成人快手

Dirty hotels

Clean hotel? Our experts make some worrying finds

London's iconic Marble Arch, is one of the most recognised landmarks in the capital.

It helps draw over 26 million tourists to London every year.

These tourists all have to sleep somewhere and they choose from a huge selection of hotels, from budget to luxury.

The problem is that these hotels are, on average, the most expensive hotels in the world (aside from Tokyo).

Yet there is a problem with an ever-increasing volume of complaints about basic hygiene in the rooms.

It is not cheap to stay in London and it seems, it may not be clean either.

Gruesome finds

The list of gruesome finds in London's hotels would shock those of the strongest constitution - mould in the showers, bed bugs, public hairs on mattresses, blood and urine stains.

So is it really as bad as all that?

Inside Out sent reporter David Akinsanya to investigate what was on offer in terms of accommodation in London hotels.

He started his research on the Internet, as many an overseas visitor would probably do.

With a budget of between 拢50 to 拢200, he was to play the tourist and book into a variety of hotels.

With the high cost of the rooms, his budget was stretched to breaking point, but this high expenditure should surely guarantee a high level of comfort and hygiene.

Before setting off David contacted Adam Rafael from the Good Hotel Guide who's been monitoring hotels independently for 20 years:

"Frankly Americans come here and they are appalled as they would pay half what they pay in the US and the standards are not really good. So I think there's a real problem in London." Adam Rafael.

Hotel choice

David books three different hotels in London - one for 拢50, one for 拢130 and the final one for 拢200.

At the budget end is The Lonsdale Hotel in Bloomsbury.

On the Internet it looked great. The room is not exactly a palace but then it's at the bottom of the price range, and is not bad for 拢50.

How clean is your phone?

David however is no expert on cleanliness so he asked a professional to come in and check out the hotel.

Jim Francis runs one of the country's leading microbiology labs. He can spot the kind of dirt in a room that you'd rather not know about.

Within a few minutes Jim and David don white disposable gowns to avoid cross-contamination with the objects they intend to inspect around the room.

Jim gets straight to work swabbing key areas in the bedroom such as the door handles, cups, saucers and spoons - anywhere where you would come into contact with germs by touch.

The telephone handset is one such area that can harbour germs if not kept clean.

People touch it with their face and may also cough into it and these areas can direct transfer bacteria to the next user.

Low standards?

Jim takes swabs from the receiver and puts them into containers with special gel that preserves the bacteria until he gets back to the lab to take the tests.

"What I'm looking for is nasty bacteria that will cause illness", he tells David.

Jim then tests the bathroom, in particular the toilet area, paying special attention again to the areas that you would touch by hand, such as the toilet lid and seat.

Room with more than a view! Our expert uncover faeces

He then gets a real shock as he spies some brown matter on the bathroom ceiling:

"Oh no what's that? Well I know what it looks like. We'll take a sample of it and find out. It looks like poo. It's really gross."

The tests are over and they check out.

The analysis reveals Staphylococcus a bacteria on the cups, spoons and handset of the phone - a bug that can make you quite ill.

And as for the brown material on the ceiling? Yes, it was poo.

To find out how London hotels have sunk so low David meets up with Sarah Johnston of the Lonely Planet Guides:

"In London hotels the inspection regime is entirely voluntary. If an inspector finds something wrong, they only tell the hotelier and not the authorities.

"In Continental Europe, by contrast, the schemes are statutory and heavily policed".

How clean is your hotel?

Second stop is the Comfort Inn at Kings Cross, a middle of the road hotel where a family may stop.

It costs 拢100 for the room. David meets up with Jim in the bathroom.

"Put these goggles on. The ultraviolet lamp will check for things we can't usually see."

Clean machine? The hotel fails to meet cleanliness standards

Jim explains that any urine will show up brightly under the UV lamp. Sure enough, there were runs of unwashed urine all around the bottom of the pedestal.

The toilet area hasn't been cleaned effectively.

"This is awful聟 really disgusting," says Jim.

He takes a piece of tissue and wets it to show how easy it is to clean the area properly and sure enough the cleaned patch shows up under UV.

It didn't take much effort at all.

Lab tests reveal the presence of E. Coli bacteria in the bathroom - obviously a nasty bug that can cause stomach upsets.

Jim also gives this hotel a fail.

Top of the range?

Finally David splashed out 拢200 on the Thistle Hotel Bloomsbury - for that he should really be able to eat off the floor.

Jim gives it the general thumbs up but then spots a problem with the shower head.

There's a pink ring around the shower head.

"This pink staining is a bacteria... you're effectively taking a shower in bacteria."

The presence of Pseudomonas was confirmed back at Jim's lab - it's a type of bacteria associated with skin rashes and even eye infections.

Jim passes the room but fails the shower head.

Sadly what David's seen isn't uncommon - and it seems the rest of the world has a very jaded view of London's hotels.

Customers, it seems, are powerless.

Solutions?

One of the things about London hotels is that the inspection regime is entirely voluntary, so an inspector can come in and find something wrong but they're only going to tell the hotel they're not going to tell the authorities.

In continental Europe in contrast, the schemes are statutory and very strictly policed.

Jim's view is simple:

"It's not rocket science. We're just asking them to clean and clean properly. Use cleaning agents and let the cleaners have enough time to do it."

We asked the hotels visited for their reaction to what we found.

The Comfort Inn said:

"Cleaning and hygiene are a very important part of our daily housekeeping and we're disappointed that this room fell through the net - every room in the hotel has subsequently been checked and we're introducing a regular independent review to ensure this doesn't happen again."

The Thistle Hotel said:

"We take health and safety very seriously at Thistle Hotels... and regularly inspect and treat our shower heads so were surprised to hear that the bacterium pseudomonas was present.

"Following this report, however, our existing precautions will be intensified."

There was no response from the Lonsdale.

---------------------------------------------------------------

...

By hook or by crook...

Women and fishing special

"There is no feeling like it. It is so exciting... "Not only am I concentrating on the fishing but I enjoy what聮s around me - the surroundings, the bird life, the wildlife 聳 it聮s just incredible."

Virginia Rushmer, angler

Whether on the River Thames or our scores of lakes and ponds or even by gloomy old canals, you will find fishermen.

And they are usually men.

Ninety eight per cent of Londoners who fish are men, but the Government are trying to change that.

Within the next 10 years they want to double the number of women who fish.

But already there are hardy breeds of female fisherman who are very proud of their sport, and are rather good at it.

Sadie Nine has always dreamt of fishing herself and went off on a search for those intrepid female anglers.

...

----------------------------------------------------------------

Caesarean sections

Baby boom - caesarean births are booming in the capital

The caesarean birth rate in London is rising much faster than in any other part of the country.

One in four of all births in the capital are now caesareans, well above the 10-15% of all births that the World Health Organisation recommends.

New mum Natasha Desborough, who herself had a c-section, wants to find out just why so many of these operations are being performed.

Natasha's pregnancy was normal until it came to the birth, but after 36 hours in labour she had to have an emergency caesarean.

Now six months later she has started to question why she had the operation and why so many other new mothers have to go through this traumatic operation:

"Having a caesarean wasn't ideal. The actual operation was quite traumatic. At the same time I felt quite a failure, I hadn't started my job as a mother in the right way聟"

A c-section is a major operation and carries risks as any surgical procedure does - these include the risks of blood clots, the baby having breathing difficulties, and the woman's fertility being lowered.

Overcautious?

One of the busiest maternity units in London is King's College Hospital and it also had one of the highest caesarean section rates.

Consultant obstetrician Dr Leonie Penna is now taking a closer look at every operation performed.

She believes that many operations were only previously carried out because the doctor was being over cautious.

C-section mum - Natasha Desborough

Although rates are now falling, the pressure on staff isn't helped by the national shortage of midwives particularly in London.

Proof of the effect of one to one care can be found at The Albany Clinic in South London.

Here mothers-to-be see the same midwife throughout their pregnancy.

As a result the practice has managed to lower its caesarean rate to just 13% of births and have many home births.

Sadly the Albany Clinic is a one of kind in the UK, and until more maternity units take on their model, the caesarean rate will remain high in London and across the country.

...

听