A dead mouse was found under the breakfast buffet of a five-star hotel, according to Welsh paper the South Wales Echo.
The rodent discovered in the £230-a-night Hilton Hotel was one of a series of hygiene failings found by environmental health workers in some of the Welsh capital’s hotels.
Using freedom of information laws, the paper also uncovered
Out-of-date chicken, mould growth, and food not being cooked to the correct temperature at the Mercure Holland House Hotel and Spa.
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Out-of-date high-risk food, worn chopping boards unsuitable for use and mouldy bread containers at the Park Plaza Hotel.
Raw food being opened on chopping boards designated for vegetables and cooked sausages left out at the Holiday Inn on Castle Street.
Food kept past its shelf life, poor cleaning, no labelling on foods, CO2 cylinders not securely stored, and staff who were unsure which chemicals to use for cleaning at the Radisson Blu Hotel.
Cooked fish being stored beneath raw fish and salad not being washed at the Park Inn North Hotel.
According to paper’s findings, the capital’s budget hotels generally received better reports than the luxury ones, with the Ibis, Sandringham and Etap hotels all having almost no hygiene failures.
Following an inspection last year, Cardiff council’s senior environmental health officer Alan Barnes wrote of the Hilton: “I found a dead mouse beneath the hot breakfast buffet cabinet.
“Your Rentokil report of January 18, 2008, noted activity in the Steam Bar, but made no mention of any activity in the breakfast buffet area.”
Hilton general manage Marie Fagan told the newspaper: “The Hilton Cardiff has a long-standing, impeccable record for hygiene.
“We carry out our own regular inspections and implement a thorough cleaning regime to ensure the highest possible standards are maintained.
“Around that time, there was a lot of construction activity in the city which is believed to have disturbed obsolete underground ducting where it is thought the mouse came from.
“After the find in the sealed unit, there was a thorough investigation and since then there have been two food hygiene inspections by the local authority – as well as our own – and everything was found to be in order.
“The Hilton Cardiff is a five-star hotel with a fantastic reputation which we strive to retain. We were shocked at the find and would like to reassure our guests that this was a one-off incident which occurred nearly two years ago and everything has been done to ensure that nothing of this nature happens again.”
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