Germs and filth: The dirtiest places in hotel rooms revealed

When you book a hotel you usually expect to just sit back and relax without a care in the world. Well, here’s something to think about before you head on your next lavish trip away. 

Hotels are packed full of germs thanks to the hundreds of people who share them each year. While cleaners are good at their jobs, there are several unassuming items lying around that are either ignored completely or very rarely changed and cleaned.

These are a few of the dirtiest areas in a hotel room for anyone that wants to stay germ-free on their next getaway.

Remote control

While this might be one of the most inconspicuous objects in a hotel room, it definitely is one of the dirtiest. When you really sit down and think about how often a remote control is handled and how little attention cleaners pay to disinfecting it after each use, their status as the dirtiest objects in a hotel room is less surprising.

Microbiologist, Dr Luisa Ikner, told Today that remote controls were the number one dirtiest places in hotel rooms. One test even showed traces of E. coli, to which Ikner said: “This indicates there was faecal contamination on the remote.” 

If you want to avoid touching the dirtiest place in your room, try popping the remote into a zip lock bag and using it without touching with the buttons.

Drinking glasses

While glasses are specifically there to be used by hotel occupants, it might be best to either give them a wash before use or avoid it all together. Most hotels cleaners don’t have to time to hand clean dishes or fill and empty the dishwasher. 

Read more: Four things you should always do before checking out of a hotel room

This means many glasses simply get rinsed out, dried with a tea towel and placed back where they came from. The worst part is that doing this can be more detrimental than leaving them dirty because germs simply end up spreading to new areas.

Room key

Another object that you probably never think about in terms of germs is your room key. It’s the one thing you’re guaranteed to always have on you but also unfortunately, the one thing that is never disinfected.

Not only does it come into contact with every hand that enters the room, but it also touches the insides of pockets, wallets and bags. So if you can, take some disinfectant wipes and give the key a bit of a clean yourself.

Bed

While sheets should be changed religiously in hotel rooms after each stay, the same can’t be said for comforters, decorative blankets and worst of all – pillows. 

According to a report by CNN, the comforter on a bed is rarely changed and could actually only be cleaned four times a year. Meanwhile, decorative pillows and blankets are almost never replaced and on the odd occasion, cleaners will fail to change even pillowcases after each use.

While coming into contact with most of these germs won’t be bad enough to give you any serious disease or illness, if you enjoy a clean living space on your holidays, it might be worth packing a few disinfectant wipes and a whole lot of hand sanitiser!