If you’ve ever stayed in a hotel room, you know that they can be germ-infested and uncomfortable. However, there are many other things that make staying in a hotel room potentially harmful to your health — especially if you don’t take proper precautions before entering it. Many of these conditions can be avoided by staying at a bed and breakfast or inn (or even an apartment) instead of a hotel. Here are five ways your hotel room could be making you sick:
The Air Conditioner
Your air conditioner is a breeding ground for germs, especially when it’s not cleaned often enough. The venting system of your room can spread bacteria to other rooms and even throughout the building itself. When you turn on the AC, bacteria from inside your body come in contact with dust particles from outside—and those dust particles are full of allergens and viruses that may cause you to get sick if you inhale them on a regular basis.
The best way to avoid getting sick while staying in hotels is by keeping your personal belongings away from the vents—or at least only using them when necessary (like sleeping). This also means avoiding things like eating around doors where people walk through regularly; this will keep germs contained within their own space instead of spreading throughout an entire hotel room!
Your Sheets And Towels Might Not Be Clean
Hotel rooms are often cleaned by housekeeping staff, who don’t always have the time or proper training to properly clean items that can harbor bacteria and germs. According to a study done by researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, some hotels use cheap detergents that aren’t even approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This means they could be contaminating your room with harmful chemicals that could cause sickness—and if you stay long enough, you might end up sick too!
Dust Mites Are A Major Concern On Mattresses And Pillows
If you’re having trouble sleeping, it may be because of dust mites. Dust mites are microscopic bugs that live off dead skin cells, so they like warm and moist places like mattresses and pillows. They can also affect your health by causing allergies and asthma. To reduce their presence in your hotel room (and thus improve your sleep quality), use a vacuum cleaner regularly to remove any dead skin from the mattress or furniture surfaces where you spend most of your time—not just when cleaning up after spills!
Bed Bugs.
Bed bugs are small, brownish insects that feed on human blood. They can live in hotels, apartments, and other places where people sleep.
It is difficult to spot bed bugs even for experienced exterminators because they are not visible to the naked eye unless you know what to look for—and even then, it’s only possible if you have a microscope or magnifying glass with which to examine them. You may also be able to see tiny orange eggs that look like grains of rice or chestnut kernels (known as egg cases).
Bed bugs are transferred through contact with infested areas during an exchange of bodily fluids (feces), so if you share beds with someone who has had an encounter with these pests recently then there’s a good chance your hotel room could be infested too!
Water Contamination Is A Real Concern
The water in your hotel room will likely be contaminated. Hotels use tap water, and the quality of that tap water has not been tested or treated for contamination. Tap water can be contaminated by bacteria, viruses, chemicals, and heavy metals like lead. As a result, hotels often don’t filter their systems to remove these contaminants from the supply they use to fill their faucets and showers (or tubs).
Most Hotel Workers Only Have Time To Clean The Basics
While you’re probably not going to find a hotel worker who has time to clean every inch of your room, there are some ways that they can make it easier. They may not have enough time or resources to clean every surface in the room, but if you can see some areas needing attention, let them know!
Hotel workers need proper training on how to sanitize common areas like bathrooms and kitchens so that guests don’t get sick from food or drink in those areas—and it’s important for them to know about all potential health hazards when it comes down to cleaning up after guests (like under beds). Most hotels have protocols for how often these things need to be cleaned depending on how often people stay there; however, these rules aren’t always followed 100% by all employees because they’re busy trying their best at making sure everyone else stays healthy too!
Conclusion
If you are wondering if your hotel room is making you sick, the answer is yes. After visiting more than 20 hotels and motels in 10 different states, I have found that most rooms contain enough bacteria to make anyone sick. The good news is that there are ways to fight back against these germs. You can wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before entering any public space like a restaurant or public bathroom, but even this may not be enough!
Be sure to sanitize all surfaces around your bed such as pillows, sheets (and sometimes even mattresses), window sills, etc. It’s also worth noting how much time staff members spend cleaning up after guests who’ve left behind dirty dishes in their rooms. They often don’t have much time for anything else so it’s important not only when staying at hotels themselves but also when traveling from place to place during business trips.”