It should be obvious that clean guest rooms should be the first aim of all hoteliers. The international booking portal hotel.info has analysed the evaluations of its more than six million booking customers as to which cities have spotless hotels and which leave a great deal to be desired in respect of cleanliness.
The level of cleanliness in the 10 largest cities in the UK
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
cautionary remark: The hotels in the UK are not exactly the best examples amongst the guest evaluations. Switzerland with 8.46 and Austria with 8.40 points have much better scores. However the United Kingdom with 7.66 points is better than Denmark with only 7.51 points. Some cities come out much better than the country average.
In the comparison of the 10 best cities in the UK some are much more vigorous in their cleaning with Sheffield scoring 8.15 points. The hoteliers in Liverpool (8.12) and Bristol (8.10) also make a great effort. In Birmingham (7.42) the hotel guests were less satisfied. Even though the hotels there have somewhat improved in comparison with the previous year (7.38) the city is still at the bottom of the list. The capital city with only 7.52 points does not cover itself in glory: both in national and international comparisons there is room for improvement.
Selected international cities and their cleanliness
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Samba not cleanliness
The hoteliers in Tokyo come out very well in comparison with other large cities in an international survey. Guests in Warsaw could also eat their food from the floor.
Brazil however scored an own goal: the World Cup was an excellent opportunity for the hotels in Brazil to improve their image. However the whole uproar about the World Cup seems to have left little time or energy for a "clean-up". In comparison with the previous football-free year the scores for cleanliness and hygiene were considerably lower in Rio (7.29) and in Sao Paulo (7.69). A glance at the online customer evaluations of European hotels can also help to prevent unpleasant surprises such as in Paris (7.63). There are, of course, many excellent hotels in the capital city but there are also hoteliers who do not pay much attention to cleanliness.
It is essential to always complain at once about shortcomings
Should the room occupant actually find lipstick on the pillow or dirty mirrors in the bathroom and only risk using the shower with their shoes on then the first step is to speak with the hotel staff or the local representative of their tour operator. The traveller should remain polite but firm and request that the shortcomings be corrected immediately or that they be permitted to move to another room.
Most importantly the complaint should be made at once and to the relevant person. "Complaints should be made at once to the local representative or to the hotel management. It is not sufficient to merely inform the staff at the reception desk", said Ralf Priemer, Managing Director at hotel.info. "If the inadequacies cannot be corrected locally and the dispute cannot be resolved the complaint should be made in writing and accompanied with photographs."
In such cases it is worth considering carefully whether legal proceedings on the return home should be initiated. Advice can be obtained through the European Consumer Centre which is present in 28 countries including the UK. Useful information can be found on the website as well as a non-binding assessment if and what kind of a possible price reduction in the respective country can be claimed.
Whosoever wishes to make their claim in court should carefully assess whether the claim is actually worth taking legal proceedings. In most cases such a dispute costs time and money and spoils the relaxing effects of the holiday.
