How Clean is Your Hotel Room or Airplane?

As you travel to visit friends and relatives during the holidays or during your summer vacation, most of us assume that our hotel rooms, the restaurants, the airports, the airplanes and other public places are clean.  In most cases, in fact, these areas look and smell clean, and there is little evidence of the germs that have been left behind.  However, according to a Travel and Leisure article entitled "Germiest Places You Encounter While Traveling," you may want to use hand sanitizer or sanitizing wipes to clean up your hotel room as well as other public places you encounter during your travels.

Listed below are the places and specific items that were mentioned by Travel and Leisure, as well as additional items that were brought up in reports on my local television news station   You will want to take special care to either not use the items listed below, to wipe them off, or to santitize your hands after you use them whenever you are traveling.  In addition, you will want to take the same precautions with any questionable items, whether they are on the list, or not.

Avoiding Germs in Your Hotel Room:

Television Remote Control
Hotel light switches
Hotel Bedspreads (which is rarely washed)
Glass hotel glasses (which are sometimes simply wiped off with a towel)

Avoiding Germs at the Airport and on the Airplane:

Airplane Bathrooms
Airplane Tray Tables
Airplane seat pockets (and arm rests)
Airline blankets and pillows
Touch screen ticket kiosks (this applies to rail travel, too)

Avoiding Germs in Public Places:

Public Water Fountains
Restaurant table tops (a sanitizing wipe is a great idea)
The seats of restaurant chairs (avoid touching your seat)
Handrails on stairs, cruise ships, escalators, etc.  (Don't use them unless it is necessary for your safety, and then clean your hands with hand sanitizer afterwards.)

If you wish to see the complete research data, read the full Travel and Leisure article at "Germiest Places You Encounter While Traveling."

You may also want to read:

Are You Confident in the Patient Safety at Your Local Hospital?

You are reading from the blog:  http://lies-and-liars.blogspot.com

Photo of airport courtesy of www.morguefile.com