The secret life of hotel drinking glasses

by Adams Briscoe (Subscribe to Adams Briscoe's posts)
Dec 17th 2007 12:40PM

Categories: Diet & Weight Loss, Celebs & Entertainment

For those of you out there who travel a lot, this may pique your interest. A team of investigators went undercover to try and find out hotel protocol concerning those iconic drinking glasses you see everywhere. What they discovered might not surprise some people: those glasses have never seen the inside of a dish washer.

Okay, so that's a bit harsh. Not every hotel operates in the same way, but the ones they caught on video certainly don't exercise the strictest cleaning practices. And we're not talking about cheap establishments here! Embassy Suites, for example, wouldn't be classified as a sub-par accommodation.

Watch the video and see for yourself. Make no mistake about it, this is a controversial issue. Many hotels have moved to plastic, single-use disposable cups to prove they're sanitized. I would take that any day over glass cups that could have been washed with my own dirty bathroom cloth, in my own dirty sink, by hands that had previously cleaned a toilet. That scenario is from the video. You don't have to be a germaphobe to appreciate solid cleaning practices on things you'd expect to be cleaned properly.

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Comments (81)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)

Bobbie Fromberg 12-18-2007 @ 2:14PM

I think the grossest thing I've seen in a hotel room is the coffee pot next to the toilet. I don't understand why they think that anyone in their right mind would drink coffee made in the bathroom. Wait.......they say that they offer free coffee and save coffee that way.

James Bowers 12-18-2007 @ 2:13PM

Have done my own survey the past year . . . not good! . . . before you use any in-room glasses or coffee mugs, wash them with soap and hot tap water . . . and rinse with hot water before every use . . . difficult on planes, of course!

Sean 12-18-2007 @ 2:28PM

Try waking up after your second night in an expensive Las Vegas hotel with someone elses used condon at your feet.

DonatoM3 12-18-2007 @ 2:40PM

You need to talk to your friends about that one.

Adams Briscoe 12-18-2007 @ 2:47PM

Bobbie,

I've always thought the same thing! Some say you're supposed keep items like that a certain distance away from toilets... you know, to avoid airborne particles.

All I know is the bathroom is used for specific purposes; making coffee and washing dishes not included!

Jane 12-18-2007 @ 2:52PM

I travel a lot for business and pleasure. I am not a germaphobe, but I always wash the glasses myself when I first check into the room. This is because about 6 years ago in an up scale hotel in Dallas, TX, I held the glass up to the light and noticed food or something, fingerprints, lip prints. I was grossed out! I left them alone and looked at them each day for a week. They didn't look any different. Now, every hotel I check into, the glasses, coffee mugs, wine glasses in the rooms first get washed by me. I have trained my family not to touch these items until we clean them first. I'm a bit iffy about the coffee makers, too, especially the ones that drip directly into the mug. Probably the same mug was used to make the second cup of coffee (which means water was put into the dirty mug and poured into the coffee maker. I never sit directly on the chairs or bedspread, or walk on the floors without clothes/flip flops. Sad, but true.

jcollina 12-18-2007 @ 2:49PM

I hate to bust anyone's bubble. But, it is not much better in a hospital. 96,000 poor souls per year die in these places that are supposed to save one's life, i.e. reused needles, doctor's ties, plastic reused gloves, etc. Sometimes it is better to be ignorant of the true facts.

Jenn 12-18-2007 @ 8:10PM

I don't know where you're getting your information. But I work in the medical field and we do not re-use needles or re-use disposable gloves, hence the name disposable gloves. I was truly offended by your comment. I wash my hands a zillion times a day and my hands are horribly dry and cracked b/c of the precaution I take every single time. I was before I put on gloves and after I take off my disposable gloves.

Alex 12-18-2007 @ 8:36PM

Thats strange I work in a hospital and we have never re-used needles or gloves. Every hospital I have ever been to (And I have been to a lot) has the disposable gloves in the room so you can see the dr.s, nurses, aides, and other employees put them on. I wash my hands before and after wearing gloves and I see my fellow employees do so as well. We're not stupid, we get sick just like everyone else and we use what is called "universal Precautions"- treat everything as if it is comtaminated with the worst virus that has ever existed. So if the hospital you go to is as disgusting as you say, I would suggest reporting it.

chico 12-18-2007 @ 2:57PM

the absolute worst has to be the telephone in the bathroon next to the toilet. just think about what people's hands have been doing before they used the phone!!!

Dan 12-18-2007 @ 2:54PM

I will never travel again.

Dan 12-18-2007 @ 3:00PM

Here's another bad one I know of flight attendants hat use the hotel cofee pots to clean their pantyhose in.

Diana Bell 12-18-2007 @ 2:59PM

As a flight attendant staying in hotels all the time, myself and most of my flying partners have been aware of this standard practice. A lot of hotels have disposable cups and glasses in addition to the glass ones. Due to the attention this is getting, I would imagine there may be some changes made! To see more flight attendant opinions and humor, go to http://www.blogspot.com

Diana Bell 12-18-2007 @ 3:09PM

I messed up! My friend's blog is http://wildflight.blogspot.com

tom 12-18-2007 @ 3:10PM

and how many times have ice buckets been used for barf buckets!!!

Richard Goyette 12-18-2007 @ 3:22PM

I travel quite a bit and my wife always puts the styrofoam cups for me to drink out of and my portable coffee maker packed in with my clothes.She always packs a can of lysol to spray the phone and anything I have to touch.I feel pretty safe that way . I take my own soap and I hardly use anything in the room. I even pull the covers back on the bed and spray with lysol.No problem if you take precautions.

David 12-18-2007 @ 3:17PM

We always clean the room and wash the dishes when we go on vacation. I mean they pay these housekeepers minimum wage, so they don't really care.

Griff Marks 12-18-2007 @ 3:18PM

I travel extensively and have had several horrifying experiences with hotel cleanliness. From silk bras left in my coffee maker, cockroaches climbing the walls and piles of toe nails by the bed side table...But the absolute grossest moment came last year at a top /chain hotel in the Louisville area, during Derby week. I spent 2 days working from my hotel room, making coffee several times with my in room coffee maker. On my second day , when I went to make more coffee I noticed the water overspilling the top of the fill screen. I lifted the screen to investigate and found a pair of discustingly dirty tube socks stuffed underneath. I nearly threw up knowing that I had been drinking the coffee previously made in that coffee maker.

foamer13 12-18-2007 @ 3:23PM

The grossest thing I've ever seen was at breakfast in the El Nile Hotel in Cairo, Egypt. I noticed the waiters pouring any orange juice left over at the tables back into a pitcher and serving it to other guests.

vic 12-18-2007 @ 3:39PM

Im glad they mention Embassy Suites. They are nasty as hell. I used to work for them. Thats why I had quit. When I was in training they told me that if it didnt look dirty just wipe it down of finger prints and put it away. That there is a lot of rooms that need to be down and dishes take a long time. I was like "Ohh...hell no!" I washed every dish, cup, whatever it was I washed! And they got mad cause "I was wasting time on the dishes" so they say. So I had quit and I told them that if somebody ever wanted to stay here I was going to tell them everything that goes on there.