How clean is YOUR hotel room? Potentially dangerous levels of bacteria found in UK hotels

BBC One’s Rip Off Britain: Holidays programme tested five hotel rooms in the UK, from budget options to high-end luxury, to see how much bacteria was in each one.

The investigation found a shocking amount of bacteria in the three-star, four-star and five-star hotels – with the five-star being the dirtiest of the lot.

Testing six different areas in each room, the team found that on three of these in the five-star – the light switch, remote control and blanket bed cover – there was so much bacteria that it was impossible to count it all in the lab.

The worst offender was the blanket, but the bathroom door handle also had high levels of bacteria.

Doctor Margarita Gomez-Escalada who did the testing said: “As you leave the toilet the handle is the area everybody has touched, everybody's flushed, everybody has hopefully washed their hands and touched the taps but not everybody’s hand washing technique is robust and therefore the chances of contamination on the five star hotel handle are high.”

In the four-star, some bacteria levels found were “potentially dangerous”.

Apart from the bathroom door handle all the other areas tested had high levels of bacteria.

However, it was the bacteria found in a glass tumbler in the bathroom which was “off the scale” and therefore potentially dangerous.

“The high levels of bacteria on the glass is concerning because you’re potentially ingesting the bacteria and that could make you sick,” said Dr Gomez-Escalada.

“For at risk groups; the very old, the very young, those with low immunity coming into contact with this level of bacteria could be potentially dangerous.”

Meanwhile, the three-star hotel had shockingly high levels of bacteria in several areas – in particular the main light switch. This had so many bacteria colonies on it that in the lab they developed a layer of foam on the petri dish.

Surprisingly, the budget and two-star hotels fared the best, with the two-star emerging victorious as the cleanest room.

There was no bacteria on the door handle and the light switch, and the other items had low levels of bacteria. 

According to the experts there was evidence of an effective cleansing regime and therefore minimum risks.

Gloria Hunniford, Rip Off Britain: Holidays presenter, said: “Consumers agree that hotel room cleanliness is non-negotiable regardless of room price. Our investigation shows that the higher end rooms we tested are far dirtier than the budget rooms, and should make consumers think twice about what you get for your money. 

“There could be more germs lurking in the hotel rooms that look spotless than you think.”  

Rip Off Britain: Holidays saw that reports into the working conditions of cleaning in the hotel industry found that some hotels do still enforce strict targets for how many rooms must be cleaned during a set time frame. 

One study found that a branch of a well-known chain even withheld some pay if cleaners didn’t clean enough rooms during their shift – meaning that efficiency is prized over thorough cleaning.

Rip Off Britain: Holidays airs today at 9.15am on BBC One.