It continues to amaze me that so many people who work in the hospitality industry don’t understand the basic rules of hygiene I learned as a child.
And how, despite millennia of experience in creating public buildings, and decades of public-health research, many restrooms (bathrooms, toilets, WCs … call them what you will) are still badly designed from a hygiene point of view.
At one venue I frequent, I and a few other customers play a crazy and frustrating game with the restroom cleaners and management.
We open the lid on the waste paper bin so we can dispose of the paper towel we use to open the door on our way out. They — who obviously don’t understand that any sensible person who has washed their hands wouldn’t want to touch a handle that has been touched by the too-many people who don’t wash their hands — keep on closing the bin.
In the absence of a self-opening door, or one that can be opened with a foot lever or other device, it is — in my correct opinion — the best way to maintain a level of personal hygiene after using the facilities.
When I, and others, suggested that a hand gel dispenser be installed, it was — but inside the room, so the problem of opening the door still exists.
I have been told that the hotel maintains strict standards in its kitchens, with staff required to wash their hands again after returning from the rest room. I certainly hope that is the case.
Related stories: Now wash your hands Feeling ship-shape
As cruise ship operators have discovered, the norovirus* is a virulent beast that is easily transmitted. Many cruises have been blighted by outbreaks that result from exactly the kind of poor hygiene standards that are practiced in some hotels and restaurants.
The owners and managers of these premises are, perhaps, fortunate that by the time customers feel the effects of the virus they are often a long way away. They are are also less likely to pass it on in the way it can be communicated in the closed ecosystem of a cruise ship.
But, in my humble — yet, again, correct — opinion, that is no reason for them to practice such poor standards.
*Not washing your hands can also lead to the spread of E. coli enteritis
