This Is the Grossest Thing You Can Do in Your Hotel Room, According to an Epidemiologist

Think twice before you reach for the ice bucket.

An ice bucket and tray in a hotel room .

Travel is a lot of things. It’s exciting. It’s educational. It’s calming. It’s downright life-changing. But sometimes, it can be a rather gross experience, too — especially when it comes to checking into a new hotel room. There are plenty of studies out there about the grossest, grimiest places in hotel rooms that will make you want to buy stock in wet wipes. But what, exactly, is the ickiest thing you can do in your hotel room?

“The grossest thing is to use the ice bucket without a liner,” Brian Labus, an assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, told Travel + Leisure. “We had a hotel norovirus outbreak some years ago where one of the modes of spread was through the ice buckets. People with diarrhea also were vomiting, so they grabbed the nearest thing: the ice bucket.”

As Labus explained, while the hotel bathrooms were sanitized before the next guests arrived, the ice buckets were merely rinsed. “The next guest got an unwanted surprise with the ice they put in their drinks. Thanks to that outbreak, I always use the liner in the ice bucket.”

And here's where things go from a little bad to worse: there's no real way to protect yourself against disease like this in a hotel room — unless you want to clean your room yourself.

"There are a lot of little things you can do to make yourself feel more comfortable in a hotel room," Labus said. "Unfortunately, they really don't protect you from disease. You might feel better not using the comforter, but it doesn't change your risk of disease. The real risk comes from the things you can't see, not the things you can — and there isn't much the average guest can do about them. This is why hotel room inspections are just as important as restaurant inspections."

But that doesn't stop Labus from traveling, and it shouldn't stop you, either. All you need to do is think like an epidemiologist.

"I look at the general cleanliness and upkeep of the room. I also tend to notice smells," Labus said. "I'm most likely to request a room change because the previous guest was smoking."

As Labus noted, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the fear of disease, but often "those fears are misplaced." He added, "There's a big difference between something being gross and it actually putting you at risk of disease, but people often conflate the two."

So, no, don't stop traveling, but do think twice before using that ice bucket without a liner.