Research suggests that the sponges used by hotel housekeepers are among the filthiest things that you can find in a hotel. That's why most hotel bathtubs are teeming with germs, and five-star hotels are certainly no exception.
2. Hot tubs are even worse.
If you've got a fancy room that contains a hot tub, you might want to skip taking a soak in it, since researchers from Texas A&M University found that 95% of whirlpool tubs had fecal-derived bacteria in them, while 34% contained staphylococcus bacteria, and 81% contained fungi.
3. Expensive rooms aren't cheaper than cleaner ones.
Think your presidential suite at a five-star hotel has a superior level of cleanliness? Think again, buddy! This is because research conducted by Travelmath uncovered that 4 and 5-star hotels actually contain more bacteria than 3-star hotels.
If you believe that a freshly brewed cup of coffee from your hotel is actually good for you, then you couldn't be more wrong since a publication in Scientific Reports shows that there are often as many as 67 different types of bacteria hiding inside it.
5. Try and avoid drinking from glasses.
Using paper or plastic cups instead of glass ones could keep you a lot safer in the long run. This is because hotel investigators have often found that hotel staff clean glasses using the same sponges or towels they use to clean floors.
6. They don't have to honor the 'Do Not Disturb' sign.
It is merely a suggestion, and in fact, many hotels have recently chosen to do away with them for security reasons. In fact, if the hotel staff hasn't seen you in over 24 hours, they may just enter your room to see if you're actually okay.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics has shown that the median yearly wage for housekeepers in hotels is merely $21,820 in the USA. This is why tipping hotel staff is so important, yet only around 30% of travelers do it.
8. You should wipe down the TV remote.
A surprising source of germs in your hotel room is actually the television remote. In fact, Travelmath claims that the average TV remote in a hotel contains around 2,002,300 colony-forming units, with 5-star hotels being the worst offenders.
9. The desk is filthy, too.
While it may appear like the bed and bath are the most unclean places in a room, the desk is actually a shocking source of bacteria, too. Researchers say that the desks at 4-star hotels had 1,800,003 colony-forming bacterial units per square inch.
Storing your makeup and toothbrush in your travel kit is a far better thing to do than to set them down on the counter. According to Travelmath, the bathroom counter was the place where most germs accumulated in both 3 and 4-star hotels.
11. Don't use the blanket.
Not all parts of the bedclothes are laundered in the same way, and while the sheets are generally clean, the blankets may not be. In fact, one microbiologist revealed that the duvets on hotel beds are rarely washed, if ever. Yuck!
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