The Unsettling Reason You Should Request New Towels For Your Hotel Stay

There's nothing quite like a long hot shower after an even longer flight. You stand there, letting the water pour over you, knowing that your vacation is just starting — and doesn't that feel simply amazing? But hold up. Before, you reach for that clean-looking towel to dry yourself off and either slip into a bathrobe for a well-deserved nap or get yourself dolled up for a night on the town, think again. The towel might not be as clean as it looks.

Considering the high turnover rate of some hotels, the cleaning staff doesn't always have the time to do a proper scrub of every nook and cranny of each room. Because of this, one of the first things some seasoned travelers do when they check in to their hotel room is examine the bathroom, especially along the tub and shower. If that area isn't up to par, they order fresh towels, because they know if things like grouting are being overlooked, then there's also a chance that a towel that looks clean and unused may not have been replaced before checked in. 

While we'd all like to believe that when we roll into a hotel room, it's been thoroughly cleaned, that's not always the case. In fact, there's a reason why you should never leave your luggage on the hotel room floor, and that has everything to do with cleanliness being deceiving. Sure, we've seen housekeeping staff vacuuming floors and carpets, but when was the last time you've seen the cleaning service steam clean a floor or, at the very least, take a soapy mop to it? Probably not often, and that's exactly why, whenever you show up to a hotel, you should request new towels.

Although we may no longer be living in the throes of the COVID epidemic, COVID wasn't the first, nor will it be the last virus that liked to jump around. Even if a towel goes untouched, hanging innocently in a bathroom, it can still pick up bacteria, fungus, viruses, and other microorganisms, including fecal matter. Why? Because even if you don't touch it, a flushed toilet is definitely giving it a little something. Hence the reason always packing a towel, no matter your destination, is a good idea.

If an untouched towel is hanging in the bathroom, it's exposed to moisture and dampness, both of which are breeding grounds for a whole boatload of unpleasant things. "The longer towels stay damp, the longer the yeasts, bacteria, molds and viruses remain alive and stay active," dermatologist Alok Vij, MD, told the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, adding this can lead to things like jock itch, toenail fungus, and warts. If you're prone to skin conditions like eczema or atopic dermatitis, that seemingly harmless towel, when it's finally used, can contribute to flareups of those issues.

As much as we want to do what's right for the environment, and using less water and limiting chemical detergents is part of that, when it comes to your health, you shouldn't mess around. Are you going to pick up deadly bacteria from an unused towel that wasn't replaced with a fresh one in a hotel room? Probably not. But you could contract something else, and that can ruin a vacation fast.