Dirty hotel rooms: Hidden camera shows what really gets cleaned (CBC Marketplace)

[Music] this is Carol and Dennis she's a marketplace viewer this is your pink hair today we're rigging her up with hidden cameras I think we're gonna have a good day so now she's a marketplace detective with her help we're going undercover to test just how clean hotels actually are when I saw you a program last year I was horrified cuz last year we all saw things we'd rather forget one scene that especially was when the woman washed the toilet remember this housekeeper we caught on camera she swirled the toilet brush in the toilet then the sink and faucet I couldn't believe my eyes that that was happening it got Carol Ann and lots of you asking have hotels shaped up because as you're about to find out cuz this week on marketplace I wonder what we'll find this time we're checking in again how hotels cleaned up their act wow that doesn't look good does it look we showed them the problems could this be the same stain as last year it's possible have they found solutions absolutely cross-contamination city isn't it find out how to protect yourself with our hotel Survival Guide it works [Music] we're in Toronto with nurse Carol and Dennis hotels should be offering a clean environment to a traveler she loves to travel and knows how picking up a bug can ruin a trip so important that I stay in a clean room so that I don't get sick so she's heading in to six Toronto hotels with a marketplace producer to see how clean hotels claim to be a top priority hotels teller we have to make sure that everything is with your okay network reader expectations now that's assurance yes perfect there's that mommy she's convinced so far I believe if I booked a room here that I would get a clean room but should you believe what you're being told last year marketplace put six hotel chains to the test across the country and uncovered some grimy facts hotels can be pretty dirty could even make you sick after our story aired hotel chains told us they were addressing test results retraining staff on proper cleaning procedures and doing increased inspections so have those promises made any difference while Carol Ann sleuths at the front desk upstairs I'm attempting a disguise well sorta along with partner in crime keith warner remember him he's one of Canada's top microbiologist and a prof. at the University of Guelph this suitcase holds all the tools to measure germs our getup might be overkill but we're trying to keep our cover because the hotel industry sure saw our show at super 8 listen to what Carol Ann hears cleaning every day for our truth problem solved says the Sheridan that was whatever and at Econo Lodge he passes the buck what the show wasn't much of us action it was the housekeeping miss decorative uses cymraeg she okay that was ever said but the other things you see that wasn't us actually you're about to find out it was in Toronto we're checking back into every chain three rooms for hotel our first stop Econo Lodge last year the chain ranked lowest on our cleanliness scale so the only way to go is up right oh there's that smell again yeah it's culpability doesn't it familiar smell familiar room it's one of the same rooms we originally tested that's just close to Cubs out comes the blacklight it uncovers what you can't normally see inside the coffee filters looks quite clean so it looks better than last year but it doesn't take long to notice something Econolodge didn't so what we also noticed last time was the walls were notoriously should we say stained remember that urine stain the stain we pointed out to Econolodge last year see those streaks that's likely urine going down the wall does that look like it would be meeting a guests expectation of a clean room it wouldn't look like it's meeting my expectation of the standards we set as an organization so what about those standards finding it once bad enough but still they're exactly the same listen to that looks like another waterfall oh all the way dripping down like nothing's changed has it we highlighted this and I believe was an acceptable land it's not good we share our findings with Carol Ann that's unacceptable something should be done about that and something should be done - about beds if hotels learned anything from our tests Keith says it should have been to focus on cleaner beds after all when we checked into the Best Western last year our findings were pretty gross it's a deal nail clippings one two three four five all over the bed how were they missed so we head back to Best Western scene of the crime last year it said it would continue to train and educate housekeeping teams with inspection black lights so coming on to the fro then well the first thing you notice is the real heavy dusting is you hardly need a black light to spot the dust it's all over last time we found nail clippings here so we don't see those this time I don't know she's sure slight improvement Bardot no I think I put prefer the clippings all this dust to Yanis seems like Best Westerns got off to a good start Oh David Oh dirty pillowcases yuck drool maybe um oh yes I think the best you could say it's true suddenly we've just discovered a bedbug we've got company yeah I think it's such a spliff flying okay it's not a bedbug but I do know this should not be on a comforter no oh yeah how about under the comforter Wow doesn't look good does it oh look at that well definitely some sort of stuffing a liquid of some kind it's not tissue why are we still seeing this kind of shoddy cleaning well I think with this company salvaged sable might have listened to program might have heard the evidence but there's no real difference if anything I think the company's gone backwards rather than forwards on on the cleaning and not just the Best Western we find dirty bedding at every single hotel we test coming up the bottom line is money in a lot of places Oh in goes the sponge you just put the sponge in with that wet toilet brush wait'll we reveal this big dick factor how good a job can a cleaner do if this is what they're given and what they do better this time find out how hotels ranked from worst to best [Music] I'm undercover in Toronto with microbiologist Keith Warriner a year after we first headed in we're checking in again to six of Canada's top hotel chains our mission find out if hotels are living up to promises of clean rooms like last year Keith pulls out his germ meter it measures how clean or germy a surface is anything under 300 is a pass between 300 and a thousand a caution anything over a thousand a fail in all six Toronto hotels like this Holiday Inn we find some low readings the toilet stakes sinking much more improved but we're still finding lots of cautions all this go for the force it is 657 and fails telephone 5656 that's very high and as we inspect upstairs Downstairs Carolyn's being sold assurances when you see over TV and they mention initial then you go hmm have they been taking care another obvious hot spot to test remote controls how will this Sheridan remote do look at 3200 58 that's even worse than the last time we tested remotes well it's 100 times more than you would expect from a clean surface and the highest count of all six hotels we test at the Best Western even this remote designed for easy cleaning fails it earns over 2600 unbelievable isn't it that is ridiculously high the frustrating thing I think care when people see this is that invested a lot of money on these nice design remotes but people don't clean them they sure don't last year we watch this housekeeper clean the room but ignore the remote so we give it a try if they're not gonna clean the remote control be proactive we wipe it down and swab again to see how the ten-second wykel affect it the result this time 5:30 cut it right down over 2000 reduction you're welcome future customer bottom line for these gadgets we find filthy remotes at every hotel we test except for super 8 and hey we're not expecting rooms to be sterile we just want them to actually be clean [Music] especially when we're talking bathrooms another area Keith says Hotel should be focusing on cuz last year we found some really high count like at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver Wow look at that six thousand five hundred twenty four same deal this year you can see things going at the Fairmont Royal York the highest count on any high touch surface we test well you know that's the amazing isn't it thirty thousand six hundred and four Paul design how can you clean that is impossible but the germ meter can only tell so much Keith applies what's called contact plates they pick up bacteria help it grow so we can find out what's hiding last time round we found superbugs antibiotic resistant bacteria in every hotel we tested at Toronto's Fairmont Royal York Mrs a was growing on the faucet you found a super bug a bug that can kill people in a high-end hotel room exactly and as I said it's not so unexpected because M RSA is widespread but to find it on a faucet we should have been cleaned was a very alarming in response to our findings the Royal York tweeted us saying they were taking a report seriously and that many measures are in place so how's that working out do you think we might find that again would surprise me if we find an RSA again but time will tell we'll definitely find something let's boot that away and we do not on the faucet but other places like this comforter there's lots at other hotels to some hotspots at the Holiday Inn it's on a lamp this Econolodge bedcover mr essays also on a Best Western telephone I'll be interesting to see this one and a Sheraton Center countertop if you're healthy you're probably okay but if not that super bug could be a big problem notice the only hotel we didn't mention no super bugs at super 8 the bottom line is money in a lot of places where these rooms need to be clean they're understaffed and they do what they need to get done at the expense of the customer what comes at the expense of the customer as part of our test everything's wrong right now we're setting up hidden cameras again I was just wondering if someone could come clean my room so we can see what's going on when we're not there cuz last year there were some surprises like this glass being washed with dirty gloves and placed back in the room that was the Sheraton what's going on this year more washing in the sink this time at the Royal York another higher-end hotel I head to the University of Guelph back to show Keith our new hidden camera footage starting with the Royal York just might even me cringe as a microbiologist at the Sheridan watch how this housekeeper wipes the toilet from inside out and on a toilet seat we find C difficile a dangerous super bug is anything you see here a possible explanation the fact C difficile was there just illustration she wasn't sanitizing she was just wiping so it's just putting it from one place sort of a place cross contaminating not decontaminating one big spread fest exactly same poor cleaning at the Holiday Inn and the super 8 but heat has a theory about what else is causing high contamination counts the containers hotels supply house keepers what do you think about all of the supplies being in one container well that's slightly concerning because suffice if you're in the same container going to be cross contaminating and after cleaning out this toilet bowl the brush gets put back in the caddy on the counter imagine each drop of water can have about a billion bacteria you just transferring them and the results indicate that was happening big time and at the super 8 a different container all together she's got a milk jug with a toilet brush and a sponge in the same container absolutely cross-contamination city isn't it this is notorious as a sort of attractant for contamination spreading contamination you should never use a sponge Oh in goes the sponge you just put the sponge in with that wet toilet brush and squirting sanitizer here and there it's not enough to be effective how can you clean something if you're not going to use sanitizer do you think the cleaners are being given the proper equipment to prevent cross contamination the god given the equipment not given the training without those two all they can give you is their sort of spirit and hard work coming up we reveal our hotel rankings well the best western states gone to the worse Western and my Survival Guide to help protect you okay here's what I do we've been dropping in on big hotel chains to find out if they kept their promises to clean up their act whoa there you go 6152 six thousand over six thousand on a bedside lamp not what you hoped huh Wow look at that it's like the constellation stars it's not it's total dust it up marketplace was here I guess nobody else was we've crunched our test results and ranked the Toronto hotels from least improved to most who comes in last so we've done all of our testing what's the big picture here well the Best Western estates gone to the worse Western so the microbiological counts look fine although overall they've taken a big step backwards so the Best Western earns the worst spot I'll be fair to say which one's next the hotel that still has urine on its walls Econolodge they've made some improvements with fresh bath mats it's very pristine is no mold on it at all but beds still weren't clean and there were high counts of bacteria everywhere so Econolodge doesn't do well but who's almost tied the holiday is so Keith what do you think this is another hotel has gone backwards on their cleaning standards yikes in the middle of the pack the Sheridan Center it had the highest number of super bugs but when we found e.coli in an ice machine last year the Sheridan stepped up its cleaning skid so now they're clean as a whistle what's marketplace viewer Carol Ann thing when you present to them the areas of a problem and they do something about it it makes people want to come and stay with them slightly better in our rankings the Royal York they washed a glass in the sink and had some really high bacterial counts but we did see improvements after you notice whatsoever amazing spotless it is so which hotel ranks the cleanest and most improved of all the hotels we test drum roll please super 8 yep one of the no frills chains what they do better this time well the decor could be improved and their issues with the bathroom cleaning but overall it was one of the best hotels visited from a sanitary point of view but big picture the hotel industry has a ways to go to clean up its act we ask all the chains for interviews we also ask the Hotel Association of Canada they all say no guess they have reservations so when I travel I take things into my own hands ok here's what I do first thing outcome the alcohol wipes four light switches door handles the phone and clock radio the taps and toilet seat I put a towel down for my toiletries and my own cup means I don't have to hope hotel glasses are clean when it comes to the notorious remote control I put it in a baggie it works lastly I keep a pair of slippers just for hotels it all sounds like a lot but it takes two minutes worth it once you know the dirt on hotels so how clean was your room go to cbc.ca slash marketplace now and fill out our hotel guests comment card [Music]

Channel: CBC News

Views: 11,150,319

Rating: 4.5447049 out of 5

Keywords: Marketplace (Award-Winning Work), cbc marketplace, hotels, contamination, Bacteria (Organism Classification), superbugs, hidden camera, canada

Id: GL-4Woy94a0

Length: 21min 50sec (1310 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 11 2014

Reddit Comments

[u/THE_CRUSTIEST]

Jeesh. Good thing C. Diff and staphylococcus don't make me worry. It's the vomiting that does.