The 1 Hotel Room Item Experts Say May Not Get Washed Between Guests
Good to know.
While your hotel room may appear to be freshly cleaned, it might not actually be as hygienic as it looks. As it turns out, there are many areas of a hotel room that can be overlooked for cleaning. In fact, Enza Laterrenia, head of housekeeping at Canne Bianche Lifestyle Hotel in Italy, told Travel & Leisure that hotel staff often only take around 30 minutes to tidy and clean each hotel room, and often skip decorative items like throw pillows and runner rugs beside the hotel bed entirely. This makes these items some of the dirtiest in a hotel room.
"If I'm honest, decorative pillows are one item I tend to think twice about," Ema Silva, founder of Escapes by Ema , a luxury travel consultancy, told Southern Living . "They're handled frequently but aren't always part of the regular laundry rotation, so I usually set them aside when I arrive. It's a small habit that offers a bit of extra reassurance."
Other Potentially Dirty Hotel Room Items
Beyond decorative items like throw pillows, other areas to consider when it comes to hotel cleanliness include the smaller details. "When I vet hotels for my clients, I look at the full experience—service, comfort, sustainability, and of course cleanliness. Fresh sheets are expected, but the true signs of care often show up in the smaller details," shared Silva. "I notice things like baseboards, behind bedside tables, and whether a room feels genuinely fresh rather than heavily fragranced. Those subtle cues usually reveal whether housekeeping is thorough or simply surface-level."
High-touch surfaces such as light switches, TV remote controls, and phones can also be neglected places for cleaning in a hotel room. You should also be wary of hotel glassware, especially glassware that is tucked away in drawers; these could have been handled by former guests without housekeeping's knowledge. Yikes .
Silva also recommends looking to the hotel staff and management for accurately judging how well a hotel is cleaned and run. "More than anything, though, I pay attention to the people. When hotel staff are cared for and take pride in their work, you can usually feel it in the room itself. When team members feel supported and engaged, that pride tends to carry through to the property. It's often the clearest indicator of how well a hotel is truly maintained," Silva explained.
What To Do If Your Room Is Unclean
If you notice anything in your hotel room that isn't up to your standards for cleanliness, it's more than okay to bring it up to the front desk. This way, the hotel staff can fix any issues and help your stay feel far more comfortable.
"If something doesn't feel quite right, I recommend letting the front desk know kindly and promptly. Well-run hotels genuinely want guests to be comfortable and will usually resolve concerns quickly, and how they respond says just as much as the issue itself," Silva encouraged.
So, the next time you stay at a hotel, keep these tips in mind (and definitely be sure to toss those throw pillows to the side).
Read the original article on Southern Living
