Hotel Rooms, how to tell if they are clean
What is REALLY in your hotel room?
5 Places You NEED to be Checking
Recently I have been traveling a lot which means I have been staying in a lot of hotel rooms. Some of the hotels received not so good reviews, so I was cautious as to what to expect in staying there. For one of the hotels, the reviews consistently said that it wasn’t the cleanest. I understand everyone has different perspectives as what is clean, but I always 
1. Check the bed/mattress for bed bugs. I look for reddish coloration, tiny black marks, and yellowish small dots around the edges where the mattress is sewn. You can also move the mattress back from the wall to see if anything starts to move up the wall. Needless to say, if I see any of this, I immediately ask for another room.
2. Check the sheets. If there are hairs, discoloration, or any visible stains this to me is a clear indication that the sheets have not been changed since the last person occupied that room. It has been known for years that the top spread does not get changed between guests, but the sheets must be changed for me to stay in that room.
3. Check bathroom. There are several things in the bathroom that need to checked.
a. The shower/bathtub needs to be looked at closely. Is there hair in the drain still? Is there mold anywhere including on the shower curtain? Are the last person’s shower items still there?
b. I also lift the toilet set to see if there are any stains under the seat and also to see if the toilet bowl has been cleaned. There are many times I have walked into someone else’s “stuff” still in the toilet.
c. I check the towels to see if they are damp. They may not have been used by the last person, but were in there when they showered and got ready.
d. Is the sink area clean? Is there a new soap dish or is it a re-usable one? I also bring my own toiletries so I don’t have to worry about the ones they provide, but you should check them to see if they have been used by someone else.
4. Make sure the locks on the doors work. This sounds simple but I can’t tell you how many times I have been in a hotel room and the dead bolt to the door doesn’t work, or the lock on the patio door doesn’t work. I don’t take those things lightly, as anyone can easily get into my room when I am not there or when I am sleeping.
5. Clean all touchable items in the room. Once most of my checks have passed and I have decided it is a good room to stay in, I get out my antibacterial wipes or a nice cleaning wipe and start to wipe down all things that people touch. The remote control, the phone, any light switches, all door handles, mini-refrigerators, coffee-makers, etc. I try to wipe down as many things as I can especially when the kids are in the room because they tend to touch everything!
6. Check under the bed! Some beds you can’t check under, but the ones that you can you will find the most interesting things people leave behind. I check under the bed because I want to make sure there are no cleaning products stored under there or anything like old food. This can turn into a bad situation when you have kids who like to play on the floor.
These are a just a few things that I do to make sure that I have a pleasant stay at any hotels, and to make sure that my family and I are safe.
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Photos by Mary Yohannan
