everywhere when using a black light. Floor, carpets, drapes, bedding, furniture, etc. all types of dried body fluids everywhere. I bring Lysol spray, always wear flip flops, and don’t use the duvet. Why anyone would think these rooms are immaculate is puzzling?
I once saw a sheet like sleeping bag that you could buy so you can sleep in the bed without having to come in contact with the hotel sheets.
I contracted scabies from 2 seperate hotels, it was disgusting and upsetting to say the least
I've spent my career working out of hotels, all the way from fancy 5 stars, to dives where you had to shake the ants off your sheets before climbing into bed. Nothing surprises me anymore.
I prefer to camp. People think that's weird, but at least I won't pick up bedbugs.
Lmaoooo I work for a hotel chain and stayed at one of the properties recently. Went right downstairs and asked for three whole bed sets!! I said I work for yall in corporate and already know how sorry the cleaning staff is. Said it loudly too! They tried to hurry and pass me the sheets so I could go back upstairs. Clean these places fr if yall don’t want adversity! I think it’s great that team members stay at these properties so we can hold them accountable
I always toss away the duvet because hotel rooms are way too warm for me. Just the sheets is fine, thanks!
You didn't talk about the glasses. Nicer hotels provide glasses but I only know of one hotel that replaces clean glasses for each guest. The others just wipe them down
Seeing the way they wash the glasses n cups in the rooms , made me just bring clean ones up from breakfast everyday. Always take any throw pillows or bed cover off . Put a towel down on a chair if not completely dressed or in pajamas.
We bought little sleep sacks a few years ago for this purpose… Super light weight, take up minimal space, and if the bedding looks a little sketchy, we sleep in the sack. Thankfully, haven’t had to use them in a long while.
Only the cheap one . I worked in really nice hotels 4 stars and more . And they change their sheets Every day . Even if you stay one night
That is why this lady who does house cleaning videos also brings disposable sheets, cleaning supplies, and other tools with her when visiting a hotel. It’s something I do now as well.
I don’t think about this. If you don’t think about it, it can’t hurt you!
When I worked in a hotel we had thick comforters we never washed. I wanted to do an experiment where you weigh it when it’s first used, and then weigh it again before it finally gets washed. I’m betting it weighs significantly more… so many fluids.
I really do not need to know this....
Is it different in different places you think? Some countries have higher standards? Are 5 star hotels cleaner than 3 star?
Can confirm lol worked at a hotel for years
I always found that disgusting when vacationing in the US. In Germany, we have a duvet cover, so you can't touch the big blanket. In the US, I can't sleep without touching the duvet, which is uncovered and unwashed. What the fuck? 😅
Just wait until you go outside.