Chinese budget hotels accused of poor hygiene

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Several budget hotel chains in China, including 7 Days Inn and Home Inn, have been accused of poor hygienic standards after a video exposed unsanitary practices at a service provider contracted by the hotels to clean their towels, blankets, sheets and other linens used by guests.

The video, posted by Chinese video news platform Pear Video on December 27, shows that bed sheets and towels were cleaned by the company's staff without any sorting procedure to distinguish between ones that were contaminated and ones that only needed a normal clean.

Some sheets spotted with blood stains were washed with other white sheets in the footage. /Screenshot via Wechat

One scene shows white sheets getting washed with sheets with blood stains and discarded underwear that was found in the pile of laundry.

In another scene, staff reported that corrosive chemicals, such as acids, were mixed with cleaning products for bleaching purposes.

Chemical bleachers were also used with other cleansers to wash the sheets. /Screenshot via Wechat

The gruesome approach of the laundry companies contracted by these Chinese hotel chains triggered an instant panic online regarding the cleanliness of hotels' sheets and linens.

In response, Home Inn released an urgent statement on Thursday, claiming their local branches had terminated their contract with the featured cleaning business in September.

It promised a full-scale self-inspection among all branches across the country, CCTV reported.

Random underwear was also spotted in the laundry and washed with the linens. /Screenshot via Wechat

7 Days Inn, another hotel chain involved, has yet to respond.

This latest hygiene horror comes just about one month after shocking hidden camera footage revealed a similar scandal in November, which showed cleaning staff at several highbrow hotel franchises - including luxury Chinese hotels run by Hilton, Marriott and several other chains - had wiped cups with unclean towels used by customers.

This revelation caused a nation-wide public outcry, prompting China's tourism regulator to probe into the hygiene standards at many five-star hotels.