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Your hotel remote may be covered in semen and urine
Who here doesn't love investigative reports on TV? Twin Cities ABC5 visited several local hotels armed with swabs and a blacklight. Their results? Semen and urine on the remote control, and a host of other nastiness that lit up when hit with the blacklight.
Seriously, this is pretty disgusting, but the results are hardly surprising. For starters, there are still too many people who don't wash their hands after a bathroom visit. And secondly; those porn movies provided in the room are big business, and it takes a remote to order one. You do the math.
If you are now too scared to handle the remote, carry some disinfectant wipes or spray and clean the remote before using it. While on the topic of disgusting hotels, why not check out our own investigation into the "dirtiest hotel in the United States".
Gallery: Hotel Carter
Filed under: North America, Hotels and Accommodations, Video, News
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
thiefhunter May 14th 2009 5:52PM
Who wants to clean a hotel remote? Who wants to touch it at all? If you don't want to touch it, the hotel conveniently provides protection: the showercap.
I travel a LOT. http://bobarno.com/thiefhunters/2008/07/my-travel-stats/
Chris May 15th 2009 8:57AM
Okay, seriously, I'm getting really tired of the obsession with germs and cleanliness in this country! I wash my hands after trips to the bathroom, but I never sterilize anything in my room, I don't handle things with protective layers between me and the object, and I even drink tap water out of the glasses they provide!
And I honestly can't remember the last time I was sick. You know why? Because my body has experienced all these germs and bugs and built up a tolerance. I don't live in fear of getting sick, because touching a remote in a hotel room doesn't MAKE me sick. As far as being worried that it might have some traces of semen or urine on it? What is semen? Human cells. What is one of the major components of common dust? That's right, human cells. If I'm going to get hung up on the possibility that there might be a few dead human cells on the remote, then I might as well wear a dust mask and wash my hands every thirty seconds to get the nasty, nasty dead human cells off of me!
Chill out people, we're all made out of the same stuff, and our bodies were designed (or evolved, depending on your preference) to handle the little baddies out there that collect on remotes and keyboards and toilet seats. The really bad stuff (like MRSA) is a direct RESULT of our hypersensitivity to germs and cleanliness!
Gary May 15th 2009 6:34PM
You hit the nail right on the head. I couldn't have said it better myself. I have been travelling for 32 years and I almost never get sick. People in this country are overly paranoid about germs. Man has survived thus far because we have a natural immunity. If you can't handle a few germs, then maybe you weren't meant to survive and reproduce.
Thanks..
bill May 15th 2009 7:25PM
hey dummy, what is the big deal about semen? It contains blood, which is just a LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT than a little cold or flu germ.
Tina May 15th 2009 10:18PM
omg are you kidding!! I am not worrying about germs I just don't want to touch someone's semen if you don't mind this is gross
Shawn May 15th 2009 10:02AM
I agree with Chris. I wash my hands after using the bathroom and am a pretty clean guy, but I take no disinfecting steps. I also never get sick, ever. There is definitely a point where you're undermining your bodies natural defense systems that are designed to use sample exposure.
For me these kind of articles make me cringe just because it is pretty gross to think about. It seems that these days a hotel chain could get an edge by advertising that they hyper-clean their rooms. I bet lots of folks would pick their hotels when given the choice.
Oh, or maybe hotels could add a 97th sign to the room that says, "Masturbators, please pick a channel and leave it there. And wash your hands after you're done, you cheeky monkey!"
Emland May 15th 2009 11:13AM
Now I don't feel so bad that my husband always snags the remote before I can when we are traveling. Maybe I should tell him about this article. Maybe not.
Jen May 15th 2009 2:28PM
Every spek. of this earth is filled with germs.. No matter where you go there will be germs..As far as hotels are concerned one must know that is one of the most germed filled places you can go...I worked in a hotel and I can tell you that the bedspreads on each and every bed are washed once every three or more months...The extra blankets are the same way..
Scott Carmichael May 15th 2009 2:33PM
Germs I can deal with - we all have a natural immunity against most of the stuff out there. I'm not going to wipe down the remote to remove germs - I'm wiping it down to remove semen and urine.
Jen May 15th 2009 2:43PM
Every spek. of this earth is filled with germs.. No matter where you go there will be germs..As far as hotels are concerned one must know that is one of the most germed filled places you can go...I worked in a hotel and I can tell you that the bedspreads on each and every bed are washed once every three or more months...The extra blankets are the same way...Now just think about how much urine and semen is on those bedspreads and blankets that have not been washed in that long period of time...oh and lets not forget the walls and carpet...The chairs or couch in the room..The clothes racks in the closet..The curtains....The list is way long.... The next time any of you go to a hotel take a black light with ya...You will be shocked and grossed out by what you see......
Jack May 15th 2009 2:48PM
So THAT'S why my TV remote keypad kept sticking..... Wow, now I get it.
alice May 15th 2009 3:42PM
They recently shut down a motel here near Baltimore who was infested with bed bugs. They allow any type of people to rent rooms nowadays which is why my husband and I always get an exclusive hotel even though it cost much more.
Chris May 15th 2009 5:15PM
When traveling the first thing I do when I get off the plane is:
Go to store and buy huge can of Lysol, Paper Towels, Cups, Toothpaste, Shampoo (stupid ass airline rules....).
THen when I go to my hotel I put a pair of disposable rubber gloves I bring with me and I spray everything, and I mean EVERYTHING in the hotel room.
The air conditioning vents, lightswitches, phones, toilet, shower, sink, tv remote, everything. I wait 10 min for the Lysol to do its job. I then wipe everything with the gloves on, and when I am done, I throw the gloves away.
Sorry, but I don't want some strangers skank on me.
bill May 15th 2009 7:24PM
I do the same thing and have my children to do so. My oldest son is away at college and you can bet we cleaned his room REAL well before he moved in.
Sylvia May 15th 2009 11:13PM
I agree with Chris, am the same way............I drive my boyfriend Insane, oh well.
By the way I wash my hands 20 times a day and have not been sick in 7 years.
Kathleen Marion May 15th 2009 6:13PM
Gross! Some people are just pigs!
David May 15th 2009 7:10PM
It wouldn't be the first time and definately not the last time my hands touched sperm.
You can't be totally germ free ! And most STD's can't live long outside the body....some can but most can't, including AIDS !
seemelreed May 15th 2009 7:46PM
I am not sure this is simply insensitivity on the part of the employee. As a one-time instructor. I view this as a serious lack of management training from the executive level at the home office all the way to each manager in the hotel.
Debbie May 15th 2009 8:31PM
Uh, Bill, if your semen has BLOOD in it, you need to see a urologist. That's not normal.
GLM May 15th 2009 8:43PM
I agree with Chris - this report is fear-mongering at it's best. It's a reporter just trying to capture headlines and ratings. The old if it bleeds - it leads.
We live in a germ filled world. It's a fact.
I just wonder if we went to that reporter's house and did the exact same tests what we would find.....