Are Hotel Bathtubs Clean Or Are They Full Of Germs?

If you’re one of those people who loves a good soak in the tub, vacation probably feels like the perfect time to indulge in this simple luxury. Or perhaps you’re a parent who needs to give their kid a bath while you’re away on a trip.

But if you’re staying in a hotel, you may wonder exactly how clean the bathtub actually is ― or what it’s cleaned with.

According to a report on Safehome.org, shower curtains and shower floors (including bathtubs) have 60 times more bacteria than a toilet seat. In other words, toilet seats are pretty clean by comparison. Yikes.

Of course, cleaning your tub and replacing your shower curtain liner regularly can help with this issue, but in a hotel, you might not know exactly how often bathtubs are cleaned, or if they’re even cleaned after every guest leaves. So we turned to the experts to get the scoop on your favorite hotel amenity.

According to Mary D’Argenis, president and founder of MDA Hospitality, a company that trains hotel housekeepers, yes, you can be confident that the tub (and entire bathroom) are taken care of after each guest leaves.

In fact, the COVID-19 pandemic was actually a game-changer (in a good way) for how hotel bathtubs are cleaned.

“Guest bathrooms are one of the most sensitive areas to clean in hotel rooms,” she said. “Guests expect the space to be sanitized and free of germs, and hotels made strategic efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic to expressly communicate their cleaning practices.”

She added that hotels implemented protocols for indicating to guests which areas of the bathroom had been specifically sanitized — like bathtubs, toilet seats and counter spaces — so that the guesswork of “How clean is my bathtub?” was eliminated. In many places, you may have seen small cards or signs in your bathroom with this information.

Four years later, we’re all much less germ-cautious than we were even two years ago. But D’Aregnis said that many hotels had strict bathroom cleaning measures in place before COVID hit.

“For some hotel companies, sanitation practices were in place even before the COVID era and continue to be a priority,” she said. “Featuring their relationship with consumer-trusted brands … is reassuring to guests. Further, many of these trusted products require employee training to ensure they are used correctly. Hotel companies highlighting these partnerships support guest comfort and safety.”

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