If you head out of town during peak travel season, the odds of you running into an overly filthy hotel room go up. With turnover high and capacity spilling over, stained sheets and bug infestations aren’t uncommon.
But even reputable hotels can harbor some truly unsettling bacterial guests. Online trip calculator TravelMath.com recently conducted a study of guest room contamination, dispatching the EmLab P&K laboratory to swab several different surfaces in nine different hotels. Grime was measured in colony-forming units (CFUs) per square inch, looking for bacteria that can cause respiratory problems, gastrointestinal distress, or skin reactions.
The result? In some cases, a so-called “five star” hotel may not necessarily be any cleaner than your budget accommodations.
The next time you’re traveling, you may want to try and avoid some of these germ-ridden hot spots. (Disclaimer: Hypochondriacs probably shouldn’t read any further.)
January 5, 2017 – 2:30pm