Have you ever pulled back the tightly fitted sheets on your hotel bed and wondered whether the linen isn’t quite as clean as their white starched appearance would have you believe? You’re not the only one and with good reason.
While major hotel chains come up with ever more inventive ways to skip daily housekeeping, you would at least expect the room to be fully serviced in between guests… including, of course, swapping out the sheets for ones that no one has been laying in (or doing anything else on for that matter).
Unfortunately, that might not always be the case, and it’s becoming so much of a problem that flight attendants are starting to leave notes hidden in the bedsheets of the room they’ve just occupied to alert the next guest that their crisp white sheets aren’t clean.
Aircrew probably spend more time away from home and staying in various hotels than the average person, and flight attendants are pretty good at adapting to varying hotel standards… that being said, no one wants to ‘hotbed’ in dirty bed linen.
That’s why flight attendants will regularly pull back the bed sheets as soon as they get into their room to look for telltale signs that the bed sheets haven’t been changed, or perhaps even worse, evidence of a bedbug infestation.
That has now led to some crew members tucking messages into the sheets to help alert their fellow flight attendants or other guests that the linen they’re about to climb into hasn’t been changed.
Normally written on the hotel’s own stationary, the notes typically read something like this: “If you find this note, then this bed still has its old sheets on.”
At this point, what should you do? You’ve got one of two options. Either immediately request a change of room but run the risk that the next bed also has old linen on it or request housekeeping to your room to change the sheets.
To get this done, flight attendants sometimes even create a stain on the sheets to ensure housekeeping doesn’t dismiss their request on arrival.
Some flight attendants just aren’t willing to take the risk at all, however, and even pack their own sleeping sheets and pillow covers to avoid touching the hotel linen at all. It might seem extreme, but the idea is becoming more popular as winter viruses spread.
Generally speaking, the comforter will only be washed every few months at the most, so make sure clean sheets are covering this, while decorative pillows are never washed… these should be immediately discarded to a nearby seat or sofa.
As for fabric runners at the end of the bed, be very careful with these. Although they also serve a decorative purpose, they are commonplace because hotels know that many guests initially place their suitcases at the end of the bed they get inside their room.
The runner protects the bed and linen from getting dirty, but it also means that it’s a breeding ground for any germs that have been rolled around on the wheels of someone’s case that they flung on the runner.
Let’s be honest: despite the assurances that hotels made during the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s very little chance that your room will have the same cleanliness levels as a hospital operating room.
That, unfortunately, is just part and parcel of travel and staying in hotels. Try not to get too caught up in what shortcuts housekeeping may have taken when servicing your room. But a word from the wise… never use glass tumblers in your room.
That is why I only patronize fine establishments that put those cute little paper dust bonnets on my tumblers.
Anything remaining can be dealt with by dipping in the Chem Bath (indoor pool) or even more efficiently with 2 fingers of Eagle Rare, neat.
Eagle Rare used to be a bargain. Now it’s just priced well beyond its character. Very sad. Same with Buffalo Trace. So much better out there for the money. Sorry for the off topic swerve 🤣 cheers
As someone who has spent thousands of nights in hotel rooms it is sometimes better not to know what is going on. Otherwise one will never relax, get a good nights sleep etc , pondering about all the unpleasant unknowns.
Wrong answer! As a flight attendant I’d rather know that there are dirty germy sheets that someone else already slept on or did god knows what on a bed, before I laid down after a long day of flying.
Those dirty sheets, can cause all kinds of issues. What if someone slept on them and they had pustules or scabies, you can sleep on those. I don’t want to!
I’d rather see a note left by someone, I am going to continue to pull back the sheets and inspect for filth or messy sheets and bring my own damn sheets.
Some of y’all are nasty, why wouldn’t you want to know girl? This is a big deal.
A portable UV light tells all. A perfect solution for the abstract artist with a creativity block.
I’m not a flight attendant, but I stay in hotels Mon-Fri pretty much every week for my job. I intentionally get the sheets dirty enough so they have to wash them when I leave or it will be obvious to the next guest. The rest of the room I actually clean before I check out.
I am now a retired flight attendant, but, flew for 40 years. I NEVER slept with the comforter even on the coldest nights in some cities and ai ALWAYS carried a can of Lysol to spray my sheets and pillow cases, bathroom fixtures, toilet seat and handle. Heave forbid using glass tumblers or coffee cups….ALWAYS bring your own or ask for a paper coffee cup and a plastic glass. Better safe than sorry and I still practice these habits to this day whenever my Husband and I travel.
I spray a scented germ killer over the comforter, remote, bathroom. I pack my own pillowcase and inspect the sheets.. Why? Because I found toenail clippings in the bed once!!!
Hotels are getting wise. Housekeeping is being told to run their hands between the sheets to see if there are any notes. I’m sure that’s quicker and cheaper than changing the linens.
I travelled with a friend and was surprised to see that in the morning before we checked out she stripped the bedsheets from the bed, bundled them up and placed on the floor. She said she used to work in hotels, and this is what needs to be done. I understand it now.