When you go to a hotel do you check....

United States
December 14, 2007 4:54am CST
When you go to a hotel when you are traveling do you check the beds to see if it is clean...meaning clean sheets and pillow case? Do you check to see if you have fresh towels and soap? Or do you bring your own stuff? I heard about these nasty stories where people actually gotten bitten by bed bugs and it was nasty...so whenever I go into a hotel I check the sheets to see if I see anything........What do you do?
3 people like this
22 responses
@balasri (26537)
• India
14 Dec 07
Absolutely.I never save money on cheap hotels.I am very particular about the cleanliness.
@balasri (26537)
• India
16 Dec 07
Third world countries are developing very fast.You get your money's worth here nowadays.We have plenty of clean international standard hotels here.
• United States
17 Dec 07
That is wonderful to hear. Now if the other ones here in the US can do the same in keeping there hotels clean then that would be wonderful...
• United States
16 Dec 07
Dear even the best hotels are not always clean. Especially if you are in a third world country...those are the ones you have to worry about...no one is perfect and with so many people using those beds it just makes you wonder you know what I mean...
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
14 Dec 07
When I went into a room in a hotel in Indonesia I sat down on the bed. Then to my horror I noticed a message written in chalk on the wall. It said do not sleep here this bed has bed bugs and flees. Check out now! So I looked at the sheets and found that they were dirty. There were a few specs of blood. Yuck! It was late I didn't know what to do. I told management and they suggested I would prefer a different room. So I changed rooms. That night I heard something walking over my plastic bags on the floor. Mice or rats? The next day I walked along the road chatting to other travelers. Meanwhile local men were proposing to me. I found a friendly and clean guest house with decent beds complete with mosquito nets. I tend to bring my own soap, shampoo and towel when I travel. If the hotel towel is nice I will use it and take my own towel to the beach or swimming pool.
• Canada
15 Dec 07
Geezz. Mice or rats? This is disgusting, maximax8. I think you should go to hotels who have at least 3 or 4 stars. Please go to http://www.tripadvisor.com when you're going to travel to certain country or area. You can see others' opinions with regard to hotels around the world.
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
16 Dec 07
I really love to travel. But I think I will have to be more careful in future choosing where to stay. When I arrived on a Saturday night in Lisbon almost all places were fully booked. I managed to find somewhere in the end. It was a horrible room in a guest house in very poor repair. In Jordan I stayed the night sleeping on a flat roof. In Australia I went camping on an island national park. I had to tie my food outside in a bag on a rope. It had two bottles that would to prevent the bush rats getting at it.
• United States
16 Dec 07
That is some scary venture you gone through. I wouldn't want to be in some nasty room like that myself. I usually get suggestions from others who have been to that country and ask them where they stay at and how the service and cleanliness is like there before I make any reservations...
• Canada
14 Dec 07
I never used to because it was expected to be clean for new people daily. Well about 6 months ago my mother and My kids and I went out of town to visit her mom and dad and we stayed in a hotel. Well at about 11pm we all went to get into bed and I saw something in the corner of my eye. I lifted the sheets and theres was blood all over my bed. We were moved to another room and th enext morning my son was covered in bites. That was the worst by far. Now I check the bed as soon as I get in the room. I won't take that chance ever again.
• Canada
16 Dec 07
no we didn't sue we got the room for free because of it
• United States
16 Dec 07
Aww poor baby...what did you guys do? Did you sue the hotel management? Yeah it is best to check, especially if you have little ones. I hate it when they are sick or suffering I rather it be me because I know how to handle it but they can't...
• United States
17 Dec 07
Well, yeah I wouldn't sue either it's just me...but so many people would...the free stay is not all that if I knew I wouldn't go there you wouldn't either so that is already a given but they should have given you some medical fee refunds or what not...for medicine and stuff...
@tryxiness (4544)
• Philippines
15 Dec 07
I would do the same I mean, I am paying for the room and I expect that they should give me the kind of service worth my money. :)
• United States
16 Dec 07
You are completely right and I totally agree. If I paid for a clean room to rest in that is what I expect. I don't want a dirty diseased room with bugs or whatever they got that is bad......
• Canada
15 Dec 07
I recently heard that you need to request that the bed linens be changed before you check into the hotel. I am completely appalled by this! How can you possibly tell if the bed linens have been changed!!!! What if you bring your own sheets? Do you really want to bring the sheets back home? I guess you could wash them immediately, but with the diseases that are prevalent these days, is it wise? Wow, this just seems really scary to me!
• United States
16 Dec 07
Yeah that is just crazy...they expect us to do their job for them...We pay them to do it but they want us to help do it for them? Gosh how crazy is that, if these hotels know what is best for them they should pay more attention to how they treat their customers because word of mouth is very important....
• Canada
18 Dec 07
I understand that a lot of these policies are adopted under the guise of being "greener". On the surface, a good marketing spin, but wow, it sure is hard to understand how it is possible to be hygienic, let alone acceptably healthy.
@luanakent (794)
• Brazil
6 Jan 08
I always try a reliable hotel and i examine the room. If it are not clean i dont accept it.
• United States
6 Jan 08
Yeah after all those horrible stories you hear and see on TV...
@ozzie13 (177)
• Australia
14 Dec 07
I always look around coz you never know who has stayed in there before you! eww! all the hotels i have stayed at have been nice and clean even the cheaper rate hotels have been clean cos that pretty much all they got going for them, except a place to sleep!
• United States
16 Dec 07
The ones I stayed in have been decent. But there was one in Reno that I had to stay in that was disguisting. We didn't think we were staying over night but we got real tired and so we try to book a room all the rooms in almost all the hotels were booked to the max so we went into one that was close by bad idea we paid for the room and we didn't even use it. We were there for two hours and that time was me checking the bed I saw stains and so I was searching for bugs and I was so tired so we put the chairs together and I laid on the chair and rested a bit.....what a waste of money and time...
@friendship (2084)
• Canada
15 Dec 07
Yes, I did check their beds, restrooms, carpets etc. I used to bring soaps and shampoos -- It is just in case that their soaps or shampoos are dirty. However, I always take a look at http://www.tripadvisor.com before making reservation although it is not always accurate. But you can get a picture what kind of hotel it is.
• United States
16 Dec 07
Thank you for the great site. I will use there services next time I have a trip to take. I also go on different review, forums and websites that gives me suggestions or advice.......
@Sissygrl (10912)
• Canada
14 Dec 07
i rarely go to a hotel, but have you ever noticed that they always have blankeys with dark prints on them? IT HIDES THE STAINS better. lol. that's pretty gross. I have heard stories too about them not washing the bedsheets as they should after ever guest. that is just wrong wrong wrong. And what if the person before you had CRABS! EW. or they slept naked with the pillow you decide to use between their legs. EW! that is SUPER nasty stuff to think about isnt it!
@eyewitness (1575)
• Netherlands
14 Dec 07
I always check the room at first how it looks at first sight.Then i check the beds and pillows and stuff and what ever there is in the room. After that i do checkthe bathroom also and look for clean towels.I have never seen a bad hotel room yet because i have been lucky from now.
• United States
16 Dec 07
You are very fortunate then. Because there are a lot of bad ones out there...at least that is what I am hearing...
@brijlesh (273)
• India
14 Dec 07
yes, I go to a hotel i check for many things.... like dirt and other dirty things, hidden camera, window and bathroom too for security reason. thanks
• United States
16 Dec 07
Yeah there is a lot of reason to check now. But hidden camera? In a hotel room now that is against the law to do that... I will sue them for ever cent they got if they put hidden camera in my hotel room...
• Indonesia
15 Dec 07
When I go to a hotel, I used to check first the room whether the room is clean enough or not. Then, i will check the bed and also pillow, ensure that the bed and the pillow are not having bad smell. Fresh will be better. I also concern about the toilet cause usually the toilet smeel or it looks discusting and have many insects inside it. If the condition of the room like I mentioned, I rather moved out from the hotel find out another better room to stay.
• United States
16 Dec 07
You smell the rooms too? I would assume you can smell it from just walking into the room. The toilet with bugs that is gross ewwwwwwwww....
@zichen3 (132)
• China
15 Dec 07
When I go to a hotel, I always select some good public praise hotels. So there are not so many dirty problems. If I meet one of these problems as you said, I will call the sever, I will tell her, I need to change to another room, hope it is ready that you help me. State your right!
• United States
16 Dec 07
Yeah that is one way to go about it. People will be the first to tell you if they had a real bad service or experience there and they also tell you if they had a good one as well...
• India
15 Dec 07
when we go to the hotel or any where we will call waiter and tell him for cleaning
• United States
16 Dec 07
Yeah, you can ask the maids to clean it up or something. But if it doesn't get resolve you have to go to their boss....
@Ohara_1983 (4117)
• Kuwait
14 Dec 07
I do check those things when im travelling and most thing than i dont use in hotel facilities is thier shampoo, body soap, even i bring my own towel too. because we dont know how the laundry clean thier towels, just mix together & lot of people who use that towel & wash also together. your also right lot of nasty stories regarding hotel, it really make you sick sometimes specially when you visit only for bussiness meeting, tired & need to rest to be fresh in the meeting.
• United States
16 Dec 07
Yeah, you would expect them to clean the place because you pay them for it. They added this stupid surcharge to the bill which means you pay even more than before but still you have to compromise on their service...I hate to compromise my comfort........
@SHAMRACK (8576)
• India
14 Dec 07
Hi, Before I check in a room I would just inspect it and make sure that everything is fine and in case if I go unnoticed any I would just inform to the manager or the room boy. Those bugs if starts I would ring the bell and if it is more unbearable then I would shift to another room or hotel. Soaps, brush, toothpaste and stuffs like this I would bring myself or buy it from near by shops. Bedsheets are ordered to washed before I check in the room.
• United States
16 Dec 07
Yeah I usually bring those stuff too. It's funny but one of my aunt actually brings her own sheets and pillow. I told her that if they have bed bugs it wouldn't matter if she has clean sheets and pillow because they will just crawl on top and bite her LOL...that is why I said she should just check to see if they have bed bugs if they do then leave because you don't know if they have it hidden underneath the other beds as well.......
@buwald (271)
• Netherlands
14 Dec 07
personally, i have not yet travled alone, but i probually wont check it, but if something is wrong, i'd inform the manager, to see that it gets fixed.
• United States
16 Dec 07
Yeah that is the first thing that needs to be done. Then if the problem does not get resolved then you should call for another hotel room or in more dramatic issues change hotels......
@suehan1 (4344)
• Australia
14 Dec 07
i usually check out the rooms also.i was at one hotel once and the smell of rising damp was so bad,my daughter nearly had a asthma attack.i asked to be moved ,they were not happy about it.i think your paying good money ,should get the best
• United States
16 Dec 07
Yeah it's really sad when these places think it is a hassle that we want what we paid for. It's ashame that we sometimes let it go because we don't want any confrontations. I remember one time when we went to a hotel supposedly 4 stars, they didn't give me any towels in the room when I requested for them they were rude about it...then I wanted an extra pillow for my daughter they supposedly forgotten to give it to me so instead of me calling for it again I just gave mine to my daughter and I used a jacket for a pillow...
@luvstochat (6907)
• United States
14 Dec 07
I always check the bedding when I get to the motel. I make sure that all of the bedding is clean! I have also heard those horror stories of people getting bit by bed bugs you also have to think of things like lice so you want to make sure the bedding is clean.
• United States
16 Dec 07
Yeah it is gross. I heard too many horror stories that is why it freaks me out when we travel and I have to stay in a hotel room. Mine you I love traveling but just get scared about the place I have to laid down and sleep in...
@hanyang (16)
• China
14 Dec 07
first of all,if you are rich ,you can chose a hotel that offer excellent service,then it will the hotel who care if the bed is clean.
• United States
16 Dec 07
Hmm what I am understanding is that you are saying that the rich can pay for better service and therefore not have to worry about how clean the room, bed, sheets are whatever is because it will be because you paid for it. The price you paid is what you get so to speak...