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She’s got some inn-side information for prospective hotel guests.
A former hotelier is raising alarm bells after detailing 10 surprising things she would never do at a hotel, including using the glasses and showering without shoes. Clips detailing the industry insider’s hotel hacks collectively boast more than a million views on TikTok.
“[Five] things I would NEVER do working for a hotel,” reads the caption to Part 1 of the two-parter, posted by user @QueenEvangeline25, who used to work in the hospitality sector and frequently gives video tips to prospective hotel guests on the platform.
Her first hotel hot tip: Put everyone’s name on the reservation, so that every guest can obtain a key from the front desk — even when the person who booked it isn’t with them.
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“If there is more than one person staying in the room, I would never not add their name on the reservation,” Evangeline explained in the first clip with over 750,000 likes. “If the primary person happens to be gone and the other person gets locked out and they go to the front desk and their name isn’t on the room reservation, they won’t be allowed in. They won’t get a key, period.”
And don’t let their pristine appearance fool you, says Evangeline. Hotel rooms are apparently not as clean as their welcome screens would have you believe.
“Your cleaning and my cleaning are different cleaning, you feel me?” says Evangeline, who advises prospective guests to wipe down the hotel TV remotes with a “Clorox wipe” and “never use the [drinking] glasses in the room.”
“I’m talking about the glasses in the room ready for you to use. I would never use them without washing them first,” suggests the resort guru.
Tired after a grueling flight? Don’t jump into those sheets just yet as the bedspread is “not washed often,” she claimed.
“Those bedspreads get cleaned like maybe once a year, so don’t sit on those,” warned Evangeline, who reportedly whips the cover off upon arriving in the room. However, she noted that the spreads at upscale accommodations are usually hunky dory to jump on sans sterilization.
Replying to @neyugnydnim #5thingschallenge #5thingsiwouldneverdo #hotel #motel #guests #hospitalityindustry #queenevangeline #queenevangeline25
In Part 3 of her hotel public service announcement, Evangeline advises against using the ice bucket without a liner and walking on the hotel carpet without shoes — which she reportedly wears even in the shower.
“I would always have a pair of flip-flops on… I would also not take a shower without wearing them,” cautions the motel maven.
Even cleaning cloths can get guests dirty, according to Evangeline, who refrains from using the hotel washcloth on her body or face.
“I will use a towel, but I will not use a washcloth. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people have used that on their body and, it’s not that they’re not washed or sterilized, but having that many people coming into close contact with their body parts with a washcloth and then put it on me . . . no, I’m good.”
She added, “Just to clarify, when I say I use a towel, I will use the body towel very, very gingerly.”
Evangeline’s not just being paranoid. A 2020 survey by travel service UpgradedPoints found that even five-star accommodations are cesspools of microbes, with the average hotel elevator button boasting 737 times more germs than a household toilet seat, Forbes reported. Meanwhile, the average hotel door handle had a whopping 918 times more bugs than a household toilet seat, per the study.
Beyond the grime, Evangeline had other tips to travel savvier. Points programs might seem like a scam, but she recommends amassing as many as possible, explaining: “I would never not sign up for the point program, whatever point program that the hotel is offering.”
“Back in the day, you used to really have to let some of the points accumulate to actually use them for something good,” she said. “But these days, they actually allow you to use them for other things such as Amazon points.”
Hotels are also not the bastions of safety and security that one would think. As such, Evangeline warns prospective hotel guests to refrain from announcing their hotel room number out loud at the front desk.
“If you notice, the front desk agent will write your room number on a piece of paper. They’ll circle it and direct you to the elevators. They don’t say your room number out loud,” she cautions. “At least they’re not supposed to, and you shouldn’t either.”
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