Originally Posted by
Antarius
This. We don't know for sure. As a result, we have to either take it on faith or perform a cursory inspection and make a determination based on that.
there is no way to know for sure that the linens were washed at a high enough temperature to kill everything or that there isnt legionnaires disease in the HVAC. Both things I dont worry about, but seem to be far more likely to get you sick than soap dispensers.
This is true. But at least we can believe that hotels have safe policies and procedures and that employees follow them, and that some things are at least subject to periodic inspections.
I'm nowhere near a germophobe - quite the opposite actually. I'm a believer in the "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger" philosophy. I'm not going to refuse to use the dispensers or bring my own soap. To me, the point about tampering and germs is just that Marriott is making it easier for those with twisted minds to tamper with this liquid soap crap than with a wrapped bar of soap. And people WILL do that. I wouldn't want to know that the room I'm staying in was last occupied by a group of college kids, because the odds of some type of "prank" go up considerably.
But really, for me, it's just a matter of not liking body wash more than anything. Marriott is moving to an inferior product, to save money, with the spin that it's "green".
Or, as some people suggest, we can just skip washing with soap all together. The ultimate environmentally friendly solution!