Hotel room cups

seriously put off hotels now and I have always looked so forward to my little bit of luxury. Years ago stayed in a self catering cottage and enjoyed every day until the leaving day when we stripped the beds only to discover the awful duvet was something I wouldn't give to my worst enemy. Yes, we did leave a note.

When my new born baby Granddaughter was in a special care unit following seizures, I spent a lot of time at the hospital doing what I could to help. On one occasion the doctor asked us to wait outside so I sat in the corridor opposite the toilets. The door to the toilet was open and a cleaner was in there busily working away. I watched her industriously cleaning the toilet bowl and seat, then use the same cloth to wipe the taps and sink. I was quite simply amazed. What the eye doesn't see .....?

Does anyone remember that French & Saunders sketch where they are hotel chambermaids cleaning rooms in about two minutes flat? I can still see Jennifer Saunders wiping the loo and then the toothbrush glasses with the same cloth. I have no doubt that this standard practice! Also recently there was a news item where a guest on vacating his hotel room placed a note inside the bedclothes along the lines of "If you are reading this, then the sheets have not been changed." Needless to say, it was found by the next occupant of the room...

The last time I was in hospital, I watched a cleaner change the bed after a patient was discharged and he was amazingly thorough. Every scrap of bedding was removed, every part of the bed frame was wiped with disinfectant, the mattress was wiped then turned over and the reverse was wiped, then the bed was made up with everything from the clean laundry pile including fresh pillows. Very reassuring.

Staying in a hotel at this very moment and this thread has prompted me to quickly wash our glasses, but too late for the mugs as we've just had a cup of tea!!I won't think about it.

I always drink just above where the cup handle is stuck on when in cafes working on the -probably misguided-assumption that no-one else drinks there. As for chefs spitting in food a friend of a friend of my daughter's was head chef in the kitchen of a very upmarket hotel when maggie thatcher came to dine. He hated her and her policies with a passion so he actually wee'd in her soup.

Did anyone see the episode of QI when someone said that some people in hotels put the kettle by their bed and piss in it to save them having to get up in the night.

I have a friend who 'reuses' lemon slices from one G+T to another, didn't see anything wrong with this!

My DS had a girlfriend with a part time job in a small local hotel once. She said she was given 1 cloth to do everything-bathroom, cups, surfaces etc .Now I always rinse with boiling water before using them.

Be careful,deedaa,your post could be libellous.

Well some posters make me think you're very precious
What happens if you get taken into hospital do you refuse to lie your head on a pillow till it's inspected ....you hope it s been changed but what if it hasn't dandibelle you worry about people's breath being left behind on a pillow do you realise how daft that sounds
I really think its way over the top don't any of you eat in restaurants or cafes ? when you go round a friends for a coffee do you ask to wash you're cup up before having a drink you ve no idea where it's been standing
Just relax and don't overthink these things, what if, what if

My daughter worked in a fast food type cafe serving toasted sandwiches etc. and the untouched/uneaten salad garnish would be transferred to plate for the next order!

They didn't even have cups for most of that time - just scooped up water in unwashed hands

Just think that the human race has survived for 1000s years without the benefits of cleaning materials - or even hot water - and wartime soldiers in the desert "washed" their plates etc in sand. We've become far too bothered by these things. Don't think about - just go and enjoy yourself.

My opinion is "what the eye don't see, the heart don't grieve", my DM brought me up to that saying. I don't let it worry me too much unless something is obviously unhygenic

Life's too short, I do feel sorry for any-one who is OCD as it must be a nightmare.

Reminds me of the joke about a chap who left his pint on the bar in the pub whilst he went to the gents. He put a note on it which read "I have spat in this beer" and when he came back someone had added "So have I".

When in our car driving to a hotel, we always take our own pillows with us. Can't stand the thought of hundreds of guests breathing/ coughing into the pillow. Have even packed a flat pillow when we have been flying abroad!

I always take my own because the ones in hotel rooms are often dolly-cup sized. I like a good mug which I can wrap my hands around and snuggle up on the comfy bed in front of the telly.

My hubby has a friend who licks his chocolate biscuit if he has to leave the room so nobody will pinch it! As for hotel cups it has always worried me too. They are washed in the bathroom and dried with what? Probably one of the bathroom towels, which may have been used. I always hide my toothbrush in my bag.

We were in a hotel abroad somewhere and a cleaner actually came into the bathroom whilst my daughter was on the loo. We asked my daughter not to lock the door as she was young but didn't actually expect the cleaner to carry on whilst she was in there! We weren't happy but no good telling the cleaner, she didn't speak English.

I knew someone years ago who was a call out engineer. He visited very upmarket restaurant in Hampstead, where a customer had complained of something and he saw the chef spit in the food that was replaced. Also somebody worked in a Cornwall restaurant for the summer season, when they made prawn cocktail, they used all the bad bits of lettuce to put in the bottom of the dish!!!!! I'm ocd anyway about cleanliness I suppose if I dwelt on all of this - I would NEVER eat out.

Use asterisks, not quotation marks.

Just a small technical point - I thought if I used quotation marks and put the name in between it would show up in bold - what am I doing wrong?

"Diddy1" - I agree with you life is far too short. We've all reached a certain age relatively unscathed which maybe in part due to all the germs and bugs we've ingested.

Oh dear, as others have said, if in doubt just rinse your cup, as I think I will in the future, the toothbrush bit doesnt sound too healthy, perhaps best to hide that too, but then it is being a bit paranoid, and we have survived some years, without knowing about these things, I think we will survive a bit longer if we dont think about it too much, life is getting shorter!