If you think staying in a 5-star hotel in China means you're safe from hygiene problems, think again.

An online report released on Sept. 4 by a self-proclaimed independent assessment team from a website called Lanmei Test, exposed five international hotels in Beijing for failing to keep up with proper hygiene standards.

The five-star hotels under scrutiny were Intercontinental, Hilton, Shangri-La, and JW Marriott and its subsidiary W Hotels.

They were revealed in an investigative video using unchanged bed linen and also having dirty toilets.

The assessment

The website, going by the slogan "Better Choice, Better Life", had sent a team that checked into the luxury hotels to conduct the investigations.

Using fluorescent stamps, they marked the room's bed linens, cups, toilet bowls and bathtubs. These stamps are invisible to the naked eye and are removable by gently wiping or washing.

They then messed up the room so that it looked like it has been used before.

After checking out the next day and other team members went on to book the exact same room to follow up on the investigations.

To their dismay, the fluorescent stamps were found to be in the same spots where they were, which led the team to conclude that these hotels had not cleaned up the room after the previous guests checked out.

Responses to the video

The video went viral on China’s social media, such as WeChat and Weibo, within hours of its release.

On Weibo, it attracted more than 60,000 comments, 70,000 likes and 90,000 shares.

While most netizens condemned the hotel service, some comments highlighted a bigger problem behind the phenomenon.

What's characteristic to our country is that even if you've forked out the money, you're still unable to enjoy the service you paid for. Con men are everywhere.

But some pointed out that such overseas investigations have found similar outcomes.

This assessment was also done outside of China. The results are the same as this one from Beijing, so we shouldn't say that this is unique to China.

[related_story]

The Beijing Health Inspection declared on Sept. 5 that it will launch an investigation into all of Beijing's 5-star hotels this week.

According to South China Morning Post (SCMP), The W, JW Marriott and Hilton had said that they will conduct detailed internal investigations and arrange refresher courses for their housekeeping staff.

The InterContinental, said that the video did not reflect the real situation in the hotel, as it did not prove the time at which the incidents occured.

If you'd like to see the full investigative video, you can find it below with English subtitles:

&v=Tio4rl7O7QI

Top image via here