Inspired... Not washing blankets at resorts??

[buzz2400]

I always pull the comforter off (at all hotels) and request that the bed never be made. Every time the bed is made and I complain. I also never use the coffee makers in the room. God only knows what people do with them. All I know is that when I get home I immediately take a very long shower and then wash all my clothes. I also spray lysol on my luggage before putting it away. And then don't get me started when you go to the restroom at a water park (I need to buy shoes). I always wonder what I'm stepping in. And I have had some towels that have had some peculiar stains on them.

 

[cpayne1997]

oh my goodness. I am totally grossed out!!!! We are going to September and I have 2 small children....what I am going to do????? Any other suggestions????

 

[eeyore0062]

If you have concerns and complaints about this practice, please direct them to Guest Communications. Unless someone in a place of authority is made aware of these concerns, nothing can be done to rectify them.

wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld.com

 

[2timer]

Just thought it was a nice touch from the "STICKY" subject!

 

[SuBeat]

Just curious...has anyone ever taken a peek at the mattresses? And if you did, and found stains, what would you do? As for me, no way am I even looking. I'll just curl up under the covers (minus the comforter of course) in ignorant bliss.

 

[Dopey420]

I agree that the thought of it is really gross, and that people should be informed about this practice, but I also see the profit factor for the hotel industry. Imagine if you washed your own comforter every day. It wouldn't last two months, and comforters are not cheap- at least a couple hundred dollars each. It is just not practicle. So, now that I am at least armed with the knowledge, I just remove the comforter, spray everything down really good with Lysol, and for good measure I will be wiping down the bathrooms with Clorox wipes, too. Is it a shame that I have to do this, yes. Is it a major big deal, NO!

Those things they put on beds in hotel rooms are NOT comforters. They are some sort of scratchy polyester that you cannot even find at Junk-Mart, er Wal-Mart. They are so slick they slide off the bed. And they add that thin little ratty blanket like you used to get with NFL logos on them. It's all covered with pills where the fabric has rolled up around someone's chest hair! I would say there is about $15 worth of bedding on each bed.

I saw an "adult" video ONCE It was filmed in a regular hotel room, on a regular hotel bed.

We bring sleeping bags sometimes. A quality sleeping bag will pack up really small and fit in a suitcase. We use them to keep us off the bedding and keep warm. You can buy pairs of bags that zip together to make one big bag.

 

[sweetinmaine]

While all of this sounds gross and is truly gross, keep in mind that the hotel/travel business is HUGE! There are over 30,000 guest rooms alone at all the Disney resorts. While we've all slept at hotels, remember that we are all still here to chat about it. Unless your immune system is fragile, just pull the comforters back, do a basic check for cleanliness and try to enjoy your visit. Yes, you can bring Lysol (which another post says just puts pollutants into the air) and yes, you can bring antibacterial soaps but do we really want to have to worry about every little germ? I'll still continue to travel because I it too much to stop. I'll be careful what my room looks like and I'll try not to worry about what germs or diseases I could pick up. I'll use common sense and not let the worries ruin what could be a great trip.

 

[DisOrBust]

This thread is repeated at least twice a years since I have been on the boards. I was aphalled at first but now have chilled out considerably. FYI the really nasty viruses can not live long out of theri "enviroment". HIV is very fragile for example. The toughest of the more common bugs is Hepatitis which can live under the right circumstances 14 hours (NOT 2 WEEKS)!

I think you need to put it in perspective. If your alive and walking around your exposed thats why you have an immune system. If your immunocompromised that is a different story.

Go on vacation and have fun NOT clean!!

 

[cbusby]

Honestly I have no idea how health departments allow it. All I know is that nothing was done after I reported their practices, at least not during the year and half I was at that particular one. I imagine practices like this are "ignored" b/c of the profit factor. Hotels bring in a huge amount of money along with tax dollars for the state, and it would cost A LOT to allow thier housekeepers to go through a pair of gloves for each room they did that day. But personally, I'd rather get a $10 cleaning surcharge added to my hotel bill every time I stayed somewhere if it meant I'd have seperate gloves for my room.

Also, someone mentioned bringing lysol with them. Honestly I'd bring bleach. Put it in a windox bottle and spray down the bathroom really quick when you arrive. My majors are biology and chemistry and un-diluted bleach is about the only thing I trust to clean everything. Lysol is good but not as good as bleach.

Lastly, don't let your kids play on the carpet unless you get housekeeping to come in and vacuum the room practically in front of you. It depends obviously on the hotel and on the housekeeper, but once a lot of housekeepers get out on thier own to do rooms (without a supervisor) they skip vacuuming the rooms. Their only generally given a maximum of 30 minutes to clean a room, which is enough if you FLY through your rooms. But when you get messy rooms that are trashed there is not enough time so the housekeepers will skip vacuuming. They simply make the rooms "look" clean without assuring that it is 100%.

Sorry to gross people out with all of these tidbits but figured I'd stick them out there. I'd rather disers be grossed out and KNOW about the hotels rather than not and have them pulling comforters up to their faces at night.

I use the clorox wipes all the time...........I will definitely be bringing them with me when I go.

 

[goofy!]

oops, deleted

 

[Tiggerrox]

This is an easy answer, pull the comforter off the bed or ask Mousekeeping to bring a fresh one.(they'll do that you know..) as for cleaning the rooms. The rooms DW & I had (YC & AKL) were spotless. If you're not sure about the blankets- ask for fresh clean ones( they will change them you know )
I spent alot of time in the hospital with colon surgery ,etc the past 2 years and can get to be a fanatic about germs. Right after we get into the rooms and the luggage is unloaded, I wipe down everything ( phone, tv remote, door knobs,faucets,etc etc) with antibacterial wipes. Not because I think it needs to be done but more for my piece of mind. The Mousekeepers do a GREAT job and I think most of the stories about dirty rooms are just that.... stories.

 

[wilderness01]

OMG that is just gross!

 

[goofy!]

oops, deleted

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

While I can't say I worry too much about everyday germs...they are everywhere!, I admit to being grossed out by body fluids that are supposed to be IN the body ending up on my comfortors, blankets and pillows. YUCK!

I thought that the resorts we stayed in onsite WDW double sheeted the beds but I guess from all that is written here, my memory is faulty. Someone on one of these threads rec'd taking a colorful fitted sheet (so you don't forget it)in your luggage and putting it on the lower part and using the lower sheet to sandwich the blanket. I think when I check in I will ask for a replacement blanket and coverlet and sheet and just put the fitted sheet over that lower one...Now that I've read this thread I think I'm afraid to look at the mattress!!!.

I'm a bath person...and from that lying down position and with the proximity of the toilet to the tub...it is also gross to realize that the toilet hasn't always been cleaned fully. Which brings to mind a rec I heard from a doc....keep your toothbrushes somewhere other than a bathroom with a toilet: airbourne contaminents.

 

[sweetinmaine]

OK...We've all been enlightened and grossed out by what we've read on this thread. We are now to sleep anywhere but in our own beds. It sounds like we all know how to clean and that we are not the ones committing these "germ" crimes. Please, for the sake of those of us that want to continue to travel, let's stop this thread. No one is saying anything new, just posting "who can be more gross". It's time to move on. No insults meant to anyone but I like to think that Disney is the most magical place in the world!

 

[MrsJ Henry]

deleted

 

[2timer]

all of the things we come in contact with daily....if we really focus on the germs we come in contact with each day, we'd be totally grossed out all the time!!! I got an infection once....have not idea from where, but they said it was "Staph-like" and the best senerio the doctor offered was....if I touch something that has staph germs on it and even rub my eyes, I can pass the germs through my body. Anyway....just my 2 cents.....they are everywhere and we have not idea how many we come in contact with each day....but the ones that can be avoided. I still love to travel and often sleep in hotel rooms. Disney in May for us!

 

[BartRock]

Silly, silly thread, especially when you consider that you're about to use seats, handrails, tables, etc. that hundreds of people of varying health and cleanliness have just used. Plus, you'll be in close confines breathing the same air as those same people. What's the point in expending so much energy worrying about a bedspread?

 

[MsDisney23]

well this has grossed me out for some years now, now like most of you. The only place that I travel to is WDW and I do stay on site. I always request now at check in that my comfort and even the shower curtain are now changed when I get up to my room! I have had no problem with this being done by Disney! No explaination needed, however if I do get a CM that starts to babble on about the issue, I kindly tell them, to please have these changed as I am aware that they are not done in between guest. Now I plan to tell them if they start, that I am a transplant patient, I take alot of anti-rejection drugs which cause's me to have a suppressed immune system and I can not afford to get any type of infection etc. If I have to I will ask to speak to a manager. Remember it is not what you say, but how you say it. I know some people can very rude over this. I just handle with a kind but yet firm way.

 

[cbusby]

Silly, silly thread, especially when you consider that you're about to use seats, handrails, tables, etc. that hundreds of people of varying health and cleanliness have just used. Plus, you'll be in close confines breathing the same air as those same people. What's the point in expending so much energy worrying about a bedspread?

Exactly......even though your sheet and spreads at home are clean daily or weekly (whatever) there are still things crawling all over your bed linens regardless. I try to make the best of it....use sanitary hand wash, carry
clorox wipes and a can of disinfectant.