We landed early in the morning in New York, having spent over 18 hours getting the boss back from Hong Kong.  I was wrecked.  I had already checked in my hotel the night before by calling since I was arriving early at 8 o’clock the next morning.  Usually hotels will only let you check in after say 2 p.m. when the rooms have been cleaned.  Meanwhile, I was in some kind of daze being so tired from traveling halfway across the planet.  I got to my room and threw the bed sheets back only to find an almost perfect outline of a man with human hair!  Clearly the housekeepers did not clean the bed and instead, put the sheets back together to give the appearance the bed was clean.  Has this ever happened to you before? 

Home Away From Home

When you go into a hotel room you want that room to give the appearance that you are the first person that’s stayed there.  A hotel room becomes your sanctuary when traveling.  It’s home.  It’s the safe zone from the world.  I treat my hotel rooms like an apartment and I have moved in to set up life.  Part of what keeps your moral high while traveling is taking a bit of home with you.  This is why packing and preparing is so vital in your travel planning.  Part of your travel kit should always include hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes.  When you enter your new palace of a room to find hair from the previous guest, it’s disgusting and almost difficult to impossible getting comfortable after that.  It’s like finding a hair stuck to the wall of your shower after a guest stayed at your house for few days.  You end up just staring at it!  I also highly recommend packing some flip flops that can serve as two purposes.  One, you can wear them in the summer time of course, but two, if the room has wood floors you just don’t know how clean they are.  Thus, you can use your flip flops as slippers.  Plus, they are easy to pack!

Room Inspection Checklist

My recommendation when you get to your hotel room is inspect it thoroughly before moving in.  If the hotel isn’t booked to capacity, anything wrong with the room should be reported and the hotel staff who will normally be very happy to relocate you.  Here is my checklist I use each time I enter a room – feel free to use it and build on it:

1. Pull the sheets back and inspect the bed for signs of hair. Keep in mind that when housekeepers are making your bed, sometimes their hair gets on the sheets. 
2. Lift the fitted sheet and inspect the mattress for bed bugs, mold, or any other signs of a health concern to you. 
3. Any decorative pillows or throw blankets get rid of and place on the floor.  Chances are high they aren’t clean and don’t get washed.  
4. Take the ice bag usually found in the ice bucket and wrap your TV remote with it.  Those remotes are some of the dirtiest items in a hotel room.  If you don’t have a bag, use a disinfectant wipe to clean. 
5. Clean the phone(s) with a disinfectant wipe.
6. In the bathroom, lift the toilet seat to inspect for signs of use. 
7. Look in the bathtub or shower for hair and dirt. 
8. If you feel you have to use the glasses in the room for water or drinks, be sure to wash those yourself.  I’ve seen housekeepers use toilet cleaner and a shower rag to wipe those clean. 

This list should get you started.  Hotels should be an enjoyable experience and also feel like a part of home to you at the same time.  Make the hotel staff work for you as part of a team and you will maximize your time there.  Stay safe out there everyone!