   Most people go to hotels for the pleasure of sleeping in a giant bed with
   clean white sheets and waking up to fresh towels in the morning.

   But those towels and sheets might not be as clean as they look, according
   to the hotel bosses that responded to an online thread about the things
   hotel owners don’t want you to know.

   Zeev Sharon and Michael Forrest Jones both run hotel start-ups in the US.
   Forrest Jones runs the start-up Beechmont Hotels Corporation, a hotel
   operating company that consults with hotel owners on how they can improve
   their business. Sharon is the CEO of Hotelied, a start-up that allows
   people to sign up for discounts at luxury hotels.

   But even luxury hotels aren’t always cleaned as often as they should be.

   Here are some of the secrets that the receptionist will never tell you
   when you check in, according to answers posted on Quora.

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   Even posh hotels might not wash a blanket in between stays

   1. Take any blankets or duvets off the bed

   Forrest Jones said that anything that comes into contact with any of the
   previous guest’s skin should be taken out and washed every time the room
   is made, but that even the fanciest hotels don’t always do so. "Hotels are
   getting away from comforters. Blankets are here to stay, however. But some
   hotels are still hesitant about washing them every day if they think they
   can get out of it," he said.

   Video shows bed bug infestation at New York hotel

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   Forrest Jones advised stuffing the peep hole with a strip of rolled up
   notepaper when not in use.

   2. Check the peep hole has not been tampered with

   This is not common, but can happen, Forrest Jones said. He advised
   stuffing the peep hole with a strip of rolled up notepaper when not in
   use. When someone knocks on the door, the paper can be removed to check
   who is there. If no one is visible, he recommends calling the front desk
   immediately. “I look forward to the day when I can tell you to choose only
   hotels where every employee who has access to guestroom keys is subjected
   to a complete public records background check, prior to hire, and every
   year or two thereafter. But for now, I can't,” he said.

   luggage-3.jpg

   Put luggage on the floor

   3. Don’t use a wooden luggage rack

   Bedbugs love wood. Even though a wooden luggage rack might look nicer and
   more expensive than a metal one, it’s a breeding ground for bugs. Forrest
   Jones says guests should put the items they plan to take from bags on
   other pieces of furniture and leave the bag on the floor.

   Lifestyle-hotels.jpg

   The old rule of thumb is that for every 00 invested in a room, the hotel
   should charge in average daily rate

   4. Hotel rooms are priced according to how expensive they were to build

   Zeev Sharon said that the old rule of thumb is that for every $1000
   invested in a room, the hotel should charge $1 in average daily rate. So a
   room that cost $300,000 to build, should sell on average for $300/night.

  5. Beware the wall-mounted hairdryer

   It contains the most germs of anything in the room. Other studies have
   said the TV remote and bedside lamp switches are the most unhygienic.
   “Perhaps because it's something that's easy for the housekeepers to forget
   to check or to squirt down with disinfectant,” Forrest Jones said.

Business news in pictures

  6. Mini bars almost always lose money

   Despite the snacks in the minibar seeming like the most overpriced food
   you have ever seen, hotel owners are still struggling to make a profit
   from those snacks. "Minibars almost always lose money, even when they
   charge $10 for a Diet Coke,” Sharon said.

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   Towels should always be cleaned between stays

   7. Always made sure the hand towels are clean when you arrive

   Forrest Jones made a discovery when he was helping out with the
   housekeepers. “You know where you almost always find a hand towel in any
   recently-vacated hotel room that was occupied by a guy? On the floor, next
   to the bed, about halfway down, maybe a little toward the foot of the bed.
   Same spot in the floor, next to almost every bed occupied by a man, in
   every room. I'll leave the rest to your imagination,” he said.

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