Hotels are required to do a number of things in order to keep their rooms clean and disinfected for their guests. What they are specifically required to do depends on several factors such as where they are located and what in-room amenities they offer. Generally speaking, a few of the requirements include:
Clean the Bathrooms
Hotels are typically required to clean the bathrooms for new guests before they begin their stay. This is due to hygienic purposes because previous guests may have used the bathroom and its amenities. Hotels need to eliminate germs and bacteria from various areas of the bathroom, as this reduces the risk of germs and viruses spreading to guests.
Workers will thoroughly sanitize and disinfect the shower, bathtub, and toilet. They’ll also clean the sink, and they’ll mop the floors. The exact products hotels use usually boils down to their own preference.
Bedding and Furniture
Staff at hotels are required to ensure guests have clean bedding. They will wash the old bedding, and they will clean and disinfect the mattress. If you’re wondering how to clean a mattress as hotels do, then you’ll want to strip it, vacuum it and clean it with a disinfectant. Although there are high-end products hotels use, you can use something like baking soda. If there is other furniture inside the hotel room, then it will need to be cleaned regularly. This includes chairs, tables, sofas, and so forth.
Sanitize Workout Equipment
Depending on the type of hotel someone stays at, they may have workout equipment near their room. A lot of people are into working out and dieting, which is one of the reasons exercise equipment is starting to be found in many guest rooms of top hotels. If the hotel does have any kind of workout equipment in their rooms, even if it’s just a pair of dumbbells, then they will need to keep the equipment clean.
Replacing Certain Items
A big part of keeping rooms clean is ensuring any hygienic products are replaced. Hotels don’t want guests reusing certain items if those items were previously used. For example, hotels often provide guests with things like shampoo, soap, and even a small tube of toothpaste. If there is a dining area in the room, the hotel might include a small container of dish soap. Hotels are generally required to replace such items when new guests arrive. Even when hotels are not required to do it, they still will.
General Cleaning
Most hotels have staff that does general cleaning tasks in order to keep guest rooms completely clean and hygienic. These tasks can include vacuuming floors, emptying trash, and washing sheets, blankets, and things of that nature. If there are dishes in the room that the hotel provided the guest with, then they will remove those dishes, as well as any utensils, and replace them with new ones. The new dishes and utensils will have been thoroughly washed.
Dusting
Housekeepers in hotels will also do a thorough dusting. This includes areas that are easy to miss, such as under the bed, the headboards of beds, ceiling fans, and light fittings. Dusting is a crucial part of keeping rooms because if it was to build up, then it could lead to some guests to suffer allergic reactions or they could struggle to breathe. The best hotels provide their housekeepers with equipment and tools that do an excellent job at removing even the smallest dust particles.
Furthermore, if there is a heating and air conditioning system in a guest room, then they will be cleaned regularly. Staff may open windows in rooms that are not occupied, that way fresh air can circulate. Most hotels aren’t required to do this, but a lot of them do because it’s an extra precautionary step.
Wipe Down Surfaces
Another important part of keeping rooms clean involves cleaning and sanitizing surfaces that are commonly touched by guests. This includes tables, televisions, doorknobs, and faucets. Light switches are typically wiped down, too.
Those are a handful of the most common things that hotels are required to do when it comes to keeping their rooms clean and disinfected for their guests. Although some of those tasks don’t seem like a big deal, they are all extremely important.