Linchi Kwok, Ph.D.

In most hotels, a housekeeper only has 30 – 40 minutes to clean a checkout room, where the linens must be changed and straightened; the bathtub, toilet, and sinks must be cleaned and sanitized; the floor must be mopped, and the carpet must be vacuumed. While every traveler wants to stay in a clean hotel room, the fact is not all hotel rooms are cleaned thoroughly. How dirty can a hotel room be? According to a Time Magazine report , 81% of hotel room surfaces being sampled had some fecal bacteria. Many come from other travelers’ germs, mostly because not every spot in a hotel room will get sanitized every time when a guest checks out. The direst places or spots in a hotel room include: Light switches, TV or any types of remote controls, toilets (including the flush handle, toilet paper dispenser, and the wall/floor around a toilet), bathroom sinks, telephone, keyboard, hairdryer, carpeting, and bedspread. Other items, such as drinking glasses, coffee machines, o...

Over the Veterans Day weekend, I attended the HX: The Hotel Experience 2018 and the BD | NY: A Boutique Design Trade Fair with a group of students from the Collins College of Hospitality Management at Cal Poly Pomona at the Javits Center in New York City. Also known as the “ ihrms Hotel Show ,” the HX: The Hotel Experience 2018 is often perceived as the largest hospitality trade show in North America . What did the HX: The Hotel Experience 2018 entail?   There were four components in the trade show, including HX: The Marketplace, HX: The Conference , Boutique Design New York (#BDNY) , and the STR Market Study Competition. Attendees of the HX Marketplace or Conference also had access to BDNY, one strategy that helps trade shows attract more participants . 1.     HX: The Marketplace – there were more than 300 exhibitors in this part of the trade show, a place where buyers and sellers met. The exhibition hall also featured three designated areas for ...