A former hotel manager has revealed the disgusting reason why you should never use an ice bucket in your hotel room.
Melissa Hanks posted a message on TikTok under the name @melly_creations, where she now has over 76,000 followers, warning anyone booking a hotel room not to use a bucket of ice cubes under any circumstances.
She introduced the video by saying that she was giving this advice to the viewers as she herself had worked as a hotel manager in the past.
The vlogger was responding to a question from another user, who said: ‘I’ve heard a lot of stories now about the things housekeepers find in ice buckets. Any stories?’
Melissa said, “Some of the things I found in the ice buckets were food. People were using them as trash cans and as ashtrays, even though you’re not allowed to smoke in hotel rooms.”
A former hotel manager has revealed the disgusting reason why you should never use an ice bucket in your hotel room
“For some reason there was lingerie in there – and of course someone used an ice bucket to throw up in.”
If that happens, you should definitely throw away your ice bucket [to avoid the spread of germs]’.
Users wrote in the comments: ‘That’s why we have to use the plastic bag to line the bucket’.
‘I once found a sex toy in it’.
‘It has become strange, those plastic bags smell so much of plastic that I feel like gagging.’
“I discovered that ice machines are a very North American hotel thing when I travel abroad. Even a warm country like Australia doesn’t have ice machines.”
In doing so, she follows the advice she previously gave to hotel guests, including the warning to watch out for bedbugs.
She explains: ‘Don’t put anything on the bed until you’ve checked it, because if you have anything they can do it and they’ll take your luggage and your clothes and they’ll distribute them back home with you and you don’t want that.’
Check the mattress, cushions and behind the skirting board, especially if it is made of fabric.
It follows further advice she had given to hotel guests, including a warning to check for bedbugs
‘If there is a heavy infestation, you will see the stains on the sheets as soon as you pull back the covers, especially if they are light colored.’
Melissa says the crack around the mattress piping is where bed bugs “like to hang out, so pull that up and use your flashlight on your phone.”
She continues: ‘You can also turn the mattress over, check the other side. If there is a box spring on the bed, check that too.’
If you are staying at a hotel and you find bed bugs, Melissa advises asking if they can move you to “another room on the other side of the building.” “Just because there are bed bugs in one room doesn’t mean they are in all the rooms.”