You don’t have to be Tony Shalhoub from the TV series Monk to worry about the germs lurking inside your hotel room. Any time you live out of a room that is not your own, one that may not be as clean as you like, you might find thoughts of bed bugs and dust balls dancing in your head. You may wonder when the last time the bathroom was scoured or wonder how many people have wiped their dirty hands on the hotel room curtains. You may fervently hope that no previous patrons lived by the mantra "what happens in a hotel room, stays in a hotel room."

For those who travel frequently for business or pleasure, there are a number of things you can do to reassure yourself that you are staying in the cleanest hotel possible.

Be Picky: When cleanliness is a factor in choosing a hotel room, you can’t let your decision be dictated by price: expensive does not necessarily mean clean. Instead, keep in mind the hotel’s reputation. Many booklets and travel guides will rate hotels based on several factors, one of these being cleanliness. If a hotel received five stars for food, but only one for cleanliness, you’ll know that hotel has great food and pieces of it just might be stuck inside the carpet strands of your hotel room floor.

Look Around: It’s usually pretty easy to tell if a hotel room is clean or if it’s dirty. This doesn’t require tracing over every ounce of furniture with a pristine white glove, it simply requires looking around. If you notice the towels are dirty or the bathtub is filled with slime and grime, then mention this to the hotel room staff. If you notice your sheets are stained or your TV stand contains the world’s largest collection of dust, don’t be afraid to ask to be moved. You aren’t only paying for a hotel room; you are paying for a clean one.