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Crusader / featurepics.com
Do you really want to touch the remote? A small study of hotel rooms in three states found that the main light switch and the TV remote were two surfaces most contaminated with bacteria.
Next time you enter a new hotel room, you might think twice before touching the light switch or reaching for the remote.
Those are two of the top surfaces most likely to be contaminated with potentially sickening bacteria, according to a small new study aimed at boosting cleaning practices at the nation’s hotels and motels.
Katie Kirsch, a University of Houston researcher, led a team that measured germs on everything from curtain rods to bathroom sinks in nine hotel rooms in three states.
Kirsch came away thinking that the current industry standard of visual assessment -- if it looks clean, it is clean -- isn’t good enough.
“A visual assessment can’t tell you about bacteria and viruses,” she told msnbc.com. “It can tell you what’s on the surface, but not if it’s been disinfected.”
Kirsch, a recent graduate who has also studied subjects like the pathogens that linger on restaurant menus and the cleanliness of public bathrooms, enlisted colleagues at Purdue University and the University of South Carolina. They’re presenting their work Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.
The researchers went looking for aerobic bacteria, which include germs known to cause illness, including streptococcus and staphylococcus. They also tested for coliform -- or fecal -- bugs. They swabbed the surfaces, put the samples on ice and then flew them to the University of Houston microbiology lab for analysis.
Top hot spots for aerobic bacteria in hotels turned out to be the bathroom sinks and floors, the main light switches and the TV remotes. The remotes, for instance, racked up a mean of 67.6 colony-forming units of bacteria, or CFU, per cubic centimeter squared.
For comparison, one study of environmental cleanliness in hospitals recommended a top limit of 5 CFU per cubic centimeter squared. Even using Kirsch’s relaxed proposal of 10 CFU, the TV remotes racked up way too many bugs.
The main light switches in the rooms were worse, with a mean of 112.7 CFU for aerobic bacteria. Even the telephone keypad was icky, with 20.2 CFU.
When it came to fecal bacteria, the main light switch was the most serious surface offender, with 111.1 CFU.
That may sound disgusting, but it doesn’t necessarily mean hotel surfaces will make you sick, emphasized Kirsch, who said that her study wasn’t designed to test for the specific pathogens that cause illness. Her supervisor underscored that it shouldn’t keep people from staying in hotels.
“It’s not a scare thing,” said Jay Neal, an assistant professor in the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant management.
Instead, Kirsch was conducting baseline research that she hopes might one day inspire the hotel industry to adopt cleaning and sanitation guidelines invoked through HACCP -- Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points -- a protocol already used by food and healthcare industries.
“The study is aimed more toward the housekeeping managers,” she noted.
In addition to checking for the bugs on surfaces in the hotel rooms, the researchers also swabbed for bacteria on the gloves, mops and sponges used by cleaning staff, which have the potential to carry germs from room to room.
Those items were crawling with all kinds of bacteria: at least 500 CFU of aerobic and fecal bacteria on the sponges, for instance.
“When you’re in a hotel room, there’s that stranger factor,” said Neal, noting that no one wants to inherit fecal bacteria from the guy down the hall.
Some hotels appear to be getting the message. Best Western hotels, for instance, just launched a campaign to equip its housekeepers with black light testers to detect unseen bugs. They’re even offering a sanitary wrap for the remotes.
Hampton Inns have launched a campaign emphasizing cleanliness with commercials featuring a hotel guest dressed in a Hazmat suit.
Meanwhile, ordinary guests fearful of hotel germs can take matters into their own hands, said Kirsch, who agreed traveling with sanitizing wipes is an option:
“It would make consumers feel better to wipe down the surfaces.”
Related stories from Vitals:
- Man's microbes help map 'normal' in humans
- Buggy break rooms: Study reveals office ick
- Half of hospital rooms rife with drug-resistant bugs, study finds
CNBC's Jane Wells reports on a new way Best Western is capitalizing on consumer's need for cleanliness.
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I recall a colleague who was staying at a nice downtown Houston hotel who blew a load of soft runny crap all over the nice sheets, and then stuffed all the bedclothes in a trolley outside the room. I wonder if those bed clothes were laundered and then RE USED..........ewwwwwwwwwwwww.
TMI
I always wipe down all serviceable surfaces with sanitary wipes when I get to my hotel room, and then touch as few things as possible. I also bring spray disinfectants, which is probably overkill, but I want to be sure. I don't travel as much as I would like because I'm really scared of picking up bed bugs. I take a lot of precautions not to pick up the little critters when I do travel, but it's a real pain, and more work that I would like. Most travelers don't seem care about them, and I wish I could feel the same, but the horror stories from those who HAVE picked them up is not something I want to go through.
Thanks for the heads up everyone. I am just about to make reservations in a West Coast City for an overnight stay. Pillows, YES. My own blankie - yes, and I'll take the warm comforter. And wipes. Honestly, I never thought of wipes for light switches, and now I'll never forget them. I'll share one hint too - when leaving a public restroom, take a paper towel with you to open the door - not everyone washes their hands. If there's no paper towel, bring your jacket/sweater/tee shirt over your hand. And of course, TP if needed. Thanks for the heads up.
Ever been to the Binns Motor Inn in Wildwood N.J. I will never stay in a hotel again after that.
@ Toons, nope, never stayed there, but thanks for the warning!
Not surprised by the article at all. Will continue to do what I've always done when traveling. Bring my own pillows, sheets, blankets and towels and thoroughly clean the bathroom upon arriving in my room. Seems excessive to some but I prefer to enjoy my stay rather than worry about what germs the guest before me left behind.
There are germs EVERYWHERE!!! While taking microbiology in college, we went around campus and took swabs of al kinds of commonly used stationary items. There were 2 things that really stood out in the sheer quantity of different kinds of bacteria.... The light switch in a bathroom AND the button for the elevator. By far the elevator button though by far out surpassed everything else.... including the toilet seat, toilet handle, sink and stall doors. If anyone thinks that they can avoid germs.... they are sadly mistaken. The funny part is that for the vast majority of the population, germs are OK. Ironically, if you stay away from germs too much and you will get sick when you do have contact with them.
howie mandel and i share a common bond. we're germaphobes! he carries a black light to check out his hotel bedspread and other places in his room. i'm thinking of doing the same thing. my husband sprays down our room with lysol disinfectant when we first get in the room. i'll have to remind him about the light switches and remote, plus i'll tell him about the bathroom faucets. we use hand sanitizer at all times and we sit on towels, our bare bottoms never touch the bedspreads. i wear a special pair of cheap bedroom slippers that can be thrown out after the trip. it doesn't take too long to do these things and then you can relax and enjoy your stay. oh, if you're staying longer than one night, you might want to let them know you don't need maid service except for clean towels. we always leave a little tip too just in case we come back and they remember us. we don't stay in real cheap places, but around 100-125/night. i also bring my own pillow. yuck, i just get the heebiei-jeebies thinking about all the germs and where people's body parts have been. i think hotels should be forced to at least wipe down the light switches, remote and the sinks with a special disinfectant solution. happy travels everyone!
I am not going thru my life wearing latex gloves all day, every day. I stayed at pension house in the Philippines, hotels there and here all across this nation. Also some non chained motels around too. Wash your hands often is always a good rule anyway and don't lick the light switch or suck on the TV remote and all is well.
I work in the hospitality business,as a manager,and yes we do disinfect the remotes between each guest as well as all knobs and switches,linens,and we also pay attention to wiping all walls and surfaces,with a bed and carpet disinfection/cleaning schedule.Because yes people can have anything!!!,and i wouldnt want to get it on me if I was staying in the room.If I am not willing to sleep in the room I sure as hell dont want anyone else to.
My wife and I travel alot. We bring a can of lysol and our own sheets and pillows. Works fine for us.
Sounds to me as if there are a lot of germophobes out there.
I've stayed in many hotel and motel rooms of varying quality and I never get sick.
And I don't carry a can of Lysol with me everywhere I go, either.
so your immune system fights it off
doesn't mean the rest of us like the idea of stranger's filth on us...even if we don't get sick
come on now
you wash your own bathroom with sanitizer. THey don't between clients testimony is saying. that is gross.
funny. Posts like yours label broadly everyone who has a concern as a germaphobe. There is a happy mean. i work with toddlers and have worked in hosptials. Every bodily fluid imaginable. I am not germaphobe.
I also am a bit of a slob in my own home. But my bathroom is cleaned weekly (I live alone).
if their practices are as some hotel workers on this thread are saying, the room looks clean but is filthy. Six other cum stains on the hotel bedspread in Mike Tyson's rape trial..none his? (and we can guess MT didn' t stay in Motel 6)
Buy a travel trailer and forget the motels. Then you can wallow in your own germs, never sanitize anything, sleep with your own bedbugs and feel perfectly safe!!
sounds good to me, quite frankly
who cares we all going to die one day.
Germs in the room? Does MSNBC have a conscience? Look at the panic they spread with their exagerated reports. But this is typical of the Blue press!
@ John Snot, you prefer no information or "ignorance is bliss" paradigm, is that correct?
Right We won't say anything about the rats & fleas. Wouldn't want anyone to worry about plague.
Your immunizations up to date, John?
I can only imagine that those of you that posted that you have worked at a hotel in the past, either worked at a motel, or it was so long ago that you have no idea what is done by the staff of a hotel in this day and age.
I have been in the industry for the 12 years and with one brand for 10 of those. As one person posted earlier, we do use cleaners that the public can not get. They are purchased from a company called ECOLAB. All bottles are labeled and a machine that is programmed by ECOLAB dispenses the product into the bottles as they need to be refilled. The Housekeeping staff does not work from 8:00am-2:00pm. They get in at 8:00am to get the supplies they need, but they don't leave until 5:00pm or later. All rooms are divided by the status, some clean all rooms that are being checked out and the others take the rooms that are stay over. All rooms are inspected by the Supervisor as well as Mangers are given a random list to check.
Don't look at the sponges in the kitchen...actually I dare you to find one in the hotel. They are not allowed because of the germs that can grow in them. We also are not allowed to use terry cloth towels in the restaurant or kitchen for the same reason. We use lint free towels that are exchanged each week by a linen service. In the Kitchen we have to document the temperatures of all refrigeration units for every shift the kitchen is open. All food, hot and cold that is being served on our breakfast buffet has to have temperatures taken twice during the hours that we are open. If the temperatures are not correct, than it has to be thrown away.
On top of all that, we are inspected twice a year by the brand, 90 and above Green, 80-89 Clear, 79-70 Yellow (Fail-re-test at your expense) 69 and below Red (Fail-re-test at your expense) If you do not pass your inspections than you have a very good chance of having your flag taken away.
So all of your talk of bringing your own blankets and pillows, not walking on the floor, etc really makes me laugh.
Just am additional problem for you lot to think about, in another seed there was a comment about Condoms, so how many here are aware that a condom is a " medical hazard " and why that is so, so if the contents are what makes it a hazard, how much of that content is on any " hotel room " lol
Use drinking glasses at your own risk. They are not cleaned. Comforters: throw them on the floor as they are covered with horrible stuff. Stay in Indian economy US hotels at your own risk; they are nasty and the managers families live there and don't change sheets, towels, etc.
@ Nam Vet: I was staying for three weeks in JAX, where I was assigned teaching of new hires.
I decided to rent a car from National, an Altima, to drive up tp Savannah, to check out that beautiful place.
I travelled the secondary coastal road a good part of the distance, heading north. I got to Savannah tired, looked around a few hours, and decided to try to return to JAX at about dusk. The road back was US 95 South. Near the Florida border, I determined I was too tired to return the entire way back to the Omni in JAX, a sweet hotel there.
I saw a chain motel, pulled into the lot, entered a semi-dark office, and was greeted by our Indian guests and charged something like $35 USD. The room was at the back of the motor court.
The room was dirty, and the bathroom grungy. But, when I moved the pillows out of the way, there was black mold on the cinder block. That too was gross beyond words.
I left early that next morning, but vowed NEVER to stay at a motel owned by Indians........filthy from the get go was my experience with these motel keepers!!
In another "study" I learned that hotel maids per management / owners don't change the towels and using the same used towels the maids wipe clean the glasses and coffee jar then they fold and put back the same used towels on the racks. Other studies have found semen on the unchanged sheets, blankets and bedspreads in addition to pubic hairs. What I do, I spray Lysol through out the room, undo the bed and spray lysol on the bed and pillows, I spread my sleeping bag and sleep over it with my own pillow. I bring my own coffee maker, glasses and cups. I don't even use the little ice bucket for ice. I wipe clean the phone and tv remote as well as the light switches. Don't walk bare footed, use flip flops and trash them after I leave. I also wipe clean the shower tub and toilet seat and bring my own toilet paper. Bring my own bath towels, too. Germaphobic? You bet!!! Don't want to take with me something I didn't bring.
I also learned that those elastic bands that women use to tie up their hair are "Made in China" and they're made out of "used condoms" they used the outer ring then cover them with nylon or material. uuuugggghhhh
Jose', so taking all that into consideration what about all those that have to use public transport, and hence handledoors , buttons , and holding straps, and then they wipe their eyes or mouth? what do YOU think the risks are, and then what about those that walk in a " Public park littered with used Condoms "? Play ball games sports that come into contact with what ever that Condom has/had, so tell me how does a used Condom act as an " Incubator for germs and viri"?
Ok so is this in "5 star hotels" ? Good to see someone of the female race with an education,going into hotels for something other than asking for free condoms from the Gov.
When I have to stay at a Hotel I follow my rules they are simple. Bring lysol spray, spray everything down. If the room upon entering appears dirty or dingy I refuse the room.
Ever since WWII. the Germans have been building to this moment! Sauerkraut is the absolute worst! And (FYI) they do tend to congregate together.
I find it funny, scared of a few germs, but yet most of you people will give oral sex, lol
What does oral sex have to do with filth in hotels? I do not see a connection there.
#51.1 -
LOL Woop some are " uper class " and use a " Hotel room " rather then the local park of " toilet block " !!! lol
LOL EAGLE.....I've been married for decades and forget what its' like..... :)
LOL EAGLE.....I've been married for decades and forget what its' like.....if you do ever make use of a hotel or motel facility.......STAY OFF THE BED COVER........ye gaaaddssssss :)
LOL, thanks for the advice Woops, err i think one can " do the act standing up " :-) LOL
If your hotel room comes with a hide-a-bed and you intend to use it, bring your own bedding! Don't use the extra sheets, pillows and blanket provided, which are usually stashed above the area where you hang your clothes. You have no idea whether the people before you used any of those items (pillows especially), and simply returned them to the shelf afterward. ICK.
You know those articles......what your babysitter won't tell you, what your XXXX won't tell you etc? Well what your housekeeper (hotel/motel maid) won't tell you is:
They are given 20-30 minutes to clean each room. The list of things to be cleaned do include the phone, light switches, pictures, dresser tops etc, but in reality 20-30 minutes is not enough to do it all. You work an 8 hour shift they give you 20-25 rooms; you do the math.
I was a maid in my youth and after actually taking the time to clean and sanitize the room properly I grew tired of hearing I was too slow and needed to clean faster. I was told to only clean what appeared to look dirty. You know that extra bed in your room? If only the pillow was moved, those sheets didn't get changed. Many people make their bed before leaving so often times it doesn't get fully changed. A wet towel gets thrown on the bathroom floor and that is considered mopping. Wipe out the bath tub with a wet towel and poof, clean!
I made my quotas of rooms daily, but at the cost of them not being fully cleaned. You get paid a low wage and have no choice but to take many short cuts. What needs to be done is more maids need to be hired so they have less rooms to clean daily, so you can actually take the 45 minutes it requires to properly clean the room. We know that won't happen.
I haven't stayed in a motel since I worked at one.