Water cups are actually the dirtiest thing in a hotel room — 5 secrets about "housekeeping and hotel cleaning" you didn't know

By Rita

When traveling abroad, no matter how messy your hotel room gets, it always magically returns to a clean and tidy state by the time you return in the evening — all thanks to the unsung heroes behind the scenes: housekeeping staff. US media outlet US Todayreportsand reveals some insider truths about the hospitality industry, while also informing the public that they hold many misconceptions about housekeepers.

▲ Being a housekeeper is not as easy as people think (Photo /http://www.nyhc.com/homemaker)

Here are 5 common misconceptions people have about housekeeping staff

1. You don’t need to tip housekeepers
Many people assume you don’t need to tip housekeeping staff, but that’s actually wrong. Especially when traveling in Europe or America, tipping is a must, as they rely on tips for their income. According to recommendations from the American Hotel & Lodging Association, you can base the amount of the tip on the level of service provided by the hotel, typically around $1–$5 per night.

“We suggest that guests staying multiple nights give a small tip each day rather than handing over one large tip on the last day,” said veteran hotel worker Jacob Tomsky. “Housekeepers aren’t assigned to clean the same room every day, so the tip you leave might be taken by whoever is on duty that day.”

2. “Green hotels” make housekeepers’ jobs easier
Green hotels advocate practices like reducing linen and towel changes, limiting single-use toiletries, and recycling. But this report points out that although these initiatives support environmental conservation, they actually increase the workload for housekeepers, because “rooms that go several days without cleaning end up being even dirtier.”

Each housekeeper has a fixed daily workload, which means they are expected to clean each room within “half an hour” or else face penalties. With green hotel policies making rooms dirtier, housekeepers are forced to use stronger cleaning agents, unknowingly exposing themselves to more chemicals.

3. Housekeeping may not be glamorous, but at least it’s not dangerous
Many assume cleaning rooms is a simple task, but besides handling 10–14 rooms a day, many housekeepers suffer from muscle pain. Why? Many hotels promote “luxury beds,” and just changing the sheets requires lifting a mattress weighing 45 kilograms. As for the bathroom, most are cleaned while kneeling on cold tile floors.

Tomsky pointed out that cleaning toilets exposes housekeepers directly to bodily fluids left by guests. If those fluids are pathogenic, the risk is significant. In addition, cases of female housekeepers being sexually harassed are unfortunately common.

4. Bedbugs have been completely eradicated
Don’t assume bedbugs are a thing of the past in the 21st century. In fact, it’s an ongoing issue, and all housekeepers are trained to deal with them. Bedbugs nibble on sheets, and the most effective way to eliminate them is to spread out the sheets during the day and remove them by hand.

5. The TV remote is the dirtiest item in the room
“If you’re worried about the remote being dirty, ‘just wrap it in a shower cap before using it,’ ” Tomsky suggests. But there’s another item that might actually be the dirtiest in the room — and that’s the “water cup.”

You’ll find that housekeepers’ cleaning carts don’t include special “stain remover” cleaning agents for glassware. Often, they rinse them in the sink with hot water and shampoo, or even use furniture polish to make them look shiny — because no guest wants to see water stains on a glass upon check-in.