Think bathroom toilets and sinks are the dirtiest things in a hotel room? Think again! A new study shows that television remotes and bedside lamp switches are right up there with toilets and bathrooms sinks when it comes to high levels of bacterial contamination in U.S. hotel rooms.
But that’s not all. The University of Houston researchers also found high levels of bacterial contamination on sponges, mops and other items on housekeeper’s carts, which could lead to cross-contamination of rooms! Yuck.
The cleanest, safest items in hotels are bed headboards, curtain rods and bathroom door handles.
“Hoteliers have an obligation to provide their guests with a safe and secure environment. Currently, housekeeping practices vary across brands and properties with little or no standardization industry wide. The current validation method for hotel room cleanliness is a visual assessment, which has been shown to be ineffective in measuring levels of sanitation,” Katie Kirsch, an undergraduate student at the University of Houston, said in a news release.
She said the study findings could help hotels develop safer, more efficient ways to clean rooms.
“Currently, housekeepers clean 14 to 16 rooms per eight-hour shift, spending approximately 30 minutes on each room. Identifying high-risk items within a hotel room would allow housekeeping managers to strategically design cleaning practices and allocate time to efficiently reduce the potential health risks posed by microbial contamination in hotel rooms,” Kirsch explained.
Let’s hope so!
In the meantime, always carry antibacterial wipes with you when you travel. Wipe down the room as soon as you arrive, paying particular attention to the TV remote, bedside lamp, ice bucket, and bathroom sink and toilet. Better yet, bring a ziplog bag and throw it over the remote. Better safe than sorry.
As for the germiest places in your home…