Aussie housekeeper won't stay in a 5-star hotel after cleaning one

When splashing the big bucks for a fancy getaway in a 5-star hotel, most of us are expecting a bit of luxury and pampering, maybe a bottle of champagne on arrival.

The idea of basic hygiene and cleanliness would barely cross most peoples minds, that’s a given in any hotel room let alone one that comes with a hefty price tag, right?

As it turns out, we’re very possibly wrong.

A former hotel housekeeper has revealed that the standards of cleanliness in hotels she serviced was so poor, she herself would never stay in a hotel again.

The woman, identified only as ‘Vee’ revealed to the ABC that doonas were rarely changed, hand towels were used to clean toilet bowls, and staff were regularly rushed quickly from room to room before they could do a thorough clean.

“...when you actually go behind the scenes to do the work, you realise that not everything goes as you expect," she said.

She went so far as to warn would-be guests never to trust what appeared to be a clean room, and to bring their own towels.

It’s a dirty secret aired almost nine years after a survey by the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous workers Union discovered seven of Melbourne’s swankiest hotels were so poorly disinfected between use it was dubbed a ‘hygiene crisis’.

And just to make it worse, a Reddit thread from 2017 lifted the lid on people’s grossest habits when they stay in hotels, and they're really quite grim.

“One day a coworker told me she walked into her first room that day and the first thing she saw, neatly arranged on the desk, were 3 dildos, a note saying ‘please wash :)’ and a 20 crown note (about $2). She didn't,” one hotel cleaner revealed.

However another defended the industry, saying, “Where I work we have high, demanding standards.”

“Sheets are changed between guests, always. Floors will be swept and mopped, toilets/bathroom scrubbed clean.

“They use separate rags for each chore in the room, none of this one rag to clean the toilet which then goes on the counter. Anyone tried to pull that at my hotel would probably be fired. Rooms aren't dirty.”

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