I work at a hotel as the laundry person and as a housekeeper for Country Inn and Suites and I will tell you that we wash EVERYTHING....there is no need to worry about sanitation. But if you are still skeptical then bring your own things. If you go to a name brand hotel like holiday inn or radisson or something like that you dont have to worry about sanitation..its the little hotels like super 8 or sleep inn that you have to worry about....hope this answers your question.Are hotel and motel pillows unsanitary?
super8 motels have clean pillows and sheets. i even tried my black light on the sheets and pillows and they came out clean.
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i'd have to agree with your husband. i even go as far as bringing my own sheet to lay over the sheet on the bed and then a blanket from home to cover me up!
I worked in Housekeeping in a hotel in my area, years ago. I was sickened when I saw how unsanitary the bedding was in each room. The pillows are very unsanitary to start with, right down to the bare mattress. I often wondered why the chain couldn't purchase throw away pillow covers to use each time the bedding was changed. The bedspreads in this hotel chain were rarely washed, unless a customer complained. The mattresses were never vacuumed either. I once saw blood on a bedspread, reported it to my supervisor, assuming she'd tell me to go get another bedspread, but was told to wipe it off with cold water %26amp; put it back on the bed. I refused to touch it %26amp; on my own, took the dirty bedspread to laundry, %26amp; grabbed a clean one to put back on that bed. I added this tidbit to the diary I had kept since day one. Upon being told this by my supervisor, I finished out my shift. Upon punching out, I told the boss that I would not be returning to work on my next scheduled work day. I proceded to tell him why, but was told, ';there's the door.'; I also saw a show on ';Dateline'; shortly after quitting my job, about experts who went into hotel/motel rooms %26amp; showed what lurks in the pillows, bedding, etc. They used sophisticated techniques to show the bodily fluids, etc. on the bedding, carpeting, etc. The Dateline crew was sickened. Your husband is smart to travel with his own pillow %26amp; so are you. We always assume that a hotel/motel room is cleaned properly %26amp; sanitized. Wrong! Many of them are cleaned by a staff who probably don't even clean their own homes properly, so why would they clean hotel/motel rooms properly?
My common sense tells me that they can't help but be unsanitary. Just found out today that lemon slices served in various drinks (as well and plain ol water) carries some nasty stuff. The best thing to do is stay inside at home and eat earthworms I guess.
I agree with your husband. We always take our pillows. You never know what is on them and we have allergies so we just play it save. My opinion!!
Yes absolutely they are....and the mattress and blankets and bedspread as well!!......not to mention the glasses in the bathroom!!
I recently watched a program on television about this where a crew went around to several big name hotel/motel chains and it was nothing short of horrific some of the things they discovered by setting up cameras in the rooms to film how housekeeping carried out their duties. They also used swabs and microscopes to check linens. Some of the things included....
*dried semen/urine/blood and hair in bedding
*bathroom glasses had been wiped, not replaced, with the same rag that had been used to dust and scour the bathroom and put back into a sanitation bag.
*dried saliva in pillows
*bed mites in mattresses that had no protective cover
*blankets and bedspreads are reused time and time again and not laundered between patrons.
One assumes if you select a 4 or 5 star accommodation that everything will be top notch.
I think it was 60 Minutes, Fifth Estate or 20/20 that covered this but if you can find it on their websites under past programs, it's certainly an eye opener and worth the read!
I worked for a couple hotels and can tell you they are disgusting. That is why they should have a pillow protector on under the pillow case. They do not get washed nearly as often as needed. Same with the blankets and spreads, quarterly unless someone spills or otherwise messes them up. I never sit on the spread and take it off and always bring my own pillow.
Have you watched the specials on the sanitary of hotels YUCK!! I bring my own pillow and blankets...
Your husband's concerns about hotel sanitation are valid, especially when a number hotels have had troubles with bed bugs. Another issue is the cleaning of glassware. A video clip from a TV show shows the results of hidden cameras that filmed maids cleaning the rooms. The glasses were not washed properly in many cases, but were sprayed with a window cleaning solution (instead of being replaced with glasses that were fresh from the dishwasher), and there are other issues.
So, with unsanitary drinking glasses and bed bug concerns, perhaps it is time to think about the pillows, too. I am attaching a link to the video clip about the issue of glass cleaner being used for the glasses in some hotels.
We take our pillows too. I have to have my feather pillow anyway.
You can check with hotel; usually good brand hotels are very particular about hygine.
Yep, I do too after this little episode we experienced years ago. I brought my own pillows to a hotel we stayed in overnight, but accidentally left them in the room. We were hours away when I discovered my mistake, so I called the hotel and told them what happened. The person I spoke to said that we could stop back by and pick them up on our way home, which we did. This was 4 days later, and our pillows were NOT in the laundry department as we were told they would be - they were still in the ROOM ON THE BED! I told them they could keep the pillows!
Bring your own pillows and pillowcases!
Pillows might be better than the bed spreads. Definitely pull the spread off the bed prior to use. All kinds of stuff gets on the spreads- that is the reason they use stain hiding patterns...
I saw dateline also and it is true how much body fluids get flung about the room.
And bring a ziplock type bag for the TV remote. quite possibly the nastiest part of the room.
Best bet is to assume the worst. I don't travel much, but my parents travel with their own pillows and sheets. The housekeepers are probably underpaid and they don't have to sleep on it so they don't care as much as you do.
I would assume the hotel/motel changes the pillowcase so I wouldn't be too concerned about it. I like my own pillow from home though simply because it is so comfortable and the only way I can sleep so I bring mine with me too.
I bet they are, I try not to think about it, I know they say the bed spread is really bad, we usually take that off, pretty soon we will have to take our whole house just to travel
we stay in hotels in tahoe reno vegas all the time We never gotten sick.Now Iam paranoid
I have always taken our pillows from home.
I don't think so, i know that they scrub them down with cleaning products.
i work for four top hotels and i can tell you....pillows are nasty. we dont even launder them when a maid takes them off the bed...we throw them away and put new ones on. one of the hotels takes the shower curtains and blankets off the bed to be sent to laundry every time a guest checks out.
You've given me something else to worry about.
You know I've been thinking about this too and it is plain nasty. Sinking your sleepy head into who knows what. I am a big checker of the sheets before bed. And I don't hesitate to call down for a change if I am suspect. And I am not a neat freak.
If we are traveling and it is possible to take our own pillows we always do! If not I cover them with towels... hey, you never know where that pillow was last! Sorry Dear!
Hugs, Scoot
They are not sanitized between guests so the germs are alive and lurking. But these same type of germs are on theater seats, bus seats, in your friends couches etc. I have less concern about the pillow than I do about the blanket and bed spread which are not changed between guests. I always wonder what the person before me did on top of them. If it let it gross me out too much I would never travel so I just chalk it up to the price to pay for not being in my own home. Perhaps I should just put my camping sleeping bag in my suitcase and zip up when I go to bed
Something I prefer not to think about, but I will inspect the bed before I get into it! That is one of the reasons we are going to buy a travel trailer this summer, I never want to have to spend the night in one of those places again!
I never really thought about the possibility of someones drool on the pillow, because I never go anywhere without my own pillow.
I cannot have a good nights sleep without my own.I've been doing that for as long as I have been traveling.
It is not a germ or drool thing,Yech, but strictly comfort.
Yes indeed. I knew a lady who worked in housekeeping at a hotel. She said when ever she travels, and has to say in a hotel she always takes her own pillow and other stuff.
LORD, NO!!!!
DROOL would be
the very LEAST
of your worries!!!
That would depend on the hotel. After being slept on, any pillow is ';unsanitary.'; Changing the pillow cases helps, but in a motel, the pillow itself should be sanitized for good measure.
We run our pillows at home thru the dryer weekly to kill dust mites.
working with the red cross, i say yes they are,but bring your own pillow case, it would be smaller to pack.
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