A hospitality industry worker shocked the internet when she shared some of the items she would never touch in a hotel room.
The hotel worker, who goes by @queenevangeline25 on TikTok, received more than 750,000 views when she warned hotel guests of the unsanitary items lurking in their hotel rooms. Evangeline, who often shares hospitality advice to her TikTok page, explained to viewers that she would “never use” a hotel room’s remote control without “wiping it down first with my own Clorox wipe”.
“Your cleaning and my cleaning are different cleaning, you feel me?” she said.
Then, she encouraged followers to stay away from the complimentary glasses provided in hotel rooms. “I’m not talking about the styrofoam glasses or paper cups, I’m talking about the glasses glasses that are sitting there for your use,” Evangeline said, adding that she would first wash the glasses before drinking out of them.
The next culprit on her list was the bedspread, which Evangeline revealed is the first item to be removed from her hotel room the minute she checks in. “Those things are not washed often,” she said.
Evangeline did note that upscale hotels are most likely better at washing bed sheets and duvets than other accommodations, and will have folded white bed sheets provided upon arrival. “But if it’s not that and it’s an actual bedspread, those things get cleaned like maybe once a year,” she warned. “Don’t sit on those.”
She also encouraged travellers to sign up for a hotel’s rewards program, and if there is more than one guest staying at the hotel, make sure their name is on the reservation.
Germs in hotel rooms can also run rampant on light switches, telephones, faucets, countertops and desks, and curtains. A 2020 investigation from Inside Edition found that some New York City hotels weren’t washing linens and sheets in between guest stays.
Unsurprisingly, many TikTok viewers were grossed out by the secret unsanitary places in their hotel rooms, and took to the comments section to share some of the other items that they make sure to clean when checking into a hotel.
“I wrap the remote control in the plastic wrap from the ice bucket,” one person wrote.
“I would never use the ice bucket,” someone else said.
“Almost easier to just stay home,” joked a third person.
Some social media users were confused as to how so many spots can be missed during a hotel room cleaning, but others pointed out that staffers and housekeepers may not have the time to do a full-scale cleaning job. One user explained, “Unfortunately most hotels give a very short amount of time to clean & are always understaffed, plus last minute early check ins.”
Many fellow hotel workers and former housekeepers agreed with Evangeline that they would never stay at a hotel without cleaning the place from top to bottom first.
“I worked housekeeping for years, I would never stay at a hotel without cleaning the entire room myself,” one person said, while another TikToker wrote: “I work in hotels! The bedspread comes off first for me too!!!”
