Valentine’s Day is a time for love, but Melbourne hotel workers say they are fed up with cleaning rooms covered in fruits, chocolates and other things.
"For us, Valentine’s Day means flower petals scattered all over the floors, spilt champagne everywhere and some very questionable stains all over the beds, but no extra time to clean," said one Hilton Hotel room attendant.
"We see exotic fruits and chocolates ground into the carpets, bubble bath all over the bathroom and massage oils all over the bed. And don’t even ask me about the whipped cream.”
The Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) has planned a protest outside the Hilton South Wharf Hotel in Melbourne, where they will be handing out cleaning wipes and asking for a hand.
The union said cleaners get as little as 15 minutes to tidy a room, a job staff say requires about 45 minutes to do properly.
Melbourne was in the grip of a hygiene crisis because of the insufficient cleaning time, which was putting guests’ health at risk, the LHMU said.
Hilton South Wharf general manager Michael Bourne said the LHMU had been making allegations concerning the hotel for quite a while, but had refused to discuss the claims.