China hotels have come under fire after secret footage filmed in the five-star establishments showed the shocking methods used by the cleaners.
The 12-minute-long footage, filmed on secret cameras, has gone viral after being uploaded to Chinese social media site Weibo.
It shows hotel cleaners using dirty towels and flannels to wipe down surfaces in the bathroom.
They use the same cloths to clean glasses and cutlery, as well as the toilet and sink.
The compilation video also shows the cleaners wiping down the shower cubicle with the same sponge as is used for washing the mugs and glasses.
One cleaner even wipes a glass with the bottom edge of her uniform.
Weibo user Huazong, who posted the footage, said he had captured the content after spending more than 2,000 nights in 147 five-star hotels across various major Chinese cities.
Fourteen luxury hotels in total appear in the footage including Hilton and Marriott.
Four international hotel chains has since apologised of the unsanitary cleaning methods, reported The Independent.
The Waldorf Astoria in Shanghai and the Sheraton in Guiyang city have said they will review procedures.
The Shangri-La Hotel in Fuzhou said the behaviour violated its hygiene standards.
Park Hyatt in Beijing have called it an “isolated incident,” according to the newspaper.
The Peninsula hotel in Beijing said that city food and drug administration officials had carried out an on-site examination of cups the day before the footage was filmed, reported PA.
The establishment said officials had found the cups cleaner than standards required, but they were later sent for further tests following the footage’s release.
China’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism has now ordered investigations into the apparent breaches of hygiene standards.
The local tourism authority in Shanghai is conducting investigations into the issues raised in the video, according to the state-owned Global Times newspaper.
“The hotels involved will be dealt with in a strict manner upon investigation,” said the Global Times.
The footage of the shocking sub-par cleaning has now been viewed over 30 million times.
Alarming research has shown how cleanliness levels in many hotel rooms can be alarmingly questionable.
A survey of 1,000 people by sleep website The Sleep Judge revealed the many disgusting things hotel and Airbnb guests have found in their rooms.
According to the study, 88 per cent of hotel guests have found other people’s hair in their room.
Sixteen per cent of hotel guests found evidence of urine in their room, 12 per cent found both sexual fluids and blood.