After a long travel day, you probably dream of drawing a hot bath and slipping under the covers in your clean, comfortable hotel room. But how sanitary are your accommodations for the night?
Former hotel employees are sharing what happens behind the scenes, which might make you reconsider your upcoming hotel stay.
From security concerns to significant invasions of privacy, these surprising hotel secrets will disgust and horrify you:
Germ-Covered Hair Dryers
Housekeepers rarely disinfect hotel hair dryers between guests, so they tend to harbor many germs. Bring a personal hair dryer or wipe the provided one down before using it. Using your own or cleaning the hotel’s hair dryer reduces your risk of coming in contact with potentially harmful bacteria.
Unchanged Pillowcases
Be wary of laying your head down for a quick nap in your hotel room. Sometimes, housekeepers skip changing pillowcases between guests. Always check the pillowcases upon check-in and request a new set if they look or smell less than pristine.
Moldy Coffeemakers
Hotel room coffee machines are notorious for being unsanitary. If they’re inadequately cleaned between uses, coffeemakers harbor bacteria and germs. Leftover coffee grounds can grow mold, giving you a nasty surprise with your morning cup of joe.
Reused Glasses
One of the most common hotel travel tips is to avoid using your room’s drinking glasses. Most of the time, the cleaning staff will leave them if they don’t appear dirty or used. Always wash your glasses with hot, soapy water before drinking from them.
Unwashed Comforters and Duvets
What’s the first thing you should do after checking into your hotel? Remove the comforter or duvet and throw it aside. These linens often go unwashed as long as they appear clean to the naked eye.
Sometimes, hotel staff may spot-clean noticeable stains without washing the entire comforter or duvet. In an online forum, an anonymous 5-star hotel employee shared, “We don’t wash our comforters unless we physically see a spot on them.”
Risky Safes
Your valuables aren’t as secure as you think if you store them in a hotel room safe. Hotels often have a master key or combination to unlock all the safes in the building. Never wholly rely on hotel safes to keep personal items secure while traveling.
Bed Bugs
A 2024 Sleep Doctor study found one in seven U.S. travelers encountered bed bugs during overnight stays within the past year. Bed bugs are common in hotels due to the constant stream of people coming in and out. Check recent customer reviews for bed bug sightings before booking your hotel stay.
Disgusting Remote Controls
TV remotes are some of the grossest items in a hotel room because many people touch and use them weekly. When housekeepers are short on time, they may overlook disinfecting remotes between stays.
A hotel employee spoke to The Chive, revealing, “TV remotes never get cleaned! You might wanna sanitize those next time you go to change a channel.”
Gross Ice Buckets
You may be surprised by how unsanitary hotel room ice buckets are. Previous guests might have used the ice bucket in your room without inserting a disposable liner.
Consuming ice from a dirty bucket could cause you to get sick from bacteria left to grow inside. It’s best to leave the ice bucket untouched during your stay to avoid the potential risks.
Unscrubbed Bathtubs
Think twice before drawing a bath during your next hotel stay. You could end up sitting in a tub full of dirt and harsh chemicals. Skip the bath in favor of a shower to avoid prolonged contact with germs left behind from dirty cleaning materials like sponges and mops.
Invasion of Privacy
It’s no secret that hotel employees are humans, too. However, many guests fail to realize that the people cleaning their hotel rooms might use the amenities for personal reasons. While cleaning, housekeepers may use your room for a bathroom break or power nap, which can significantly violate your privacy.
Dirty Carpet
Consider wearing socks or slippers whenever you stay in a hotel room. While cleaners usually vacuum rooms after guests check out, carpeted surfaces are challenging to sanitize.
Carpets trap dirt and grime from previous guests, housekeepers, and other hotel employees. Avoid walking around your hotel room barefoot, especially if the floors are carpeted.
Used Toilet Paper Rolls
You’ve probably noticed how small hotel toilet paper rolls appear compared to what you stock your own home with. Your mind isn’t playing tricks on you, as this is a secret way hotels cut corners to save money. If a used toilet paper roll is still reasonably full, the cleaning staff may fold the ends to make it appear new.
Don’t get stuck in a disgusting hotel on your next vacation
There’s nothing worse than having your travel excitement ruined by a dirty hotel room or missed flight. Many common travel mistakes are easily avoidable with a bit of preparation.
12 Genius Ways to Avoid the Most Common Travel Mistakes
Skip traditional hotels for a luxurious spa experience
Don’t risk ending up in a bed bug-infested, dirty hotel. Save yourself the stress and book a stay at one of the world’s most luxurious spas, where you can unwind in clean, comfortable accommodations.
Word’s 14 Most Luxurious Spas to Unlock Inner Peace
Elise Armitage is an entrepreneur and founder of What The Fab, a travel + lifestyle blog based in California. At the beginning of 2019, Elise left her corporate job at Google to chase her dreams: being an entrepreneur and helping women find fabulous in the everyday. Since then, she’s launched her SEO course Six-Figure SEO, where she teaches bloggers how to create a passive revenue stream from their website using SEO. Featured in publications like Forbes, Elle, HerMoney, and Real Simple, Elise is a firm believer that you can be of both substance and style.
