Avoiding Dirty Hotel Rooms

Peter Greenberg has some tips on avoiding bacteria and making sure your room is properly cleaned.

    Q: What’s the most surprising hotel secret you’ve learned?


    A: The high level of bacteria on the TV remote control unit. I advise taking anti-bacterial wipes for the remote, the phone and the clock radio.

    Q: So how clean is the average hotel room?


    A: I assume the worst and take a proactive role. First, I take the bedspread off. Most hotels clean them at most three times a year.


    If you stay in a hotel that claims to change the sheets daily, pull back the top sheet and blanket and put a match on top of the bottom sheet near the foot of the bed. If the match is still there when you come back, they didn’t change the sheets.


    You take another match and put it under the bed (near the edge). If the match stays there, they didn’t thoroughly vacuum and you can ask them to do it over.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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