To be shocked by hygiene in a luxury resort

[smoocakes6]

Hi. First time poster, so please go easy on me.

My 16 DD recently got a job housekeeping at a luxury golf hotel . She's 4 weekends in and has really had baptism of fire. Mostly vomit. , used condoms left on the side, dirty nappies left on the side, urine in the sink and bath. Friday night there was a wedding and 7 out of 50 rooms had vomit. What is wrong with people ? She doesn't have to clear it up because she's a minor . But she's a little traumatised by the state and smells she's had to deal with . On discussion, but they are told to use the old (used) pillowcase to dust the sides and the mirrors & to rinse the coffee cups with their hands in the sink, no fairy liquid , no sterilisation. 🤷‍♀️ no bleach is used in the bathroom and no anti viral spray around the room . Today she tested posted on lateral flow and awaiting PCR . I'm really shocked by these standards , from both management and guests ! Ffs dirty fxxkers !

Ours used to have pointless little pots of cotton wool balls and tissue boxes and writing paper and pencil which people didn't use and never got changed, just sat there gathering dust.
Also little bottles of body lotion. The shampoo and conditioner would get used and get changed but the body lotion bottles were the same for years I reckon.
And the sachets of tea and coffees had some unpopular flavours that had probably been there long past their sell by dates.

I used to work in a holiday camp site with tents and caravans.

They're never actually cleaned. They're just made to look clean. If something looks clean it never disinfected with anti-bac spray, you just leave it.

Confirm cleaning things with used pillow cases and used towels is common.

Also the blankets were not washed the whole season.

My advice- take anti-bac and clean when you get there. Wash all dishes cutlery etc before use.

I think giving bathrooms a once over with the used towels or bedding is fairly standard in hotels.

I'd never really thought about the things housekeeping might find, but when you see how some people get at weddings I suppose it's not surprising.

I worked in hotels many years ago. Only have experience of one chain. The biggest issue was time pressure on the housekeeping staff. They had something ridiculous, like 22 minutes, to clean a room. They weren’t told to wipe the floors with the towels but couldn’t really follow any proper cleaning procedures if they only had 20 minutes per room. The grim thing I witnessed myself was using some sort of a spray to refresh the bedding, make it look all clean and crisp. Basically after a one night, single business guest type of stay, to save time, they would use that spray in the bedding instead of changing it. It was grim.

Wow, this is shocking! I used to be a chambermaid as a teenager about 25yrs ago now in a small country house hotel, it was nothing like the horrors described on this thread! I had a big cleaning cupboard full of bleach and cleaning supplies, including cloths and clean rags and clean crockery for the rooms. Everything was properly cleaned, dirty cups were taken down and put in the dishwasher, all linen was put on a hot wash and freshly ironed before it went back upstairs. We would regularly do a proper deep clean of the whole place, scrub all the skirting boards and polish all the brass in the bar etc, the owners were always on the alert for surprise inspections! The only unpleasant thing I saw was a very elderly guest once pebble-dashed the bathroom but as I was only 16 I didn't have to deal with that one!

I'm now starting to understand why my parents have bought a motorhome!

This has to win the prize for most grim thread I’ve ever read on here. 🤢

Bleugh. You’d have thought that hygiene standards would have improved with COVID. Surely just a cursory wipe down with used linen is a recipe for disaster?

I worked as a chambermaid/housekeeper when I was a student, & we were expected to actually clean, with sanitiser, change all bedding, really go round the bathroom with fresh wipes etc.

We’ve travelled extensively including in parts of Asia where hygiene standards are always great we’ve stayed in top hotels round the world and more average ones. I use the crockery and cutlery provided DH drinks the tea/coffee eats the complimentary fruit etc. I’ve eaten in jungle markets cafes where chickens are running around in the kitchen peoples home and some very famous restaurants we do avoid dairy but neither my husband or I have ever had a days illness associated with our travels. The human body is adaptable and resilient. I personally have always been more concerned about Dengie and Malaria and use an appropriate repellent like deet and take medication when necessary.

Saw a documentary a few years ago about supposedly high-end London hotels, where housekeeping were allocated 7 mins to clean each room (between guests, not daily housekeeping which was even less).

Doubt things have changed much. With staff shortages commonplace, it’s probably even worse now.

@CovoidOfAllHumanity

I like a Premier Inn if I have to stay anywhere. The rooms being minimal and all the same make them easier to clean and the less stuff is there to gather dust the better. They are designed for easy cleaning unlike the listed building I used to chambermaid in which was very hard to clean. I never get the attraction of 4 poster beds Horrible dust traps those are and we had them in all the 'best' rooms.

Likewise, although I prefer holiday inn express. The less clutter and more smooth surfaces the better. It makes it easier for me to clean upon arrival, i.e. anti-bac light switches, door handles, TV remote, taps, etc. I tend to pick up cups from the breakfast area to take back to the room rather than use the ones left on the tray, and likewise boil the kettle with fresh water a couple of times before use.

Same with holiday cottages/apartments, etc., I look at the photos and choose the more minimalist ones. I avoid the cluttered ones with lots of ornaments, cushions, unnecessary furniture, etc like the plague as it just means more to ant-bac or clear away.

I am in hotels for around 150 nights a year, I always take slippers, pillowcase and my own travel cup and cutlery. I use alcohol wipes on surfaces, door handles telephone and remote then put the remote inside the shower cap.

I can never understand why people go to hotels for a 'dirty weekend'

The worst I saw was in a Med luxury self catering complex. Supposed to be very high end. We stayed in the room one day because of illness, but let the housekeeper in to do her thing. She had a single cloth in one hand and some kind of spray in the other. I didn't realise until OH pointed it out, but she went into the bathroom first to give it a spray around and wipe down, and then went to the corner kitchen area and started wiping down the worktop, cooker, etc with the same cloth she'd just cleaned the bathroom with! Utterly grim, we didn't let her in again and just did our own cleaning/bed making etc, by leaving the "do not disturb" card on the door. Since, then, we tend to do the same, i.e. the do not disturb card - when we want new towels etc we just catch up with the housekeeper down the corridor and do a swap so they don't have to come into the room, meaning we'd have to do a full wipe down again!

Generally the more expensive the hotel, the worse the hygiene standards and the worse the guests behave.

If someone trashes a Premier Inn hotel room they probably can't afford to pay for it to be fixed when the management threaten them with court. If someone trashes a £500 a night hotel, they've got money to burn and can easily afford to pay.

It's grim.

I have a friend who is an air hostess and she recently told me that some of her colleagues have admitted to boiling their used knickers in the hotels kettles when they are on overnight stays. She's a clean freak and this traumatised her. haha

Don't people feel embarrassed to leave dirty toilets or crap around a hotel room? To me, it just shows you come from an environment where that would be acceptable behaviour.

boiling used knickers??? in a kettle???

I saw a documentary on hygiene in hotels, where the reporters had installed hidden cameras. Cleaners were shown using same revolting cloth to wipe the tea/coffee cups as the loos! Like previous posters I have not used hotel cups since then—I take my own.

Why wouldn't you just rinse your undies out in the bathroom basin and put them on the towel rail to dry?

Who would even think of putting them in the bloody kettle??

@whatwasIgoingtosay

boiling used knickers??? in a kettle???

Yeah. It’s not as if you could boil the kettle then use the water to wash your pants in the bathroom sink. Eh.

On threads like this I take a lot of things people say with a pinch of salt.

I used to clean on a family-run campsite which also had chalets and some rooms.
It was nothing like described here. All glasses and cups went through the dishwasher in the kitchens. All bedding and towels were washed after every guest. We had rules about which cloths could be used for what and what order everything in each room had to be cleaned in. Floors (wooden) hoovered and washed each time.
For the sanitary buildings there were disinfection procedures to be carried out and that was years before COVID.
We still had time pressure - it was very hard work but I actually enjoyed it a lot. The campsite is one of the top rated in Europe.

That said, I have stayed in hotels which were absolutely disgusting and on campsites where you didn't want to shower for fear of picking up a disease...

@MadameOvary81

It's grim.

I have a friend who is an air hostess and she recently told me that some of her colleagues have admitted to boiling their used knickers in the hotels kettles when they are on overnight stays. She's a clean freak and this traumatised her. haha

First time I stayed in a hotel someone had pooed in a bag and left it in the kettle. I only even checked because the kettle stopped working. Ever since then I have always disinfected it. I bring a travel sized dettol especially

It is grim, but I work on the basis that what I don't know can't hurt me (so thanks for this thread ) and somehow the human race continues to not only survive, but to go from strength to strength.

DD2 was sick (too much sun and food) on holiday. I washed out all the vomity items in the bath while heaving myself, then hung them outside, then left the washed, dried sheets in the bath for the staff - obviously not completely clean but ready to go into the general wash and nothing too horrible to deal with.

Would never dream of leaving that for someone else to clear up.

TBF even if undies had been boiled in a kettle (wouldn't it ruin them anyway?) it's not going to do the next user any harm. That's the point of boiling.