Hotel guests will at very least expect to be staying in freshly laundered sheets, rather than ones left dirty by a stranger.
However, hotel rooms are not always as clean as we might wish them to be – it was recently revealed that the hotel glasses are left dirty.
There is an easy hospitality mistake that could leave you spending the night in someone else’s dirty bed linen.
A laundry expert even warned that unwashed sheets and pillowcases can harbour a cocktail of saliva, urine and genital fluids.
“You may be sleeping on used sheets, even in 5 star hotels,” warned Bruce Claver, who has worked for over 25 years in luxury hospitality, on question and answer sharing forum Quora.
He went on to explain how this might happen, even at the very best and most expensive of hotel chains, using the example of a hypothetical “Mr Smith”.
“Let’s say Mr. Smith is scheduled to depart after four nights, on June 4th, but finished his business meeting a day early and caught an early flight on the 3rd.”
However, if Mr Smith does not check out of the hotel – a common practice among hotel guests – then the room will be cleaned as if he is still staying in it, rather than as a post check-out service.
“It is easier for the room attendant to make a bed instead of stripping it and putting on new sheets and ignoring the fact that Mr. Smith is gone.”
If the housekeeper the next day finds the room clean, they might conclude they do not need to do any further work – assuming that the staff the day before have cleaned the room.
Bruce explains this is easily done, given the tough requirements of hotel cleaning staff to clean a large number of rooms per shift.
“Room attendants are under a lot of pressure and stress to clean their rooms in 8 hours and to walk into a vacant room that looks already clean is a hidden bonus,” he adds.
“Will she be caught? Most likely not unless a guest complains that there are used sheets on the bed.”
If you are suspicious of your sheets’ cleanliness, Bruce has also shed light on the best ways to investigate.
“In each hotel i check into, I pull the bedspread back to see if the sheets are wrinkled or if I can find hair.”
However, he admits – unless there is a lot of hair – it is an imperfect science – which ultimately comes down to your intuition.
“Look for hair, inspect the pillow cases and go with your gut or, turn off the lights and get into bed without thinking about it. Good luck!”
