0:00:03 > 0:00:05We asked you who has left you
0:00:05 > 0:00:08feeling ripped off when it comes to your holidays
0:00:08 > 0:00:11and you came back with a catalogue of travel disasters.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14When we got to the hotel it wasn't to standard.
0:00:14 > 0:00:15We felt totally ripped off.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17And we paid to move somewhere else.
0:00:17 > 0:00:21It happens all the time that somebody else has paid less
0:00:21 > 0:00:23for the holiday that I paid more for.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25So whether it's a deliberate rip off,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28a simple mistake or a catch in the small print,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32we'll find out why you're out of pocket and what you can do about it.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36Your stories, your money.
0:00:36 > 0:00:38This is Rip Off Britain.
0:00:39 > 0:00:43Hello, and huge thanks for joining us once again on Rip Off Britain.
0:00:43 > 0:00:46We're totally delighted to have your company where as ever,
0:00:46 > 0:00:50we're investigating more of the stories that you've asked us to look into on your behalf.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52Now, the only difference is - and you may have noticed it,
0:00:52 > 0:00:54is that in this series,
0:00:54 > 0:00:58we're doing it in glorious sunshine as we're focusing on everything
0:00:58 > 0:01:00to do with holidays and travel.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02And as I'm sure most of you will agree,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05a key part of any holiday is where you're staying, so today,
0:01:05 > 0:01:07it's hotels that we're putting under the spotlight,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10as you'll see in more ways than one.
0:01:10 > 0:01:11Now, I have to admit that for me,
0:01:11 > 0:01:15as long as a place has been properly cleaned and the sheets are lovely and fresh, then, on the whole,
0:01:15 > 0:01:19I'm pretty happy but we've been doing some tests to see
0:01:19 > 0:01:23just how clean your average hotel room really is.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26And I think we're going to be in for a few surprises, aren't we, Julia?
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Possibly even shocks.
0:01:28 > 0:01:29Just wait till you see what we found.
0:01:29 > 0:01:31And perhaps most surprisingly,
0:01:31 > 0:01:36it seems whether you've paid ?35 or ?140 for your room,
0:01:36 > 0:01:40cleanliness isn't guaranteed, and in case you're wondering,
0:01:40 > 0:01:43all our tests were in hotels in the UK.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48Coming up - as our test results are checked in a lab,
0:01:48 > 0:01:50how clean is your hotel room?
0:01:50 > 0:01:53Bacteria are invisible to the naked eye
0:01:53 > 0:01:57and so some things may look clean when they're not.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02And what determines how many stars a hotel deserves?
0:02:02 > 0:02:07Why you could be heading for disappointment if the ratings don't mean what you expect.
0:02:07 > 0:02:09Five-star, for me, meant luxury.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14Beautiful food, excellent service, be treated like an absolute queen.
0:02:17 > 0:02:20Now, whether the hotel you choose to stay in is simply a place to lay
0:02:20 > 0:02:24your head at the end of the day, or is a key part of your trip,
0:02:24 > 0:02:28one thing you're going to expect as a given, is that at least it's clean.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31I know I certainly do and that's the same whether it's a budget option
0:02:31 > 0:02:33or indeed a five-star hotel.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35But I'm afraid just because a room looks spotless,
0:02:35 > 0:02:38it doesn't mean that it's been thoroughly cleaned.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42There may be all sorts of things that the naked eye can't see and, in fact,
0:02:42 > 0:02:46the signs of previous occupants may unfortunately still be there.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50So, if you've ever wondered what secrets your hotel room might be hiding,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53we've done some tests to see what not just former guests have left,
0:02:53 > 0:02:56but, more importantly, what the cleaners might have left behind.
0:02:59 > 0:03:03Now, we all want to stay in a room that's scrupulously clean.
0:03:03 > 0:03:07But there are over 700,000 individual hotel rooms in the UK.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10And there could be more than you realise
0:03:10 > 0:03:13lurking in even the ones that look spotless.
0:03:15 > 0:03:19Delia Cannings is something of a cleaning guru.
0:03:19 > 0:03:21What we have been doing this morning
0:03:21 > 0:03:25is looking at the impact of acid descalers on toilets.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28She trains people how to clean hotel rooms
0:03:28 > 0:03:31to the highest possible standard.
0:03:31 > 0:03:32And as someone who really knows,
0:03:32 > 0:03:36she says the industry as a whole doesn't always get it right.
0:03:36 > 0:03:41Sometimes, there is a priority of cleaning for presentation
0:03:41 > 0:03:44as opposed to cleaning for hygiene.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48We want you to walk in and we want you to be wowed and it looks lovely,
0:03:48 > 0:03:51it looks wonderful, it smells wonderful.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55Is it clean? The expectation of the guest is that they're staying in a
0:03:55 > 0:03:59clean environment and will leave that environment as healthy
0:03:59 > 0:04:00as they walked in.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04But as we'll see, there's more to cleanliness than meets the eye
0:04:04 > 0:04:05and Delia has concerns that
0:04:05 > 0:04:08sometimes the working conditions of hotel cleaners
0:04:08 > 0:04:10can make it difficult for them to
0:04:10 > 0:04:13always do the job as thoroughly as they would like.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18It has been known, in some organisations,
0:04:18 > 0:04:23for the people doing the cleaning to be paid by the room,
0:04:23 > 0:04:25as opposed to by the hour.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29Now, that is a real issue and it is being addressed.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32It's the exception, rather than the rule, but it happens.
0:04:32 > 0:04:38And, of course, if you've got people who are having to do more rooms
0:04:38 > 0:04:40to make a reasonable living,
0:04:40 > 0:04:44then the attention to detail is going to be lacking and, sadly,
0:04:44 > 0:04:45the standard will suffer.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50Recent reports into the treatment of cleaning staff in the hotel industry
0:04:50 > 0:04:52found that some hotels do still
0:04:52 > 0:04:55enforce strict targets for how many rooms
0:04:55 > 0:04:57must be cleaned during a set timeframe.
0:05:00 > 0:05:05And one study found that a branch of a well-known chain even withheld
0:05:05 > 0:05:08some pay if cleaners didn't clean enough rooms
0:05:08 > 0:05:10during their five-hour shift.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13Of course, many hotels have standards that staff must work to -
0:05:13 > 0:05:17for example, both the AA and Visit England have guidance laying out
0:05:17 > 0:05:19what they expect from their members.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22But guidance like this can sometimes understandably
0:05:22 > 0:05:25place emphasis on the visual appearance of a room. For example,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29part of the AA's guidance says that rooms of all star ratings should be
0:05:29 > 0:05:33cleaned daily and be looking clean and smelling fresh.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36However, microbiologist Dr Margarita Gomez Escalada
0:05:36 > 0:05:38from Leeds Beckett University
0:05:38 > 0:05:41says that when it comes to cleanliness,
0:05:41 > 0:05:44looks can sometimes be deceiving.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46I think visual checks, in the most part,
0:05:46 > 0:05:48are a good way to check levels of cleanliness,
0:05:48 > 0:05:50particularly looking for dust
0:05:50 > 0:05:53that indicates things have not been cleaned well enough.
0:05:53 > 0:05:59However, I think, in some places, particularly high-traffic places,
0:05:59 > 0:06:01visual checks may not go far enough.
0:06:01 > 0:06:06One thing we need to remember is that bacteria are invisible to
0:06:06 > 0:06:11the naked eye and so, some things may look clean when they're not.
0:06:11 > 0:06:16The question is, are all hotels living up to these exacting standards or could some of them
0:06:16 > 0:06:19be harbouring those dirty secrets?
0:06:19 > 0:06:21Well, with the help of Dr Escalada,
0:06:21 > 0:06:23we conducted an investigation of our own,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27testing a range of hotels on the cleanliness and hygiene standards.
0:06:29 > 0:06:33First, she trained members of the Rip Off Britain team.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37So, for the swabbing, over the flat surface, you need the template,
0:06:37 > 0:06:38you need some swabs.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43They're being taught the intricacies of collecting swab samples
0:06:43 > 0:06:46for analysis at her university lab.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51Our aim is to look more closely at apparently spotless hotel rooms
0:06:51 > 0:06:53and find out just how clean they really are.
0:06:55 > 0:07:01The areas of the hotel that we're going to swab are the light switch,
0:07:01 > 0:07:04the bathroom door handle, a glass, the desk,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06the remote control and the bedspread.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10The reason we've chosen these to swab is because
0:07:10 > 0:07:12these are high-traffic items,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16meaning that we're most likely to be in contact with them when we
0:07:16 > 0:07:17go into a hotel room.
0:07:17 > 0:07:21So, the team sets off on its mission to test five hotel rooms,
0:07:21 > 0:07:23ranging from a basic budget option
0:07:23 > 0:07:26through to the top-of-the-tree five-star.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29But how many will pass our undercover cleaning test?
0:07:29 > 0:07:31Well, later in the programme,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34we'll be back at the lab to see exactly what we found.
0:07:38 > 0:07:42A touch of luxury, outstanding customer service,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44the best of the best -
0:07:44 > 0:07:47booking into a five-star hotel really does, I suppose,
0:07:47 > 0:07:49conjure up different messages for all of us.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51But on the whole, I think we agree
0:07:51 > 0:07:53that we'll usually be willing to shell out
0:07:53 > 0:07:55just that little bit of extra money
0:07:55 > 0:07:57to stay somewhere that is extra special.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00Unfortunately, however, you very often tell us that
0:08:00 > 0:08:04the five-star establishment that you had thought you had checked into
0:08:04 > 0:08:07turned out to be far from the stellar experience
0:08:07 > 0:08:09that you were expecting.
0:08:09 > 0:08:12Now, that's partly because with no set standard
0:08:12 > 0:08:15either in the UK or abroad for that matter,
0:08:15 > 0:08:18determining what exactly deserves to be called a five-star
0:08:18 > 0:08:22or, indeed, any number of stars is not as simple as you might think.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29Because that five-star experience generally costs more,
0:08:29 > 0:08:32I think we all assume we'll be getting nothing but the best
0:08:32 > 0:08:33and a superlative experience
0:08:33 > 0:08:36is exactly what Alison Jones and her fiance Michael
0:08:36 > 0:08:38were looking for when they booked in to
0:08:38 > 0:08:40the Hilton Hurghada resort in Egypt.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44After seeing it advertised on Teletext Holidays
0:08:44 > 0:08:46as a five-star all inclusive resort,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50they paid ?1,578 for a two-week trip.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53We were looking for a special holiday
0:08:53 > 0:08:56and we saw the Hilton, five-star,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59and we thought, "Wow, it's going to be amazing. Absolutely amazing."
0:08:59 > 0:09:01We were so looking forward to it.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03We were so excited.
0:09:03 > 0:09:08To have that sort of holiday is a once-in-a-lifetime for me.
0:09:08 > 0:09:11And those five stars meant a lot to Alison.
0:09:12 > 0:09:16Five-star was...for me, meant luxury.
0:09:16 > 0:09:21Beautiful food, beautiful surroundings, excellent service,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25top-of-the-range, all inclusive, be treated like an absolute queen.
0:09:26 > 0:09:31But Alison feels there was quite a gap between what she expected
0:09:31 > 0:09:34and what she got and, from the photos she took, it does seem that,
0:09:34 > 0:09:38at least, some parts of the hotel had seen better days.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41It was pokey, dirty,
0:09:41 > 0:09:44old-fashioned, needed painting.
0:09:44 > 0:09:47I was really, really disappointed.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51The "wealth of premium amenities" described on the Hilton website
0:09:51 > 0:09:54didn't live up to Alison and Michael's expectations
0:09:54 > 0:09:55and even their room -
0:09:55 > 0:09:58billed as "having stunning views of the Red Sea"
0:09:58 > 0:10:02and "the perfect place to unwind" - they felt was a let-down.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04It was not what I expected at all.
0:10:04 > 0:10:09It was dark, small - so we complained.
0:10:09 > 0:10:11And then they moved us to another room a few blocks up.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15When we arrived there, it was bigger,
0:10:15 > 0:10:19it was a better view, better balcony, um...
0:10:20 > 0:10:24..but, again, it was dirty, it was dingy.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26The couple complained and moved rooms a second time
0:10:26 > 0:10:28but they weren't happy with that one either
0:10:28 > 0:10:30and asked to change rooms yet again.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36In my eyes, they didn't do enough to change things.
0:10:36 > 0:10:41They left us moving rooms three times in three days.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44I don't expect that at the Hilton on my holiday,
0:10:44 > 0:10:46to unpack and pack three times.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51But when they also had serious concerns over the cleanliness
0:10:51 > 0:10:55of the pool area, the restaurant toilets, and there was a leak in one of their rooms,
0:10:55 > 0:10:58it felt to the couple that this was more like a three or even two-star
0:10:58 > 0:11:03experience than the five-star one they'd so looked forward to.
0:11:03 > 0:11:05So they had a meeting with the hotel's manager
0:11:05 > 0:11:07to voice their complaints.
0:11:07 > 0:11:10We said to them, "Five-star means luxury.
0:11:10 > 0:11:14"It means the best quality, the best service."
0:11:14 > 0:11:16He said that's what he provides.
0:11:17 > 0:11:18Keen to prove that,
0:11:18 > 0:11:20the manager waived their bar bill
0:11:20 > 0:11:23and offered them a free meal to make up for their disappointment.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26But though this gesture did go some way to appeasing the couple,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29they couldn't help feeling this was the sort of service
0:11:29 > 0:11:31that they'd expected all along.
0:11:31 > 0:11:35The last meal that we had, the one which they cooked specially for us,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38they brought out this beautiful fish - stunning.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Absolutely beautiful.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42I expected that every single day.
0:11:42 > 0:11:45Well, we put that to the company with which the couple had booked -
0:11:45 > 0:11:47Teletext Holidays -
0:11:47 > 0:11:49which said that though sorry the experience
0:11:49 > 0:11:51"didn't meet with expectations",
0:11:51 > 0:11:54as the couple hadn't raised concerns with the company at the time,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57it had been "unable to assist".
0:11:57 > 0:12:02It went on to explain that the star ratings it displays are based
0:12:02 > 0:12:04on suppliers' own ratings.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07We also contacted Hilton Worldwide
0:12:07 > 0:12:09which told us it was "extremely sorry"
0:12:09 > 0:12:12the couple hadn't enjoyed their holiday
0:12:12 > 0:12:15but "the hotel responded promptly and appropriately"
0:12:15 > 0:12:17to the issues raised.
0:12:17 > 0:12:21Taking "immediate steps" such as upgrading their room
0:12:21 > 0:12:24and providing additional dining options.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26It said it's "stepped up inspections"
0:12:26 > 0:12:29following Alison's comments about cleanliness and hygiene,
0:12:29 > 0:12:32which - though it takes extremely seriously -
0:12:32 > 0:12:36doesn't reflect the typical experience of either this resort
0:12:36 > 0:12:38or of those across the Hilton portfolio.
0:12:39 > 0:12:44But it added that it, too, relies on local tourism authorities to give
0:12:44 > 0:12:48their own star ratings and in this case, the Hilton Hurghada resort
0:12:48 > 0:12:52was "rated five-star by the Egyptian Ministry of tourism".
0:12:54 > 0:12:57But it's clear from both those responses
0:12:57 > 0:12:59that what constitutes five-star in one country
0:12:59 > 0:13:03may not necessarily make that grade somewhere else.
0:13:03 > 0:13:05In fact, Teletext Holidays does allude to that
0:13:05 > 0:13:08in the small print of its website where it says...
0:13:16 > 0:13:18And with each country, hotel chain,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22and holiday company likely to have its own individual criteria
0:13:22 > 0:13:24for deciding if a hotel merits one or five stars,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28it's not easy to get a consistent idea of what ANY of those ratings
0:13:28 > 0:13:29actually mean.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34Which is why there's now a campaign by the umbrella association
0:13:34 > 0:13:36for the European hospitality industry
0:13:36 > 0:13:40calling for a single and comparable hotel classification system.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44But so far, some of the most popular holiday destinations -
0:13:44 > 0:13:46France, Italy, and Spain, for example, have yet to sign up.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50Here in the UK, while there's no one single authority that sets
0:13:50 > 0:13:52and awards star ratings,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54there are various well-known bodies that, again,
0:13:54 > 0:13:58use their own measures to rate and rank hotels.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02Kirsty Lloyd-Dukes is from the AA, which sets out clearly
0:14:02 > 0:14:06what a hotel has to do to earn five of its stars.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08There are six different areas that we look at -
0:14:08 > 0:14:13service, hospitality, bedrooms, bathrooms, cleanliness, and food.
0:14:13 > 0:14:17And we look at a blend of the facilities - so, for example,
0:14:17 > 0:14:20how many beds does it have, what is the quality of the bedding,
0:14:20 > 0:14:22what's the quality of the pillows like,
0:14:22 > 0:14:24what are fittings like in the bathroom
0:14:24 > 0:14:27but we also look at the experience you have in the hotel.
0:14:27 > 0:14:29If you go up to a five-star, wow!
0:14:29 > 0:14:30I mean, you're going to be looking
0:14:30 > 0:14:33for excellence in every single level of service there.
0:14:33 > 0:14:34So, if you're a first-time guest,
0:14:34 > 0:14:36we'd expect you to be taken to your room,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39we'd expect to see a turndown service and really courteous welcome
0:14:39 > 0:14:41throughout, with all your needs looked after.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45But there can be huge differences in how hotel ratings are worked out
0:14:45 > 0:14:47across the globe.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49The AA rating is UK only.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52And unfortunately there is no one international standard for star ratings,
0:14:52 > 0:14:54so I think it'd be really difficult
0:14:54 > 0:14:56to have one global standardisation of hotels.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59I think that's because the way of living is very different in
0:14:59 > 0:15:01different countries, so your culture, your way of life,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04how you do things and, also, your standard of living
0:15:04 > 0:15:07can really vary between one country and another country.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10But fundamentally, the same principles should be the same wherever you travel.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13You should expect to have that really excellent level
0:15:13 > 0:15:15of service and facilities in a five-star hotel anywhere.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20Well, Alison would agree with that and she believes travel agents
0:15:20 > 0:15:23should be clearer about the inconsistencies
0:15:23 > 0:15:24in star rating systems
0:15:24 > 0:15:28so that holiday-makers don't expect something they may not get.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31I think travel providers should make people aware
0:15:31 > 0:15:33about the differences in five stars...accommodations.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39I think that not everybody realises that the starring system out there
0:15:39 > 0:15:40is different from ours.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45But I did expect a five-star system in place for the Hilton hotel.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55Earlier in the programme, we heard about the battle all hotels face to
0:15:55 > 0:15:58keep themselves scrupulously clean,
0:15:58 > 0:16:01and that means clean not just in a way that you can see,
0:16:01 > 0:16:03but that stands up to even closer scrutiny.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07But that's a tall order with hundreds, sometimes even thousands
0:16:07 > 0:16:11of people passing through every day and not much of a break in between.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14There's no doubt that cleaning staff can be rushed off their feet
0:16:14 > 0:16:17trying to get rooms ready for the next guest.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20So, what does that rapid turnaround mean for how thoroughly
0:16:20 > 0:16:21each room scrubs up?
0:16:21 > 0:16:24Well, in typical Rip Off Britain style,
0:16:24 > 0:16:26we've done some tests of our own to find out.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33You'll recall we set out to take a snapshot of what might be lurking
0:16:33 > 0:16:36in even the most spotless-looking rooms,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40sending swab samples to a lab to answer one simple question.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42How clean is your hotel room?
0:16:42 > 0:16:45The key is to be consistent.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50Medical microbiologist Margarita Gomez Escalada received 60 swabs
0:16:50 > 0:16:52from our crack team of testers,
0:16:52 > 0:16:55who sampled six high-traffic spots for bacteria.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59The light switch, bathroom door handle, a glass, the desk,
0:16:59 > 0:17:01the remote control and the bedspread.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07Our mission, to find out if splashing out more cash for a place
0:17:07 > 0:17:10to get your head down means you'll get a cleaner room.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15Margarita's experiment is designed to be a straightforward process from
0:17:15 > 0:17:18hotel room to petri dish, giving an accurate picture
0:17:18 > 0:17:19of every site tested.
0:17:21 > 0:17:25The swabbing process is a very simple, very effective process.
0:17:25 > 0:17:27It involves using a sterile swab,
0:17:27 > 0:17:30picking up the bacteria on the surface.
0:17:30 > 0:17:32Then, the swabs are taken back to the lab.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37Determining the numbers of bacteria that you find on surfaces
0:17:37 > 0:17:40is very important, because it gives you a really good indication
0:17:40 > 0:17:42of the level of cleanliness of a surface.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48We took swabs at a random sample of five hotels in the same town,
0:17:48 > 0:17:51each of which had a different star rating, from the equivalent of
0:17:51 > 0:17:55a one-star up to a five-star establishment.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57First up, our budget hotel.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01Many of the most familiar booking sites and rating schemes don't refer
0:18:01 > 0:18:05to one-star hotels any more, simply calling them budget options instead.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10The one we chose was a small independent on the edge of town,
0:18:10 > 0:18:12with rooms advertised from ?38 a night.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16So, what did Margarita make of
0:18:16 > 0:18:19the cleanliness at our bargain-basement establishment?
0:18:19 > 0:18:22So, for this hotel, things like the light switch,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25the door handle in the bathroom, the glass in the bathroom,
0:18:25 > 0:18:27since they have such low level of bacteria,
0:18:27 > 0:18:29show that they have been cleaned.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32She did, however, find a few bugs elsewhere.
0:18:32 > 0:18:38But, on the other hand, we found some more on the desk
0:18:38 > 0:18:40and the bed cover.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46And the one that was the highest was the remote control,
0:18:46 > 0:18:48which was this plate.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52But on the whole, for Margarita, this hotel comes out rather well.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56Overall, this hotel is pretty clean.
0:18:56 > 0:18:59Such low numbers indicates good levels of cleanliness.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02So, let's move on to the next rung up, a two-star rated hotel
0:19:02 > 0:19:06advertising rooms from ?93.
0:19:06 > 0:19:11The door handle or on the light switch, there was nothing.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15And then there was just low levels in the rest, really.
0:19:16 > 0:19:20And, whilst bacteria were found in slightly more significant levels
0:19:20 > 0:19:23on the bedspread, overall, again, it was a positive result,
0:19:23 > 0:19:25according to our experts.
0:19:25 > 0:19:29Next, a hotel rated by all the big-name, online booking sites
0:19:29 > 0:19:30as a three-star.
0:19:30 > 0:19:36Part of a chain, it advertised rooms from a very reasonable ?41 a night.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39This hotel fared much less favourably in the lab.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44Margarita found high levels of bacteria on the bedspread -
0:19:44 > 0:19:46and worse was to come.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48And that's the remote control, here,
0:19:48 > 0:19:53which is really difficult to estimate even how many there was.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56Margarita's measuring how many colonies of bacteria
0:19:56 > 0:19:59there are on each sample.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01Maybe 1,000 or even above.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06The higher the number, the dirtier the tested surface was,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09and Margarita would say anything over 150 is unacceptable.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13We were measuring for the presence of bacteria,
0:20:13 > 0:20:17not identifying what they were, so these could be any kind,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20from germs that are harmless to ones that might make you really ill.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22Either way, they're evidence that somewhere
0:20:22 > 0:20:25hasn't been cleaned properly.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29This is - which is even worse - is the light switch,
0:20:29 > 0:20:33and there are so many bacterial colonies on this plate
0:20:33 > 0:20:37that they have formed a film over the agar,
0:20:37 > 0:20:40and it's so very high that it's impossible to estimate.
0:20:40 > 0:20:44The high levels of bacteria indicate, for sure,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47that these areas have not been cleaned.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50Next, we pushed the boat out and booked a four-star,
0:20:50 > 0:20:56town-centre hotel with rooms advertised from about ?107 a night.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58But what did that buy us in terms of hygiene?
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Well, apart from the door handle,
0:21:02 > 0:21:04all the other areas we tested in this hotel
0:21:04 > 0:21:08had high levels of bacteria that Margarita found worrying.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13And there was one particular sample that looked quite innocent...
0:21:13 > 0:21:15This is the swab...
0:21:15 > 0:21:17..but actually yielded results that worried her
0:21:17 > 0:21:20more than anything so far.
0:21:20 > 0:21:24The level of bacteria we found in the glass - too high.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29In fact, the number of bacteria that Margarita grew from the four-star
0:21:29 > 0:21:33hotel's glass tumbler in the bathroom was off the scale.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36And for Margarita, that's significant.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40The fact that there's so high levels of bacteria in the glass
0:21:40 > 0:21:42is concerning, actually.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46Because you use the glass to consume water and thus you're potentially
0:21:46 > 0:21:49ingesting the bacteria on the glass.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52And that could potentially make you sick,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54because it's really high numbers.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57And that could be very serious for some of us, in particular.
0:21:58 > 0:22:04This is of concern because, particularly for risk groups -
0:22:04 > 0:22:09the very old, the very young, those with low immunity -
0:22:09 > 0:22:12coming into contact with this level of bacteria
0:22:12 > 0:22:15could be potentially dangerous.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19You often hear people question the cleanliness of hotel room glasses,
0:22:19 > 0:22:22and, while we didn't find that a problem across the board,
0:22:22 > 0:22:25it certainly seems this hotel's four-star rating
0:22:25 > 0:22:27hadn't bought us the highest standards.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31Surely, still,
0:22:31 > 0:22:35a five-star hotel where rooms costing from ?188 a night
0:22:35 > 0:22:39would take the top spot in our secret cleaning competition?
0:22:39 > 0:22:42It was the last set of samples Margarita received from us
0:22:42 > 0:22:45and they definitely stood out - but not in a good way.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50The last hotel, from all the hotels that we sampled,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53is the dirtiest across the board.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55Almost all the samples here had either high
0:22:55 > 0:22:58or very high levels of bacteria.
0:22:58 > 0:23:00Two of them in particular,
0:23:00 > 0:23:03with the first a spot no guest is likely to be able to avoid.
0:23:03 > 0:23:08The bathroom door handle, the levels are pretty high and it stands out.
0:23:08 > 0:23:13And what about the bedspread on our five-star, luxurious, king-size bed?
0:23:13 > 0:23:17The bed was by far the worst.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22There is no way to count that.
0:23:22 > 0:23:25The covering blanket on the five-star bed was the only bedspread
0:23:25 > 0:23:30in our overall test where the count was off Margarita's scale.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Margarita says there could be all sorts of explanation for such high
0:23:33 > 0:23:34levels of bacteria.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39There are bacteria that live in the environment
0:23:39 > 0:23:43that could be brought in, so muddy boots could be some of that.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46But also, our skin is covered in bacteria.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49We shed skin cells all the time, so it could be some of that, too.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53With the results of our last hotel in,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57we did some final number-crunching to rank our hotels not in order of
0:23:57 > 0:24:01their star-rating, but by the levels of bacteria instead.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05First, the cleanest room was the two-star hotel.
0:24:05 > 0:24:06Followed by the one-star,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09which you might have imagined wouldn't have fared so well.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12They certainly didn't come out with a totally clean bill of health,
0:24:12 > 0:24:16but overall, these two were the most hygienic of the ones we visited.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20In third place was the four-star.
0:24:20 > 0:24:22That was the one with the dirty glass that Margarita was worried
0:24:22 > 0:24:24could even make you ill.
0:24:24 > 0:24:28Next to last was the three-star, with high levels of bacteria
0:24:28 > 0:24:30on almost every surface we tested in the room.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35But the worst results and the highest level of bacteria in
0:24:35 > 0:24:39our snapshot sample came from that five-star hotel which, of course,
0:24:39 > 0:24:43was also, by some distance, the most expensive hotel room of the lot.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49Our experiments definitely showed that star ratings have no relation
0:24:49 > 0:24:51with levels of cleanliness, for sure.
0:24:52 > 0:24:56I mean, this is very important to say, this is a snapshot.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00This is one sample of one hotel on a particular day,
0:25:00 > 0:25:03but it's really quite interesting.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10Of course, we're exposed to bacteria every day and it doesn't necessarily
0:25:10 > 0:25:11mean it's dangerous.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15In fact, Margarita also checked for faecal coliforms -
0:25:15 > 0:25:18that's the bugs associated with poo to you and me -
0:25:18 > 0:25:20and she didn't find anything significant.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24And as it's those bacteria which are more likely to make you poorly,
0:25:24 > 0:25:26that's definitely good news.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32But what we did find does indicate that some areas of these hotel rooms
0:25:32 > 0:25:34have been missed during cleaning.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37And while, of course, we only took samples at a small number of
0:25:37 > 0:25:41randomly chosen hotels, it's more than likely that similar levels of
0:25:41 > 0:25:45bacteria, invisible to the naked eye, could be found in other hotels,
0:25:45 > 0:25:47too, at home and abroad.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51And it's clear that staying somewhere with a higher star-rating
0:25:51 > 0:25:54is no guarantee that you'll end up with a cleaner room.
0:25:56 > 0:25:59So, what's to be done if you're a hygiene-conscious type
0:25:59 > 0:26:02who doesn't like the idea of being exposed to what the guest before
0:26:02 > 0:26:03has left behind?
0:26:03 > 0:26:07I think it's a case of being mindful and being aware that it's
0:26:07 > 0:26:10maybe not as clean as you would have in your own house.
0:26:10 > 0:26:15So, maybe not lie on the throw, on the bed cover,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18because it may not be very clean, and do simple things,
0:26:18 > 0:26:22like rinse the glass and rinse the mug before you use them.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25And, like always, wash your hands.
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0:27:26 > 0:27:29Well, I must say, I am still genuinely gobsmacked with what we
0:27:29 > 0:27:32found in those hotels that we tested and while you could say,
0:27:32 > 0:27:36"Well, it's just a case of what you can't see won't do you any harm,"
0:27:36 > 0:27:39but, to me, it seems very, very sloppy and it rather suggests that
0:27:39 > 0:27:43it might be time for the whole industry to try and clean up its act
0:27:43 > 0:27:45as far as the cleanliness of hotels is concerned.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49And you know, one way of doing that just might be to tie it into a
0:27:49 > 0:27:52universal standard for star ratings,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55something that it really does seem is sorely needed to be absolutely
0:27:55 > 0:27:58certain that when you book and then pay for a hotel,
0:27:58 > 0:28:02you can be confident that it will be up to the standard that you expect.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05Well, let us know your thoughts on the stories we've looked at today
0:28:05 > 0:28:08and, indeed, on anything else you'd like us to investigate,
0:28:08 > 0:28:09not just holidays.
0:28:09 > 0:28:12We've lots of programmes coming up and even if it's not your case
0:28:12 > 0:28:16we feature, we do read every e-mail and letter that you send
0:28:16 > 0:28:17and each one of them, in fact,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20helps us decide which subjects we're going to cover.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22For now, though, thank you very much for joining us.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25We'll see you again very soon, but from us, it's goodbye.
0:28:25 > 0:28:26Bye-bye. Goodbye.