Just because you are the type of traveler who onlyfinalizes your plans after a thorough review of your cheap travel options, suchas cheapairplane tickets, and cheap vacation packages, doesnot mean that you should treat hotel rooms the same as you would any room inyour home.
A company named TravelMath recently completed a study ofthe cleanliness of the average hotel room. After examining the remote controls, bathroom counters, desks, andphones at nine different three, four and five star hotels, TravelMathdetermined that the typical room is much dirtier than your house and evendirtier than some airplane cabins.
The dirt found was not dust or grime. It was bacteria, viruses, and parasites thatcan lead to respiratory infections, skin infections, and pneumonia. The dirtiness of a room was measured by thenumber of viable bacteria cells (known as colony forming units, of CFUs) persquare inch. On average, bathroomcounters and remote controls had more than 1 million CFUs per square inch.
Ironically the three star hotels were found to be cleaneron average than four or even five star hotels. Hotels offering limited amenities were found to do a better job cleaningsurfaces than their more deluxe/expensive competitors.
Three star hotels bathroom counters were the dirtiestsurfaces, but still much cleaner than those in more upscale hotels. Bathroom counters in four star hotels had thegermiest of all hotel surfaces, with the remote controls at five star hotelscoming in with high germ counts.
The following are steps that every guest can take to staysafe after checking into a hotel, according to Robert Firpo-Cappiello:
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Washyour hands frequently.
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Pack asmall bottle of antibacterial spray.
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Packantibacterial wipes.
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Disinfectsurfaces in your hotel room including phones, bathroom counters, and desks.
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Packclear plastic bags and wrap one around the remote control so that you caneasily operate it without touching the bacteria laden keys. This is more effective than simply disinfectingthe remote.
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