IF you’re paying hundreds of dollars a night to stay at a top-tier international five-star hotel, you’d expect it to be clean – but it turns out that’s not always the case.
A damning investigation by an independent Chinese test team, Lanmei Test, claimed that some leading hotel chains have pretty questionable hygiene standards.
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The group tested the Intercontinental, Hilton, Shangri-La, JW Marriott hotels and its subsidiary W Hotels in Beijing.
He released a six-minute video of his results, with English subtitles, showing the worrying conditions.
The team recorded the check-in in hotel rooms and stamped the sheets, duvet covers, pillows, tubs, toilets and glasses with a fluorescent stamp invisible under normal lighting.
In the video, they show how easily the tampon can be removed with just water or a wipe down.
They then mess up the room to make it look like it’s been used, and then leave the room.
The next day, the crew filmed themselves returning with a UV lamp to examine the stamps, which they said were intact on almost everything in the room.
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The video primarily shows the review of the Hilton’s room, but the team alleges the results for the five hotels were shocking.
An investigator said: “We are stunned by their performance. The bed linen at these five hotels was not changed after we left. “
The bathrooms at the five hotels also failed the test, the report said, with poorly cleaned tubs and toilets.
It is not known when the video was shot, but according to Quartz, Lanmei said the investigation followed another briefing in September of last year.
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In that investigation, reporters from Inside Edition, a US-based outlet, found that nine hotel rooms in New York City had not changed their sheets using the same technique.
A spokesperson for InterContinental Beijing Sanlitu told Sun Online, “Ensuring the highest standards of hygiene and cleanliness are extremely important to us. Our hotel must adhere to and operate according to clear standards that are set and regular trainings, audits and inspections are carried out to ensure they are met.
“We do not believe that what has been shown in this video properly reflects the standard of our cleaning procedures and we are working with the organization to understand the details of their investigation.”
A spokesperson for JW Marriott said, “We are conducting a detailed internal investigation to verify comments and have taken immediate action across China by requiring all housekeeping associates in all of our hotels follow a refresher training in the classroom cleaning procedures.
“And until further notice, the housekeeping department will check each room daily to ensure that it has been cleaned up in accordance with our standards. “
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A spokesperson for Hilton said: “While there are still questions regarding the accuracy of the report, we take the matter very seriously and are conducting a detailed investigation to verify its contents.
“At Hilton, we have rigorous health and hygiene standards, with specific and thorough practices in place. We will continue to review these practices to ensure they meet our own high standards and relevant government regulations.
Shangri-La told Quartz that the video does not reflect the hotel’s “high standards”, but that it will conduct its own investigation.
Sun Online has contacted all of the hotels mentioned in the survey.
This story originally appeared on news.com.au.
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