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Confessions of a hotel maid - read if you dare!
I'm pretty sure I won't have to tell any of you just how unsanitary many hotel rooms are. We've all heard about the exposés on TV where someone would shine a CSI style ultraviolet lamp around the bed, lighting up the kind of stains you really wish you had not known about.
MSNBC has posted an article from a former hotel housekeeping staff member - and the story may make you think twice about drinking out of the bathroom cup.
For starters, after several weeks on the job, she decided that using the vacuum was just too much work, and simply picked the worst of the crumbs off the floor by hand.
Once she learned the in's and out's of how the room inspector worked, she even stopped cleaning sinks and simply wiped them dry to make them appear clean. Sometimes she was not in a "scrub the tub" kind of mood, and simply did a quick spray and wipe.
Thankfully she informs us that she never skipped changing the sheets - apparently even a hotel maid has her limits as to how low she will go.
Of course, things are not just bad for the guests. The housekeeper describes an incident where someone had soiled their bed linens so badly that all the sheets had to be disposed of in a biohazard bag. Sleep well!
I wonder if the housekeeping is more attentive in any of these ultra-weird hotels:
Filed under: Hotels and Accommodations
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 9)
Sandi Jan 23rd 2009 10:03PM
I NEVER go barefooted in hotels....EVER. I get that some maids aren't in a, "scrub the tub" mood but DANG, at least clean the "curls" off of the floor! Our last, middle of the night stop, landed us at what looked relatively clean hotel. HA! Looks were definately decieving....one of the box springs looked as if someone had been murdered on it. Didn't want to get close enough to really find out what the heck that large reddish brown stain that was dripped all over the side of the box spring. Needless to say, I didn't sleep that night. The manager kept saying, "I sorry, I no understand".
Stephanie Jan 24th 2009 2:06AM
OMG. I cannot relate to you more! I went to this hotel in Wildwood, NJ about 10 years ago. It looked like crap but I was young and didn't have a lot of money. So my friends and I got a room there. When I got to the room, I picked up the telephone to use it and the whole underneath and inside of the phone fell out. Then the beds were absolutely horrible. Two of my friends slept on the one bed, one slept on the floor and I slept on the other bed. My two friends that were in the bed woke up the next day with red bites all over their necks. I don't know if that was bed bugs or what. I pulled the sheets off in my sleep. The freakin mattress was exposed and there was a HUGE blood stain on it. I wanted to vomit. There was a pool outside and it basically looked like the one in Revenge of the Nerds 2. And in the shower, there was someone's gold hoop earring laying on the floor. It was disgusting. I can't believe to this day that I actually stayed in there like a dumbass.
Jersey Girl Jan 24th 2009 10:45AM
Years ago I remember staying in a hotel in Lynchburg, VA (can't remember the chain) but I ended up having head lice a week later!!!!!!!!!!!!! TOTALLY DISGUSTING! I don't understand how the health inspectors don't shut hotels down like they do nasty restaurants??!! This is a total disregard for the public's health! I always assumed, at minimum, the sheets were changed. That is just plain disgusting.
Rozanne Jan 23rd 2009 10:15PM
I remember once when I was a teenager my family had traveled to Toronto. We were staying in a very exclusive hotel on the Concierge Level no less. After inspecting the bed before sleeping in it, we found pornographic magazines and a single thigh high ladies stocking. It was found stuffed between the mattresses. My family never complained to hotel management because we just thought it was hilarious and everything else really did seem to be clean.
peggy Jan 23rd 2009 10:27PM
My husband and I stayed at a very nice hotel overlooking Central Park. We walked in the very spacious room and immediately threw open the drapes to get a wonderful glance of Central Park. After the Bellboy left, it was then that i noticed a HUGE puddle of recent blood on the floor. Gross me out. I don't know but it look like someone stood there and hemmoraged. I layed a few towels down over it so I didn't have to look at or step on it as it was right near the bed. Luckily, the housekeeper cleaned it up but not until the next day as we arrived late in the evening. I did write to the Hotel owner and they did offer another day free but I haven't taken them up on it. Don't these people inspect these room before they sell them off??? Don't think I'll ever go back to that place again.
RITA Jan 23rd 2009 10:32PM
IT IS A SAD THING WHEN HOUSEKEEPERS DONT DO THERE JOB AS THEY SHOULD. BUT AS A HOUSEKEEPER MYSELF IT IS NOT ALWAYS THE HOUSEKEEPERS FAULT A ROOM IS NOT CLEANED RIGHT. SOMETIMES YOU GET MANAGEMENT THAT JUST DONT CARE AND ARE LAZY AND DONT GIVE PROPER CLEANING SUPPLIES. AS A SIMILAR INSTANCE HAS HAPPENED TO ME. BUT I DIDNT EVEN HAVE GLOVES TO CLEAN IT UP RIGHT AND NO ONE CAME IN TO DEEP CLEAN THE ROOM. SICK. EVERYONE JUST STAY HOME!!
Nash Jan 23rd 2009 10:34PM
There was a 20/20 or Dateline episode years ago that documented how dirty our surroundings are. I remember they tested the gas pump's and found feces on them. Think about how often we pump gas and hold that pump. Then unconsiously rubbing our face, eatting chips, or holding our kids. Im getting sick just thinking about it.
cindy Jan 23rd 2009 10:35PM
when we go we take cleaners.and i wash the cups my self. we were at one an the toilet had blood on the side of it. i watched on dateline how they clean them. every since them i clean my own.
betty Jan 23rd 2009 10:38PM
I think every companies that own something that they need to sell to the public better start cleaning up their act or they will go out of business ,people are tried of paying for something they aren,t getting and word
can spread fast now ,threw cellphones and the internet
on don,t buy from this place or go to a place ,who would want to stay in a nasty place and paid for it,then
go home and have to see your doctor and pay him.
thanks for the heads up. we people need to report
these places to make them CLEAN UP THEIR ACT
Christina Jan 23rd 2009 10:41PM
Well, I used to be a maid in a hotel room and I have come across some really nasty stuff. There was one day where law enforcement was watching this wanted individual, once they took they person in, we went into the room and OMG, he had thrown his food all over the walls, spit was everywhere and things were busted up. Then there was the day I came into work and went to start and was stopped due to the fact that a guest had pasted away in one of my rooms, the smell of death lingered in that room for days! We even had an episode where another wanted person there and S.W.A.T was all over the building, we had to be locked into the room we were in at the time they arrived and were not allowed to go anywhere until they were apprehended! So, when I stay at a hotel I check everything out before I use it, bed, bathroom and all! There was even a time, (at another hotel) one of my co-worker went into cleaning a guests room and found camera equipment set up, and found out the individual was making child porn in the room, none the less, the cops were called!
JOHN O'LEARY Jan 24th 2009 1:57PM
Christina,
I would love to hear your best stories of walking in on pleople who were "in flagrenete delecto" (aka having sex!)
John
hep c Jan 23rd 2009 10:48PM
Holiday inn express you get what you pay for, in another words people don't work for free and to be treated like dogs
Christina Jan 23rd 2009 10:51PM
Oh yeah, I don't really think it's the maids that don't want to do the work, they are timed on the room, when I did it, I was only allowed 15 minutes in a room! I kept getting in trouble for taking too long, I guess I was too picky and that's why I don't do that line of work any more, I got tired of "cutting corners"
Angie Jan 23rd 2009 10:52PM
After working in 2 hotel chanes in less than a month I quit. One day I found blood on the bed spread, called my mamager to ask if I was to put it in the same chute as the sheets being that they were only cleaned once a month. She asked if the all porpose got it out? I said WHAT. Minites later she came in sprayed it and wipe it out/off. That was my last day. I always take cleaning supplies and my own bed clothes. Always.
sacmom3 Jan 23rd 2009 10:57PM
Whenever I travel, I always take a can of Lysol spray. I spray EVERYTHING. I also usually carry hand sanitizer in my purse and have even used it to clean my silverware and salt and pepper shakers after once watching a toddler use the salt and pepper shakers as a pacifier while her parents calmy ate their meal, never telling her to stop. I know being a hotel maid must be a dirty job, but take pride in it, if not don't do it.
mel Jan 23rd 2009 11:00PM
It doesnt matter how much you make an hour, you are hired to do a job and you should do it to the best of your ability. I was a hotel maid at one time and yes, it sucks, really really sucks, and yes, they should be paid more than minimum wage. But not making enough per hour is NO excuse for not doing a good job.
Kimberly Jan 23rd 2009 11:28PM
It's pretty disgusting. We spent the night at a "favorite" hotel and I found a lot of blood around the sink in the bathroom, on the faucet and counter, etc, and you just know that they didn't even bother to wipe before the next guest. You better believe I let the desk and regional office know about it, giving my whole lesson about blood-borne pathogens, diseases, etc. I'm a doctor so of course they got scared and apologetic!
I try to remember to always wipe off the remote, door handles, and we NEVER use the glasses in the rooms. I've seen too much and have heard too many reports on Datelline, 20/20, etc.! You don't know what has happened or NOT happened in that room before you get there...........
Hester Jan 23rd 2009 11:44PM
I worked at one hotel and one of the housekeepers called me to a room and between the mattress and box springs were syringes with needles. The guest that had been staying there for nearly a month worked for a moving company. From the guest card I got his address and I mailed him his stuff back to him. Needless to say his wife got to the mail first. She called me and told me that her husband did not do drugs and I told her then it must have been the young lady that was staying in the room with him. Either way they were not there before he stayed there. She proceded to cuss me out and I hung up on her. Not only did my head housekeeper inspected rooms but so would I and they never knew which ones were going to be inspected. I would not put up with dirt and filth. Even the window tracks would be cleaned. Mattresses were turned and flipped regularly. We would even keep cards on people that if they did anything wrong to our rooms their name would be added to the box and also comments on the card and on our computer system. They would be allowed to stay there any longer.
Ann Jan 23rd 2009 11:28PM
I work for a Holiday Inn Express, We strive to have the rooms clean. Sheets are changed everyday. If we even suspect that a housekeeper is not changing the sheets, we count the sheets that she drops, and then she's fired. But some guests that stay are really very nasty and distroy the rooms. We had one guy in a room ordered 200.00 worth of porn and what he put all over the furniture,walls,bed,chairs and tv. Was totally discussting. The room was taken off the market for 5 days to be cleaned. He checked out and then wanted another room, I don't think so. The houskeepers that helped clean that room only get min. wage. What kind of crap is that. A houskeepers job is a hard one. They should be paid more.
Lisa Jan 23rd 2009 11:29PM
If I'm at a hotel for an extended stay I'll tip the maid and leave a few bucks under the pillow each day. That way, when you return to your room you won't get all the towels that "accidently" fell on the floor or were used to clean the bathroom before they were hung up for you to clean your face with.