(♪♪)
>> Erica: this is Carol Ann
Dennis.
She's a "Marketplace" viewer.
>> This is your pen camera.
>> Erica: Today, we're rigging
her up with hidden cameras.
>> I think we're going to have
a good day.
>> Erica: so now she's a
"Marketplace" detective.
With her help, we're going
undercover to test just how
clean hotels actually are.
>> When I saw your program
last year, I was horrified!
>> Erica: Because last year,
we all saw things we'd rather
forget.
>> One scene that especially
was when the woman washed the
toilet.
>> Erica: Remember this
housekeeper we caught on
camera?
She swirled the toilet brush
in the toilet, then the sink
and faucet.
>> I couldn't believe my eyes,
that that was happening.
>> Erica: It got Carol Ann and
lots of you asking, have hotels
shaped up?
>> Erica: You're about to find
out.
>> We're back!
>> Erica: Because this week on
"Marketplace" ...
>> Erica:: I wonder what we'll
find this time.
We're checking in again.
Have hotels cleaned up their
act?
>> Wow, that doesn't look good,
does it?
>> Erica: Look at that!
We showed them the
problems.
Could this be the same stain
2 as last year?
>> It's possible.
>> Erica: Have they found
solutions?
>> Absolutely cross-
contamination city, isn't it?
>> Erica: Find out how to
protect yourself with our hotel
survival guide.
It works!
(♪♪)
(♪♪)
>> We're in Toronto with
nurse Carol Ann Dennis.
>> Hotels...
Should be offering a clean
environment to a traveller.
>> Erica: She loves to travel
and knows how picking up a bug
can ruin a trip.
>> So important that I stay in
a clean room so that I don't
get sick.
>> Erica: So she's heading
into six Toronto hotels with a
"Marketplace" producer to see
how clean hotels claim to be.
>> Erica: A top priority,
hotels tell her.
>> Erica: Now, that's
assurance.
(♪♪)
>> Erica: She's convinced so
far.
>> I believe if I booked a
room here, that I would get a
clean room.
>> Erica: But should you
believe what you're being
told?
Last year, "Marketplace" put
six hotel chains to the test
across the country and
uncovered some grimy facts.
Hotels can be pretty dirty,
could even make you sick.
(♪♪)
>> Erica: After our story
aired, hotel chains told us
they were addressing test
results, retraining staff on
proper cleaning procedures and
doing increased inspections.
So have those promises made
any difference?
While Carol Ann sleuths at the
front desk...
(♪♪)
>> Erica: Upstairs, I'm
attempting a disguise.
Well, sort of.
Along with partner in grime
Keith Warriner.
Remember him?
He's one of Canada's top
microbiologists and a prof at
the University of Guelph.
This suitcase holds all the
tools to measure germs.
Our get-up might be overkill,
but we're trying to keep our
cover, because the hotel
industry sure saw our show.
At Super 8, listen to what
Carol Ann hears...
>> Erica: Problem solved,
says the Sheraton.
And at Econolodge, he passes
the buck.
>> Erica: Actually, you're
about to find out it was.
In Toronto, we're checking
back in to every chain.
Three rooms for hotels.
Our first stop?
Econolodge.
Last year, the chain ranked
lowest on our cleanliness
scale.
So the only way to go is up.
Right?
>> Oh, there's that smell
again.
>> Yeah, it smells familiar,
doesn't it?
>> Erica: Familiar smell.
Familiar room.
It's one of the same rooms we
originally tested.
>> Let's just close the
curtains.
>> Erica: Out comes the black
light.
It an covers what you can't
normally see.
>> Inside the coffee filters,
it looks quite clean, so --
>> Erica: It looks better than
last year.
>> Erica: But it doesn't take
long to notice something
Econolodge didn't.
>> So what we also noticed last
time was the walls were
notoriously, um, shall we say
stained?
>> Erica: Remember that urine
stain?
The stain we pointed out to
Econolodge last year.
>> Erica: See those streaks?
That's likely urine going down
the wall.
Does that look like it
would be meeting a guest's
expectation of a clean room?
>> It wouldn't look like it's
meeting my expectation of the
standards we set as an
organization.
>> Erica: So what about those
standards?
Finding it once, bad enough.
But still there...?
>> Exactly the same, doesn't
it?
>> Erica: That looks like
another waterfall.
Oh, all the way dripping down.
>> Looks like, nothing's
changed, has it?
We highlighted this, I believe
it was unacceptable then.
It's not good.
(♪♪)
>> Erica: We share our findings
with Carol Ann.
>> That's unacceptable.
Something should be done about
that.
>> Erica: And something should
be done, too, about beds.
If hotels learned anything
from our test, Keith says, it
should have been to focus on
cleaner beds.
After all, when we checked
into the Best Western last
year, our findings were pretty
gross.
(squealing)
>> Erica: Geez, sorry, sorry,
sorry, sorry!
It's a nail!
>> it is a nail.
>> Erica: Nail clippings!
>> One, two, three, four,
five.
>> Erica: All over the bed.
How were they missed?
So, we head back to Best
Western's scene of the grime.
(♪♪)
>> Erica: Last year, it said it
would continue to train and
educate housekeeping teams with
inspection black lights.
>> So, coming on to the throw
then, well, the first thing
you notice is a really heavy
dusting.
>> Erica: You hardly need a
black light to spot the dust.
It's all over.
>> Last time we found nail
clippings, she we don't see
those this time around.
>> No, no, that's for sure.
>> Erica: Slight improvement.
>> I think I'd prefer the
clippings to all this dust
to be honest.
>> Erica: Seems like Best
Western's not off to a good
start.
>> Ah there, look at that!
Erica: Dirty pillowcases.
Yuck!
>> Drool, maybe?
>> Ah, yes.
I think at the best, you could
say it's drool.
>> Erica: Suddenly...
>> We've just discovered a
bedbug.
>> Erica: We've got company.
>> I think it's just a fly.
>> Erica: Okay.
It's not a bedbug, but...
>> I do know this should not
be on a comforter.
>> No.
Oh, dear.
>> Erica: How about under the
comforter?
>> Wow, that doesn't look
good, does it?
Um...
>> Erica: Look at that!
>> Well, definitely some sort
of -- it's definitely liquid
of some kind.
It's not tissue.
>> Erica: Why are we still
seeing this kind of shoddy
cleaning?
>> Well I think with this
company, it's obviously said, it
might have listened to the
program, might have heard the
evidence, but there's no real
difference.
If anything, I think the
company's gone backwards,
rather than forwards, on the
cleaning.
>> Erica: And not just the
Best Western.
We find dirty bedding at every
single hotel we test.
Coming up...
>> The bottom line is money in
a lot of places.
>> Ah, in goes the sponge.
She just put the sponge in
with that wet toilet brush!
>> Erica: Wait until we reveal
this big "ick" factor.
How good a job can a cleaner do
if this is what they're given.
And...
What did they do better this
time?
>> Erica: find out how hotels
rank, from worst to best.
(♪♪)
(♪♪)
>> Erica: I'm undercover in
Toronto with microbiologist
Keith Warriner.
A year after we first headed
in, we're checking in again to
six of Canada's top hotel
chains.
(♪♪)
>> Erica: Our mission?
Find out if hotels are living
up to promises of clean rooms.
Like last year, Keith pulls
out his germ meter.
It measures how clean or germy
a surface is.
Anything under 300 is a pass.
Between 300 and a thousand,
a caution.
Anything over a thousand...
A fail.
In all six Toronto hotels,
like this Holiday Inn, we find
some low readings.
>> The toilet seat seemed to
be much more improved.
(♪♪)
>> Erica: But we're still
finding lots of cautions.
>> Oh, this score for the faucet
is 657.
>> Erica: And fails.
>> The telephone, 5,656.
That's very high.
>> Erica: And as we inspect
upstairs, downstairs, Carol
Ann's being sold assurances.
>> Erica: Hmm, have they been
taking care?
Another obvious hot spot to
test?
Remote controls.
How will this Sheraton remote
do?
>> Look at, 3,258.
>> Erica: That's even worse
than the last time we tested
remotes.
>> it's a hundred times more
than you would expect from a
clean surface.
>> Erica: And the highest
count of all six hotels we
test.
At the Best Western, even this
remote, designed for easy
cleaning, fails.
It earns over 2600.
>> Unbelievable, isn't it?
>> Erica: That is ridiculously
high.
>> The frustrating thing, I
think, when people see this is
that they have invested a lot
of these money on these nice
designed remotes, but people
don't clean them.
>> Erica: They sure don't.
Last year, we watched this
housekeeper clean the room,
but ignore the remote.
So, we give it a try.
>> If they're not going a
clean the remote control...
>> Be proactive.
>> Erica: We wipe it down and
swab again.
>> Let's just see how a
ten-second wipe will affect
it.
>> Erica: The result this time?
530.
>> That is right down.
Over 2,000 reduction.
>> Erica: You're welcome,
future customer.
(♪♪)
Bottom line for these gadgets?
We find filthy remotes at
every hotel we test, except
for Super 8.
And, hey, we're not expecting
rooms to be sterile.
We just want 'em to actually
be clean.
(♪♪)
>> Erica: Especially when
we're talking bathrooms.
Another area Keith says hotels
should be focusing on.
Because last year, we found
some really high counts, like
at the Fairmont hotel
Vancouver.
>> Wow!
Look at that.
6,524.
>> Erica: Same deal this year.
>> You can see things growing--
>> Erica: At the Fairmont
Royal York, the highest count
on any high-touch surface
we test.
>> Well, you know, that's
amazing, isn't it?
30,604.
Poor design.
How can you clean that and
it's impossible.
>> Erica: But the germ meter
can only tell so much.
Keith applies what's called
contact plates.
They pick up bacteria, help it
grow, so we can find out
what's hiding.
(♪♪)
>> Erica: Last time around,
we found super bugs,
antibiotic resistant bacteria,
in every hotel we tested.
At Toronto's Fairmont Royal
York, MRSA was growing
on the faucet.
>> You found a super bug, a
bug that can kill people in a
high-end hotel room?
>> Exactly.
And as I said, it's not so
unexpected because MRSA is
widespread, but to find it on
a faucet, which should have
been cleaned, was very
alarming.
>> Erica: In response to our
findings, the Royal York tweeted
us, saying they were taking
our report seriously and
that many measures are in
place.
So how's that working out?
>> Erica: Do you think we might
find that again?
>> It wouldn't surprise me if
we find MRSA again, but time
will tell.
We'll definitely find
something.
Let's put it that way.
>> Erica: And we do.
Not on the faucet, but other
places, like this comforter.
There's lots at other hotels,
too.
Some hot spots?
At the Holiday Inn, it's on a
lamp.
This Econolodge bed cover.
MRSA is also on a Best Western
telephone.
>> It will be interesting to see
this one.
>> Erica: And a Sheraton Centre
countertop.
If you're healthy, you're
probably okay, but if not,
that super bug could be a
big problem.
Notice the only hotel we
didn't mention?
No super bugs at Super 8.
>> the bottom line is money in
a lot of places where these
rooms need to be cleaned.
They're understaffed, and they
do what they need to get done
at the expense of the
customer.
>> Erica: What comes at the
expense of the customer?
As part of our test...
>> Everything's rolling, right
John?
>> Mm-hmm.
>> Erica: We're setting up
hidden cameras again.
>> I was just wondering if
someone could come clean my
room.
>> Erica: So we can see what's
going on when we're not there.
Because last year, there were
some surprises.
Like this glass being washed
with dirty gloves and placed
back in the room.
That was the Sheraton.
What's going on this year?
More washing in the sink.
This time, at the Royal York,
another higher-end hotel.
(♪♪)
I head to the University
of Guelph.
>> We're back!
>> Erica: To show Keith our
new hidden camera footage.
>> Starting with the Royal
York.
>> It just makes even me
cringe as a microbiologist.
>> Erica: At the Sheraton,
watch how this housekeeper
wipes the toilet from
inside-out, and on a toilet
seat, we find c-difficile,
a dangerous super bug.
>> Erica: Is anything you see
here a possible explanation?
>> The fact c-difficile was
there just illustrates she
wasn't sanitizing.
She was just wiping.
So it's just putting it from
one place to another place.
Cross contaminating, not
decontaminating.
>> One big spread-fest.
>> Exactly.
>> Erica: Same poor cleaning at
the Holiday Inn, and the 
Super 8.
But Keith has a theory
about what else is causing
high contamination counts.
The containers hotels supply
housekeepers.
>> What do you think about all
of the supplies being in one
container?
>> Well, that's slightly
concerning, because obviously
if they're in the same
container, they're going to be
cross contaminating.
>> Erica: And after cleaning
out this toilet bowl, the
brush gets put back in the
caddy on the counter.
Imagine, each drop of water
can have about a billion
bacteria.
>> You're just transferring
them, and the results indicate
that was happening big-time.
>> Erica: And at the Super 8,
a different container
altogether.
>> She's got a milk jug with a
toilet brush and a sponge in
the same container.
>> Absolutely cross-
contamination city, isn't it?
This is notorious as a sort of
attractant for contamination,
spreading contamination.
You should never use a sponge.
>> Oh, in goes the sponge.
She just put the sponge in
with that wet toilet brush!
>> Erica: And squirting
sanitizer here and there.
It's not enough to be
effective.
>> How can you clean something
if you're not going to use
sanitizer?
>> Erica: Do you think the
cleaners are being given
proper equipment to prevent
cross-contamination?
>> They've got given the
equipment, they're not given the
training.
Without those two, all they can
give you is their sort of spirit
and hard work.
(♪♪)
>> Erica: Coming up...
We reveal our hotel rankings.
>> Well, the Best Western
seems to have gone to the
worse western.
>> Erica: And high survival
guide to help protect you.
Okay, here's what I do.
(♪♪)
(♪♪)
>> Erica: We've been dropping
in on big hotel chains to
find out if they kept their
promises to clean up their act.
>> Wow!
>> There you go, 6,152.
>> Erica: 6,000.
Over 6,000 on a bedside lamp.
Not what you'd hoped, huh?
>> Wow.
Look at that, it's like a
constellation of stars, isn't it
total dusted up.
>> Erica: "Marketplace" was
here.
I guess nobody else was.
(♪♪)
>> Erica: We've crunched our
test results and ranked
Toronto hotels from least
improved to most.
Who comes in last?
>> So, we've done all of our
testing.
What's the big picture here?
>> Well, the Best Western
seems to have gone to the
worst western.
Certainly, microbiological
counts look fine, although
overall, they've taken a big
step backwards.
>> Erica: So the Best Western
earns the worst spot?
>> Probably fair to say.
>> Erica: Which one's next?
The hotel that still has urine
on its walls.
>> Econolodge.
>> Erica: They've made some
improvements with fresh bath
mats.
>> It's very pristine.
There's no mold on it at all.
>> Erica: But beds still
weren't clean and there were
high counts of bacteria
everywhere.
So Econolodge doesn't do well.
But who's almost tied?
(♪♪)
The Holiday Inn.
>> So, Keith, what do you
think?
>> This is another hotel
that's gone backwards on their
cleaning standards.
>> Erica: Yikes!
In the middle of the pack,
the Sheraton Centre.
It had the highest number of
super bugs.
But when we found e-coli in an
ice machine last year, the
Sheraton stepped-up its
cleaning sched, so now
they're clean as a whistle.
What's "Marketplace" viewer
Carol Ann think?
>> When you present to them
the areas of a problem and
they do something about it,
it makes people want to come
and stay with them.
>> Erica: Slightly better in
our rankings?
The Royal York.
They washed a glass in the
sink and had some really high
bacterial counts.
But we did see improvements.
>> Absolutely no dust
whatsoever.
Amazing.
>> Erica: Spotless.
>> It is.
>> Erica: So, which hotel
ranks the cleanest and most
improved of all the hotels we
test?
Drum roll, please.
>> Super 8!
>> Erica: Yup, one of the
no-frills chains.
>> What did they do better
this time?
>> Well, the decor could be
improved, and there were issues
with the bathroom cleaning,
but overall, it was one of the
best hotels visited from a
sanitary point of view.
>> Erica: But big picture?
The hotel industry has a ways
to go to clean up its act.
We asked all the chains for
interviews.
We also asked the Hotel
Association of Canada.
They all say "no."
Guess they have reservations?
So, when I travel, I take
things into my own hands.
>> Erica: Okay.
Here's what I do...
First thing: out come the
alcohol wipes for light
switches, door handles, the
phone and clock radio.
The taps and toilet seat.
I put a toil down for my
toiletries and my own cup
means I don't have to hope
hotel glasses are clean.
When it comes to the notorious
remote control, I put it in a
baggie.
It works!
Lastly, I keep a pair of
slippers just for hotels.
>> It all sounds like a lot
but it takes two minutes.
(♪♪)
>> Erica: Worth it once you
know the dirt on hotels.
(♪♪)
>> Erica: So, how clean was
your room?
Go to cbc.ca/marketplace
now and fill out our hotel
guest comment card.
(♪♪)
