5 Things You Shouldn’t Do in a Hotel Room (and What to Do Instead)

The short answer: keep your suitcase off the bed and floor, use any extra lock on the door and confirm who is outside before you open it, keep valuables out of sight and secured, wash hotel glasses first if you want the extra precaution, and use the kettle for water only.

1Putting your suitcase on the bed

Verdict: never. The EPA recommends setting your luggage on a rack while you pack and unpack, rather than on the bed or the floor. The Northeastern IPM Center offers another option: leave your bags in the bathroom, even in the tub, until you’ve checked the room. The aim is to keep your luggage away from likely bed-bug hiding places. Our guide to how to know if your hotel room is clean covers more of what to look for.

Do a quick check before you settle in. The EPA says to look over the mattress and headboard before you sleep and to inspect the luggage racks. The Northeastern IPM Center adds mattress seams, piping and labels, and suggests running a card behind a wall-mounted headboard.

2Using hotel glasses without washing them

Verdict: wash them first if you want the extra precaution. In a small 2012 study, University of Houston researchers sampled 19 surfaces in each of nine hotel rooms. The TV remote and the bedside lamp switch carried high levels of bacteria, and some of the heaviest contamination turned up on housekeeping carts, where sponges and mops could carry germs from room to room. The study didn’t report results for drinking glasses, so it can’t tell us how often hotel glasses are contaminated. Washing one takes a minute. Use hot water and dish soap, rinse well and air dry it, or skip the glass and use your own cup or bottle.

3Skipping the extra door lock and viewer

Verdict: don’t skip them. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department recommends checking that your door is locked each time you come or go, and using the extra security locks when the door has them. Don’t open it unless you know who is there, and if hotel services turn up that you didn’t expect, call to verify. The U.S. State Department suggests making sure every door and window locks properly when you arrive, bathroom door included, and meeting visitors in the lobby instead of your room. If your door has a viewer, use it before you open the door. AAA quotes security consultant Chris McGoey, who warns that prowlers can use a special device to look into a room through the viewer. He suggests covering it with opaque tape or an adhesive bandage the rest of the time.

4Leaving valuables out

Verdict: don’t leave them out, and don’t assume the room safe is foolproof. The Las Vegas police recommend keeping valuables in the room safe or at the front desk, keeping an inventory of what you leave there, and keeping your luggage locked. AAA cautions that in-room safes can often be opened with master keys or override codes, so they aren’t the place for high-value items. Consumer advocate Christopher Elliott, quoted in the same article, suggests taking valuables with you or putting them in the hotel’s main safe.

5Using the kettle for anything but water

Verdict: water only. You don’t know what, if anything, the last guest used it for, and soup, noodles or eggs can leave residue that’s difficult to rinse from a small kettle. Treat this as a house rule, not a researched hazard. If a kettle looks stained or smells off, skip it, and ask the front desk for hot water or use the lobby coffee station.

• Unpack straight into the washer. The EPA recommends unpacking directly into the washing machine and inspecting your luggage carefully. It notes that washing alone generally won’t kill bed bugs, while time in a hot dryer will.
• Use the dryer. The Northeastern IPM Center suggests 30 minutes in a dryer on high, and keeping anything suspect bagged apart from clean laundry.
• Store luggage away from the bedroom. The EPA says to store suitcases outside the bedroom, such as in a basement or garage, and never under the bed.
• If you find bed bugs, say so. The Northeastern IPM Center’s advice is to tell your host or the hotel manager. Its author describes asking to be moved to a different room, and not the one next door.