If so, you may want to bring some Purell, or maybe your own autoclave.

Hotel cleaning crews in China caught using toilet brushes to clean drinkware

That is disgusting. I lived in South Korea for two years and while I never saw anything like that, cleanliness standards in Asia can be very different from the US from what I saw.

I haven't been in Northern China much, but a good bit in Southern and around. (Dandong, Shanghai, HK). Never saw that in hotels, actually the opposite.

Matter of fact, once in a Chinese hotel I had a button break on a three-button pullover shirt. I shrugged and threw it in the garbage can in the room. The next day I returned back to the hotel and found the shirt laundered with a replaced button- and no charge.

Same experience in Taiwan, South Korea, etc. Great service, but I tend to establish a connection with staff when staying frequently in hotels.

For it to happen at several Chinese hotels is interesting.

(However, if you eat out and around China you may want to bring some of your own moist wipes, tissues and paper products. Many "lower-cost" (read not "Western" habits) places don't provide napkins).

HaHa, I happen to be reading SF in my room at the JW Marriott in Shanghai. I'm not surprised, I don't trust most Chinese hotels or restaurants. I'm hoping the JW is better than most - so far, so good. I think ...

Taiwan, on the other hand, generally has stellar hygiene.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that similarly unsanitary methods are in use in many motels in the US.

As cheap as labor is in China...

They want to take over the world, but most of them can't master basic hygiene.

“If what was shown in the video was proved to be true...it would not be acceptable”, a representative of the hotel told the Post."

And the Post immediately got the idea of using more credible sources. "We found that unnamed sources provide the best angle", a representative of the Post told the hotel.

"They were using gloves and soap---quality soap. Very clean, very clean", replied the representative of the hotel.

I have always been suspect of the quality of the "cleaning" at hotels. We wipe down the surfaces when we arrive, hang out the Do Not Disturb sign and leave it there. We are not so sloppy as to need assistance picking up our room during the stay.

Apparently, Disney is now going to take those signs away and enter rooms daily whether you like it or not in the interest of "safety and security".

I'd never drink from those glasses in hotel rooms. Not in the US, not in China. Good eye opener though what just might be happening in contrast to assumptions, or ... well, common sense and decency.

bottled water and paper/plastic cups is all we use no matter what hotel in any country.

In my experience in southern China, sanitation is always suspect... everywhere.

In local restaurants (not tourist places) it’s not uncommon for plates, cups, and chopsticks to be provided in plastic wrap. In “better” establishments, you’ll also get a tea pot of boiling water and a big bowl. The idea is you unwrap your plates and chopsticks and sanitize them yourself (at your table) by pouring boiling water over them.

In short, I don’t think most Chinese would be surprised at the levels of sanitation in these hotels. In China it really is “buyer beware.”

quote:

Originally posted by Nismo:
bottled water and paper/plastic cups is all we use no matter what hotel in any country.

That's what we do.

A few years ago I saw some undercover news story that video taped cleaners in US hotels also doing gross things. Mostly washing cups with dirty water as I recall. I won't use the glasses in hotels, only the disposable individually wrapped. I don't keep my toothbrush out for them to touch either.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
A few years ago I saw some undercover news story that video taped cleaners in US hotels also doing gross things. Mostly washing cups with dirty water as I recall. I won't use the glasses in hotels, only the disposable individually wrapped. I don't keep my toothbrush out for them to touch either.

I may have seen the same one. The hotel was in New York City and the maid was wiping out the glasses with used towels from the bathroom. I've forgotten the name of the hotel but it was a big national chain. I was comforted by the fact that she smelled the towels first.

quote:

Originally posted by Gene Hillman:

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
A few years ago I saw some undercover news story that video taped cleaners in US hotels also doing gross things. Mostly washing cups with dirty water as I recall. I won't use the glasses in hotels, only the disposable individually wrapped. I don't keep my toothbrush out for them to touch either.

I may have seen the same one. The hotel was in New York City and the maid was wiping out the glasses with used towels from the bathroom. I've forgotten the name of the hotel but it was a big national chain. I was comforted by the fact that she smelled the towels first.

Yep. Didn't matter if it was 1-star hotel or 5. They were all disgusting. A couple of them had semen all over the wall and carpet.

[/QUOTE]
Yep. Didn't matter if it was 1-star hotel or 5. They were all disgusting. A couple of them had semen all over the wall and carpet. [/QUOTE]

The Chinese definitely have a much different take on what is sanitary and what is not.

They also have some funny concepts on safety.

My cousin spent about a year living in China back in the early 2000’s and told me a story where she was on some sort of rickety bus in some rural area of China. The gas tank for the engine was INSIDE THE BUS at the front and they had to stop for a fuel up at one point and this Chinese guy comes on to the bus with a garden hose in hand, gasoline POURING out of it and he finds the tank fill cap and starts filling it...ALL WHILE SMOKING A CIGARETTE!

That picture got my attention. I've stayed at a Sheraton in Xiamen, southern China. It was decent, but I didn't get the feeling it was squeaky clean; I've had the same feeling in some US hotels too. I have stayed at the Hyatt in Seoul and felt it was on par with any of the nicest hotels I have ever stayed in anywhere in the west.

I always pack away my toothbrush and other personal items when I am gone from the room for the day now, no matter where I go. And I never use the glassware in the room, unless I scrub it out myself first, even if it is a four star hotel.