Do you feel comfortable sleeping on filthy hotel beds?

[Austina]

I don’t stay in filthy hotels, and even if they haven’t been as clean as I thought they were, in over 40 years of travelling all over the world, I haven’t caught anything.

 

[jordyonbass]

I stay in motels about once every two weeks for my land surveying job, by the time I've pumped out all the work and done all my jobs for the day I've worked around 12-14 hours.

Whether I want to fall asleep in a dirty motel bed or not is irrelevant by that point. I'm usually passed out and snoring my head off 30 mins after dinner

 

[Dancing Fire]

DF- just spring for the non-filthy hotels. Problem solved.

Just don't flash a UV light on the bed mattress.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

The question is nonsense, but I'll provide an answer anyway. I have travelled a lot of the world and worked in health care all my life. Never caught anything. Ever. But I wash my hands (and door knobs) routinely where ever I go. And so check mattresses and be aware. And perhaps, foolishly, I trust others will also.

cheers--Sharon

 

[Rubymal]

This is why I don't stay in motels. Yes, some hotels can be just as bad, but I just don't risk it at all with motels. I went on a trip with a friend once and I booked our accommodations for half the trip and she booked for the other half (which was only a couple days). She told me she got a fantastic deal on a great hotel near many restaurants and attractions and it sounded great. We showed up and it was definitely a super dingy motel. It felt gross just even walking into the room. The AC was broken, the water was broken, we kept on shoes on in the room and felt that the carpet was sticky against the bottom of our shoes. We didn't even want to sit down! Needless to say, we left without getting a refund.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Well we really don't travel so don't have to worry about dirty hotel mattresses but I am deathly afraid of getting bed bugs.

It was fun then when the neighbors next door who rented the upstairs floor of this old colonial for years were evicted suddenly and then the huge dumpster came AND then the exterminator came

not once..........
not twice.........
ten times

And there was plastic sealing the windows and I overheard the exterminator saying "there coming out of the ceiling"

It was bed bugs Thankfully we never got them but yeah it's scary when they are right next door!

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

Well we really don't travel so don't have to worry about dirty hotel mattresses but I am deathly afraid of getting bed bugs.

It was fun then when the neighbors next door who rented the upstairs floor of this old colonial for years were evicted suddenly and then the huge dumpster came AND then the exterminator came

not once..........
not twice.........
ten times

And there was plastic sealing the windows and I overheard the exterminator saying "there coming out of the ceiling"

It was bed bugs Thankfully we never got them but yeah it's scary when they are right next door!

and too think we worry about ants !

 

[seaurchin]

If the bed looks clean, I don't really think about it.

 

[Asscherhalo_lover]

I check a bed before I crawl in (and I will also bring my own pillows but more for comfort) but I'm a public school teacher so I'm pretty immune to gross and not exactly worried about what I can't see hurting me. If I did I would never be able to go to work

 

[stracci2000]

I pull the sheets back and look carefully at the mattress seams and all the bedding.
It never hurts to check!

 

[the_mother_thing]

This is such an odd question @Dancing Fire ... kinda like “do you feel comfortable when getting stabbed by an old, rusty knife?”.

I don’t go hog-wild with special lights and magnifying glasses when I look at a hotel bed aside from generally assessing if the sheets look ‘fresh’ (as in, not slept in previously) and clean, and no creepy crawly critter happens to be hiding in there waiting for me. I am a bit particular though about what hotels I book/stay at for these and other reasons, so I haven’t had any issues that I can think of that ever had me calling the front desk for a new room/linens due to a ‘bed’ issue.

 

[KristyDarling]

I never travel without Wet Ones antibacterial wipes. The FIRST thing I do upon arrival at a hotel or Airbnb/VRBO is wipe EVERYTHING down -- door knobs, cabinet pulls, toilets, shower handles, tabletops, etc. (On airplanes, I wipe down seats/tray tables/seatbelt buckles/armrests obsessively as well)

As for hotel and rental beds, I'm always, ALWAYS grossed out....regardless of how "nice" the place is. Getting into a strange bed is a leap of faith for me. But like others here, I never take my stuff out of my suitcase and leave it completely zipped eve at night.

I'm a complete germaphobe.

That said, we've always had dogs. So if I were to take a magnifying glass to my own home, I'm sure I'd be completely repulsed!! I guess when it's my own family's germs, I'm immune haha!!

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

@Dancing Fire - Your threads are cracking me up. I want your next thread to be "Are you the person who makes hotel beds filthy?"

 

[Dancing Fire]

@Dancing Fire - Your threads are cracking me up. I want your next thread to be "Are you the person who makes hotel beds filthy?"

Are you trying to tell us something?

 

[Scandinavian]

No. I prefer clean ones..

 

[whitewave]

Not really, it’s why I drag my 16,000 pound 37 foot RV around with me.

I stopped watching Dr. Oz when he discussed hotel rooms. Do I need to turn you off too (—-> is this a puke icon?)

 

[missy]

No. I prefer clean ones..

 

[jaysonsmom]

The only filthy beds that i have encountered are here in the US, where hotel prices are ridiculous (astronomical), and $200/night gets you a stripped down, bare minimum "hotel". When my daughter played travel ball (softball), we usually had to stay where the rest of the team stayed (somewhere affordable for the whole team), and those places were nasty. we would bring our own sleeping bags and blow up beds, or even SIL's RV and "camp" at the Motel or Inn where the team was staying.

For work travel, I usually travel to Asia, where $200 a night gets you in a 5-star hotel with super luxurious clean sheets, robe and slippers, gourmet breakfast and all the amenities you need.

 

[OoohShiny]

I never even think about bed bugs, germs on door handles, taps, hand rails, cleanliness of the mattress under a sheet and a mattress protector...

Germs are good for the immune system

 

[LaylaR]

My husband managed a property in Nor Cal, nice property too, that had a bedbug infestation. Someone went to Vegas and brought them home. Those things go through walls.

A coworker of mine also had an infestation. Had to literally replace everything that was cloth or upholstered. Everything.

So we're super careful. My husband is really good about spotting them and whenever we stay at a hotel we both examine the room carefully before we take anything in. I use the luggage rack. I keep the clothes on hangers. That's not a guarantee, of course. And I always examine my suitcase before I pack to go home.

And I am fussy about cleaning. If I see anything that's not clean when I first examine the room, regardless of what it is, I won't stay there.

Cross my fingers, I haven't gotten infested yet. But it could happen. And yes, it does keep me from some travel plans. If I can't find a place that I think is going to be safe, I won't go. I love going to Vegas. But it's always like Russian Roulette. I am even more anal there. Those beds see serious traffic and that's just asking for trouble. Even the most expensive, glamorous hotels in Vegas have had infestations.

We do go camping of course. With a tent. And cots. But that's different. All our bedding is our own, and clean. And, obviously, as we run a pet hotel (or it seems like it anyway) animal hair, vomit, etc. doesn't bother me. We keep any strays separate. Wash with disinfectant and bleach and, where possible, we have the animals screened or treated with parasites before exposing them to carpet or our other animals. And our own animals are on pest control. I honestly should be worried about fleas or worms that anything else. Jack keeps running out he front door to tour the staircase. Do you know how expensive Flea and Tick control is for 8 cats?

 

[arkieb1]

It's not just cheap hotels one of the filthiest (apart from hotels in small cities and towns in China and other parts of Asia) that I've stayed in was the airport Hilton at Heathrow which was not a cheap hotel.

I think an expensive hotel in Malaysia was the second dirtiest if we are talking 4 to 5 star upmarket hotels.

I've had to stay in places in China that didn't have alternative options that were not the cleanest but they are not 5 star hotels, the best hotel in the whole place was like 3 stars and pretty yuck but it was that or sleep on the ground. I've never gotten bed bugs or anything from hotel rooms and I've stayed in everything from high end suites to average and below average places (because there were no other options) all around the world.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

i think clean sheets are a given
in fact one of lived simple pleasures is getting into a fresh clean bed - especially if the sheets just came of a sunny clothesline
last year due to horrendous work reasons i boarded with my friend's family and went home to the other half in our new house in our new city
anyway sometimes she had extended family to stay and she never changed my sheets after they left despite them getting clean sheets
my biggest gross-out is nits
i know its not about being dirty but ive never had them even as a kid (i come from a culture that doesn't hug much) my sister and i avoided them, although her two are aleays bringing them home from school

 

[doberman]

I try my best to steer clear of filthy hotels. I am ridiculously neat and clean, so my standards are pretty high. I am also deathly afraid of bugs, so if there was a bedbug infestation I'd know it immediately. Call it a hyper-awareness of insect life. My niece had bedbugs in her NYC apartment and I know it took a lot for her to get rid of them.

 

[Daisys and Diamonds]

if your planning on a self drive tour be very careful of bedbugs in camper vans

 

[Calliecake]

I’m actually more worried about what I will catch on an airplane. I don’t stay in dirty hotels.

 

[arkieb1]

I’m actually more worried about what I will catch on an airplane. I don’t stay in dirty hotels.

Yes the recycled air in planes is

 

[KKJohnson]

Not going to lie, I’ve stayed in some questionable places while traveling abroad (also some really really really nasty bathrooms in Peru) but oddly enough bedbugs haven’t ever been a big concern of mine. My mother lives in a duplex that has apartments directly across the alleyway and she got bedbugs, it wasn’t very difficult to eradicate them and she only had to toss out her mattress. After learning a bit about the bug itself it hasn’t worried me, they can be killed easily with the right stuff and kept away with a little precaution in place. We only had to treat her house once and she has never had an issue since

 

[whitewave]

My condo that I drag around with me:

 

[dk168]

I stayed in a low budget chain hotel in France once, made the mistake of pulling the bed sheet off and saw the stains on the mattress.
That was the last time I stayed with that chain, and decided to go one grade up which is still classed as budget hotels but nicer.

DK

 

[dk168]

My condo that I drag around with me:

I am planning to have a custom-build camper van for next year. It will be my home from home when I go to work away from base as well as when I go on holidays in UK and Europe.

Not quite as big as yours though.

DK