How to Disinfect A Hotel Room – 10 Easy Tips on How to Safely Travel After Coronavirus

When you check into a hotel this Summer, Fall, or whenever we are able to travel again after coronavirus, you want to be prepared. Many hotel chains are already thinking into what the future of travel looks like and are developing new cleanliness measures to address fears after COVID-19 (like Marriott which plans to deploy a futuristic, next-level electro-magnetic charged disinfectant that allows the disinfectant to stay longer on surfaces, and Four Seasons Resorts, which is testing high-tech cleaning tools like ozone air purifiers and germicidal UV light technology), but that doesn’t mean you can as a guest rely on those measures.

Take matters into your own (triple-washed) hands with these easy tips for how to sanitize your hotel room when traveling in the wake of coronavirus.

Here are the steps you should take when you check in to disinfect your hotel room

1. First, wash your hands. 80% of infections (not just COVID, but all infections) are spread by hand. And since you’ve likely touched doorknobs, hand rails, elevator buttons, and cash to get to your room, this is the first step. I recommend you always carry a mini hand sanitizer with you too. 

2. Don’t sit or place any belongings on the bed until you’re sure it’s clean. Be wary of the comforter. While linens like sheets, pillowcases, and towels are all cleaned between stays, the comforter is not – I always take it off every time I enter a hotel room.

3. Your suitcases can be cesspools of germs, since they’re dragged along in airports, overhead bins, bumpy roads, and taxi trunks, so never, ever, put your suitcase on the bed. 

4. Clean ALL high-touch surfaces like all doorknobs, toilet handles, phone, window slides, light switches, and the remote control with disinfectant wipes (I like these travel packs here

5. Open the windows to get some air circulation. Always opt for a hotel room that has a window and ideally a balcony that you can open and circulate fresh outside air into your room. 

6. Clean the sink area. In a study on environmental health, researchers found the sink area one of the most bacterial areas in a hotel room. 

7. Wash any wine glasses or mugs with hand soap and hot water if they’re not sealed in a wrapper, and leave them open-side up to dry. The same goes for ice buckets.

8. Each time the maid comes, clean your personal items that may have been touched (your hairbrush, etc) and place your toothbrush in some mouthwash for 30 seconds before using it.

9. Before you shower, squirt some shampoo in the tub and run the water on hot for a minute to decrease the number of germs where you’ll be standing, even if it looks clean.

10. Hand-wash, hand-wash, hand-wash. Anytime you go ANYWHERE this year, next year, and for the foreseeable future, you are going to want to be obsessive about washing your hands. Be aware of things like handrails, elevator buttons, and any buttons you encounter (ice machine, etc)

How can you make sure that the hotel room you’re booking is clean?
The best way to be sure and trust the hotel you’re choosing to stay in is to read lots of reviews (and honest travel blogs like Jetset Christina) online. Look for specific feedback and photos from former guests staying at your hotel – if other customers experienced dirty sheets or a grimy tub, beware!! There can be housekeeping staffers who cut corners in any hotel, but they usually get blasted online if they do. 

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Christina is a leading luxury lifestyle and travel blogger with over 2 million readers. Follow her on instagram @jetsetchristina.

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