A plush, comfortable bed, fancy toiletries, maid and room service at hotels enhance the home-away-from-home experience and all too often the song of the hotel room lulls us into thinking we are in an environment where we can act the way we do at home.
Not so fast, though. A hotel room is just a rented space. While you can expect it to be reasonably clean and safe, it is advisable to be wise in a few areas. Here are the top 7 things you should never do in a hotel room.
7. Don’t snuggle up too closely to that decorative bedspread. They aren’t washed very often.
6. Resist the urge to rustle around in the weighted mini-bar unless you plan on taking something out. The nifty little electronic system in many means that you may get charged for items even if you don’t drink/eat them.
5. Don’t use the TV remote, or slip it into a small ziploc bag before pressing the buttons. It is often reported as being the dirtiest item in the entire room.
4. Think twice about balancing precariously on the 14th floor ledge railing while snapping a selfie including the ocean in the background, or while leaning against a window. Be wary of windows and balconies. There could be a loose railing or ill-fitted pane, and you don’t want to suddenly crash through the glass or find yourself groping desperately at the corner of a ledge.
3. Don’t smuggle your two huge bull mastiffs in without notifying the hotel. Many hotels that are pet friendly allow just one pet with a maximum weight. At a minimum, you’ll get hit with cleaning fees. Even if you have gotten approval to have a pet, if you leave your room and no one knows you have a pet in there, housekeeping may open the door and surprise your Terrier Tonkabonk so much they run out of the room in fear (or excitement). Make sure to schedule housekeeping too, since many housekeepers won’t come in when you have a pet in the room.
2. This one is common sense – don’t announce your room number out loud, and if someone knocks on your door make sure they have ID before you let them in the room. Safety aside, shouting “drinks are on me dude, I’m in room 932” to a friend while walking through the lobby is a way of opening yourself up to a whole lot of unwanted charges, not to mention a couple of hopeful partygoers.
And the number one thing that you should never do in a hotel room –
1. Drink from the water glasses.
I was staying at a Park Hyatt recently. After an exquisite brunch, I ran back to the room to pick up a sweater before heading out of the hotel. Entering the room, I saw that housekeeping was hard at work. I let them know I just wanted to grab a sweater from the closet, and would be on my way. Passing by the bathroom, I saw they had both sink faucets on full force. I watched as they proceeded to take a glass, run it quickly under the tap water, and set it on a towel. Maybe there was more to the cleaning process, maybe not. I don’t drink from the glasses.
If you need more convincing, watch this video –
https://youtu.be/kLssaWxipN8
Can you think of another no-no you shouldn’t do in a hotel room?
Glasses are replaced between guests with fresh ones from the kitchen dishwashers. Many hotels change used ones daily. Ever see a maid cart in the hall in a hotel that uses real glasses? They’ve always got a fresh stock of them.
Honestly, I know some people are more germophobic than others, but millions of hotel guests use glasses and remote controls every night and don’t get sick. We touch things that are just as dirty all day long and don’t die. That’s why we have immune systems. And, nobody ever freaks out about the remote control in their own house being dirty, yet, it’s probably just as dirty as the one in a hotel room.