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Another hygiene scandal has erupted in China’s hotel industry, which has faced repeated controversy over poor room cleaning. This time, outrage grew after footage showed a cleaner at a well-known hotel chain using the same guest towel to wipe both a toilet and a guest’s toothbrush cup.
On the 27th, local outlets including Guangming Daily reported that video from a Chengdu hotel in Sichuan Province captured a cleaner wiping a toilet with a room towel and then using that same towel to clean a toothbrush cup on the sink.
The broadcasters obtained the footage during an undercover report in which their reporters posed as guests, stayed in the room, and set up recording equipment.
When reporters asked the hotel to disinfect the cup and replace the towel, staff told them cleaning would take about 40 minutes. In reality, staff finished cleaning in seven minutes, folded the same used towel, left it in the room, and did not disinfect the requested cup.
Reporters captured similar scenes at another Chengdu hotel, where cleaning staff used guest towels to wipe surfaces throughout rooms. Local media criticized the practice, saying hotels effectively treated towels like all-purpose rags.
Reports say the implicated properties all belong to well-known hotel chains.
As the controversy spread, Chengdu authorities launched an immediate investigation. They summoned hotel managers, demanded corrective action, and said they are inspecting room-disinfection and bedding-replacement procedures as well as staff compliance with work rules. Authorities added they will impose penalties based on the findings and conduct special hygiene checks across the local hotel industry.
China has repeatedly faced hygiene controversies in both the hotel and food sectors.
In 2020, a video from a five-star hotel in Shenzhen, Guangdong showed staff wiping guest cups and sinks with a mop, drawing heavy criticism. The controversy intensified when footage also showed staff using a guest towel to clean a toilet.
In 2018, a so-called “secret of the cup” video documenting room-cleaning practices at several prominent Chinese hotels went viral on Weibo and prompted public outrage. The footage showed staff cleaning cups, mirrors, and sinks with dirty mops or used towels.
Hygiene concerns have also continued in the food industry. Last year, footage showed workers smoking and spitting at a pickled-cabbage factory, and more recently a food company acknowledged using hydrogen peroxide during chicken-foot processing.
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