Probe launched after hotel cleaners filmed using loo brush to clean guest cups
Authorities in a city in north-eastern China have launched an investigation into hygiene standards at luxury hotels after cleaners appear to have been caught on camera cleaning guests’ tea cups with toilet brushes.
Undercover journalists also filmed them washing a bath mat in the bathtub and dipping bath towels into toilet water. In one hotel, the same brush was used to clean the toilet and the bath.
The seven minutes of footage were taken at the Kempinski Hotel, the Shangri-La Hotel and the Sheraton Harbin Xiangfang Hotel in Harbin, and released by Chinese website Pear Video.
A staff member was captured using what appeared to be a toilet brush to wash tea cups in the ensuite bathroom, before apparently drying them with guest hand towels.
They then appeared to use the same brush to scrub the inside of the toilet before putting it back on its plastic stand.
At the Shangri-La hotel in Harbin, a cleaner was seen wiping tea cups, the waste paper bin and the toilet with the same cloth.
Shangri-La told the South China Morning Post in a statement: "If what was shown in the video was proved to be true, it would be a serious violation of our hygiene standards and it would not be acceptable.
"At the same time, we will also cooperate with local government to properly implement all hygiene measures."
Kempinski Hotel Harbin told Express.co.uk: "The management of Kempinski Hotel Harbin has investigated the apparent breach of hygiene standards revealed in a recent video recording, as reported in the Chinese media.
"The investigation found that one member of the hotel’s housekeeping staff deliberately ignored standard hygiene procedures while cleaning a guest room. The employee concerned had previously undergone training on the hotel’s cleaning procedures and had signed a written commitment to uphold our high service standards.
"The actions revealed in the video are absolutely unacceptable, and the employee has been dismissed.
"Kempinski Hotel Harbin sincerely regrets this serious breach of hygiene standards, and any concern which may have been caused."
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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