We’ve all heard the horror stories of unclean hotel rooms, and some of us have experienced them first hand. The truth is, popular hotels experience a lot of guest turnover, meaning the housekeeping department is often spread very thin. While we can sympathize with the maids, cleanliness is the bare minimum of expectations when paying for a costly hotel room.

Investigations into the maid service of hotels have been conducted time and time again, and it’s a rarity to see a hotel’s housekeeping crew pass with flying colors. Instead, many housekeepers have a way of cutting corners while still making a room seem clean. These are the secrets hotel housekeepers don’t want you to know.

1. The glassware isn’t always sanitized

Those little paper toppers resting on the rim of your hotel glassware do not equal sanitization. And the housekeepers are not bringing fresh, sterilized glassware in either. No, instead, the housekeepers rinse or wash those glasses in the bathroom sink, often drying them with old bath towels the previous guest has left behind. The bottom line is that you may want to give the glasses a rinse or even a wash before use.

Next: Another hidden camera investigation that will make your jaw drop.

2. The pillowcases aren’t changed after every stay

When the Today Show went undercover with hidden cameras, the dirt they found on housekeepers in New York City was truly appalling. Sure, the sheets were changed, but the pillow cases were not. In fact, the maid simply shook and fluffed those used pillowcases and placed them right back on the bed, as if this was normal practice.

Next: If you don’t want it touched, keep it put away.

3. Every now and then, they snoop

Everyone is guilty of a little snooping every now and then, and if not, you’re a saint. Hotel maids are no different. If a guest chooses to leave a laptop on the table, suitcases wide open, and other personal items easily accessible do not be surprised if your belongings are being rifled. Some maids have admitted to searching through laptops and even trying on guest’s clothing.

Next: A clean sheet investigation that will make your skin crawl. 

4. Fresh sheets don’t happen for each new reservation

Inside Edition went undercover to discover how numerous hotel rooms in the Manhattan area operate, and the findings were jawdropping. The journalists used a stencil that read ‘I Slept Here’ and used an invisible, fluorscent spray to mark the sheets on every bed. With a new reservation already made for the same room, reporters discovered time and time again that the sheets were not being changed. Three out of the nine rooms had dirty sheets.

Next: Oh, it gets worse.

5. The bathrooms aren’t getting the royal treatment either

Another undercover Inside Edition investigation using the same fluorescent stencil test discovered that many hotel bathrooms weren’t being properly cleaned either. After stenciling the Inside Edition logo onto the toilet seats, shower floors, and countertops, then checking back into the same room under a different reservation, reporters discovered that housekeepers were neglecting the bathrooms. Some didn’t even wipe down the toilet seat.

Next: Do you always line the ice bucket?

6. You’re a lunatic if you don’t line the ice bucket

The ice bucket is heavily utilized in a hotel room, but not solely for cubes. In fact, the ice bucket wears more than just one hat. Some housekeepers have poured vomit out of those buckets more times than they’d like to admit. Their advice? Always use the provided plastic liner before filling up the bucket with cocktail ice.

Next: This is the most germ-laden culprit.

7. The remote control may be the dirtiest of all

It’s not just the upholstered couches and chairs that see a ton of germs. The hotel room remote control may be one of the most germ-infested items in the room, and it’s because the thing is hardly ever sanitized. If you are wanting to test your immune system, then fondle that remote control to your heart’s content. But just a little bit of imagination can tell you all the dirty things that remote control has seen.