China’s hotel hygiene scandals see sheets and towels microchipped to record washing history
- The chips let travellers to hotels in Wuhan city check precisely when items were last washed by scanning a QR code
- Move comes after video exposing unhygienic cleaning practices went viral online last year, forcing apologies from a number of top five-star hotels
Bugs in the bed might be the last thing guests want from a hotel stay, but a new microchipping service in China that tracks every sheet and towel has proved popular online.
A laundry service catering to hotels in the central Chinese city of Wuhan has started installing wafer-thin microchips on bedsheets, pillow covers and towels – allowing travellers to scan a QR code on each item and check precisely when it was last washed.
The service, which also allows management to track each individual item, has become an online hit following a series of recent scandals over poor hygiene at high-end hotels.
The clip, which quickly racked up tens of millions of views, showed cleaning staff wiping down in-room cups with the same towels and sponges used to clean showers and toilets.