A Story From the Field: The Third Floor Stayed Dry, but Guests Still Noticed the Smell

Thana manages a three-storey boutique hotel on the bank of the Mae Klong River in Amphawa district, Samut Songkhram. The hotel has around thirty rooms. On the ground floor are the lobby, a riverside restaurant, six river-view rooms, the linen room, a small laundry and the staff room. The ground-floor corridor is laid with a long, dark carpet that guests love because it feels warm and keeps the building quiet.

During the 2026 floods, the Mae Klong rose and pushed water into the ground floor, almost knee-deep, for several days. The hotel had to stop taking guests for a while. When the water went down, the housekeeping team shovelled out the mud, washed the floors and set fans running. Within a week the hotel reopened its second- and third-floor rooms, because those rooms had never been touched by the water.

The first guests back wrote reviews like: "Beautiful view, but the corridor smells musty and the towels have a strange smell." Thana walked the building himself. The corridor carpet on the ground floor was still damp underneath. In the linen room, black mold spots had appeared on the wall behind the shelving, and the towels stored there had soaked up the musty smell. That odor was drifting up the stairs and the lift shaft all the way to the top floor. It is a problem many riverside hotels in Amphawa are facing now that the water has gone: the rooms themselves are fine, but the guest experience is not.

Why Carpets and the Linen Room Drive the Smell Through the Whole Building

• Carpets hold water underneath. The surface may dry within a few days, but the underlay and the concrete beneath can stay damp for much longer. That hidden moisture feeds mold and bacteria, which keep releasing musty odor.
• Linen absorbs odor extremely well. Sheets, pillowcases and towels stored in a damp room pick up odor from the air even if they never got wet, then carry it up to rooms on every floor.
• Stairwells and lift shafts act like chimneys. Warm, humid air from the ground floor rises, so upper corridors start to smell too.
• The laundry is humid to begin with. Add post-flood moisture and mold grows quickly on the walls and under the washing machines.
• Ground-floor rooms that were closed for days. Mattresses, curtains and upholstered furniture become reservoirs of spores. Every time a door is opened, odor drifts into the corridor.

Put simply, the source of the smell is concentrated in a few ground-floor areas, but its effect spreads to every floor. That is good news, because it means the solution can be targeted.

What It Costs a Hotel: Health, Reviews and Revenue

• Guest and staff health. Guests with allergies or asthma are sensitive to mold spores and may develop a blocked nose, sneezing or a cough during their stay. Staff who waded through floodwater during the clean-up are at risk of skin infections and leptospirosis. Anyone who develops a high fever or aching calves after being in floodwater should see a doctor.
• Online review scores. For a hotel in a tourist town like Amphawa, the word "musty" in a few reviews can influence new guests' booking decisions for a long time.
• High-season revenue. The weeks after the water drops are when visitors return to the floating market and the evening firefly boat trips. Keeping rooms closed longer than necessary means losing that income.
• Linen replacement costs. Linen that is too moldy to wash clean has to be replaced. If the source of the smell is not dealt with, the new linen will start to smell too.
• Team morale. Housekeepers who clean the same areas again and again while the smell keeps returning become tired and discouraged.

What Hotels Often Try That Does Not Work

• Spraying fragrance in corridors and rooms. Guests end up smelling perfume mixed with must, which is often worse than must alone.
• Shampooing carpets with a standard machine. It cleans the surface but pushes more water into the underlay. Without proper drying, the smell comes straight back.
• Re-washing linen and returning it to the same room. Clean linen will pick up odor again within days if the room still has mold.
• Running air conditioning at full blast throughout the building. It lowers humidity somewhat, but it does not kill mold hidden under carpets or behind shelving.
• Using bleach in the linen room. The chlorine smell clings to fabric and can fade colours.

Carpet Decisions: Dry, Clean or Replace?

Corridor carpet is often the single biggest source of odor in a flooded hotel, and also one of the most expensive items to replace. It helps to work through the decision calmly with your carpet contractor rather than guessing.

• How long was it under water? Carpet that was wet for a day or two and dried quickly has a better chance than carpet that sat in water for most of a week.
• How dirty was the water? River floodwater carries mud, sewage and debris. Carpet soaked in visibly dirty water is much harder to bring back.
• What is the underlay like? Foam underlay acts like a sponge. In many cases the underlay is replaced even when the carpet itself can be saved.
• What does it smell like when lifted? If you lift a corner and the floor or underlay smells sour or rotten, that section is usually not worth saving.
• Is the floor beneath dry? New carpet laid over damp concrete will develop the same smell again. The floor must be properly dry first.

Whatever is decided, the corridor should be disinfected and ozone-treated after the old carpet is lifted or dried and before new carpet goes down, so the new floor starts clean.

A Zone-by-Zone Plan: Recovering Without Closing Longer Than Necessary

The heart of hotel work is getting the order right. The World Health Disinfection (WHD) team plans the job together with the hotel manager, with guest safety as the first priority.

1. Source zones first. The ground-floor corridor carpet, the linen room and the laundry must be dealt with first, because they are where the whole building's smell comes from.
2. Flooded ground-floor rooms next. These follow once mattresses, curtains and damaged materials have been removed.
3. Lobby and restaurant. These are scheduled while they are closed, for example after the restaurant shuts at night.
4. Upper corridors and rooms last. They are treated after the ground-floor sources are gone, so fresh odor does not drift back up.

The point that is not negotiable: during ozone treatment there must be no guests, staff, pets or plants in the zone being treated. That zone must be sealed, and air vented from it must not flow into rooms where guests are staying. If the building's layout does not allow zones to be separated safely, our team will recommend pausing guest stays while the building is treated.

The Disinfection and Ozone Process for Hotels

1. Site survey. We check how high the water rose, how damp the floor is under the carpet, where mold has grown in the linen room and laundry, how odor is travelling to the upper floors, and which rooms have bookings.
2. Clean-up advice. Together with your carpet contractor, we assess which carpet sections should be replaced and which can be dried. All linen comes out of the linen room to be re-washed, and shelving is pulled away from the walls.
3. Disinfection fogging with Chemgene HLD4H. A ULV fogger reaches the walls behind shelving, the corners of the laundry, corridor floors and guest rooms. CHEMGENE HLD4H disinfectant has no harsh smell, which suits guest-facing areas, and is used according to its label instructions.
4. Ozone treatment zone by zone. Each zone is sealed and treated with a controlled dose of ozone matched to its size, to destroy mold spores and break down the musty odor trapped in carpets, curtains and walls.
5. Ventilation. Air is vented directly outside, never into corridors where guests are staying, and we wait until the ozone has fully broken down.
6. Re-check before rooms go back on sale. We test for odor early in the morning before windows are opened, because that is when musty smells build up most. Only then does freshly washed linen go back into the linen room.

Additional precautions: televisions, in-room refrigerators, key-card systems and delicate artworks should be covered or moved as advised. Rubber items should be removed. Decorative plants in the lobby must always be taken out before treatment.

Resetting the Linen Room Properly

Because linen carries odor to every floor, the linen room deserves its own plan. A thorough reset usually looks like this:

1. Empty it completely. Every sheet, towel and pillowcase comes out. Items with visible mold that will not wash out are retired.
2. Wash and dry everything else properly. Use hot water where the care label allows, and make sure items are bone dry before they are folded.
3. Clean the room itself. Pull shelving away from the walls, clean shelves and walls, and deal with any mold patches.
4. Disinfect and ozone-treat the empty room. This removes the spores and odor that would otherwise transfer straight back onto clean linen.
5. Restock with airflow in mind. Leave a gap between shelving and walls, do not pack shelves too tightly, and run a dehumidifier in the rainy season.

Once the linen room is truly clean, housekeepers notice the difference immediately: towels smell like towels again.

A Weekly Moisture Routine for Mae Klong Riverside Hotels

Riverside hotels live with higher humidity than city hotels all year round. After the service, a few simple habits the housekeeping team can repeat every week will help keep the musty smell from returning.

• Morning smell check. The head housekeeper walks the ground-floor corridor, linen room and laundry before windows are opened and notes whether there is any odor.
• Rotate linen. Use a first-in, first-out system so no set sits on a shelf for too long.
• Keep shelving off the walls. Let air circulate behind it, and run a dehumidifier in the linen room.
• Air out empty rooms. Rooms that have been unoccupied for several days should be opened and ventilated regularly.
• Photograph the old trouble spots every week. If a new mold spot appears behind the shelving or in the laundry, send a photo to our team for a quick assessment.
• Wipe high-touch surfaces. Door handles, the lobby counter and lift buttons can be wiped with CHEMGENE HLD4H spray.

A Realistic Reopening Sequence

Every hotel is different, and timing depends on how quickly floors and walls dry. Still, most riverside properties move through the same stages, and it helps to plan bookings around them rather than around hope.

1. Stage one, clear and assess. Remove mud, lift or dry carpets, empty the linen room and take out damaged mattresses and curtains. Note which rooms and areas were affected.
2. Stage two, dry. Run dehumidifiers and ventilate the ground floor until floors and lower walls are genuinely drying. Do not lay new carpet or repaint yet.
3. Stage three, treat the sources. Disinfect and ozone-treat the corridor, linen room and laundry, then the ground-floor rooms.
4. Stage four, treat guest areas. Lobby, restaurant and upper corridors are treated once the sources are under control.
5. Stage five, restock and reopen. Return freshly washed linen, re-check odor in the early morning, and release rooms for sale floor by floor.

Releasing rooms in stages protects your reviews. It is better to sell fewer rooms for a few days than to sell every room and receive a wave of complaints about the smell.

Talking to Guests So They Feel Confident Booking Again

Many guests wonder whether a riverside hotel that has just been flooded is clean enough. Being open and straightforward builds far more confidence than staying silent.

• Mention on your booking page or confirmation message that the areas affected by the flood have been cleaned, disinfected and ozone-treated, without making exaggerated claims.
• Reply politely to reviews that mention odor, explain what you have fixed, and invite the guest to return.
• Make sure front-desk staff can answer questions about which rooms were affected and how they were treated.
• For guests with allergies, offer upper-floor rooms that were never flooded and have fresh pillows and blankets ready.

The Riverside Restaurant and Kitchen

Many Amphawa hotels earn a large share of their income from a riverside restaurant that also serves non-staying guests. After a flood, the restaurant needs the same care as a food business:

• Throw away food and ingredients that touched floodwater. This includes anything in packaging that was submerged, unless it was in sealed metal cans that can be cleaned.
• Clean before disinfecting. Mud and grease must be removed from floors, counters and equipment first, because disinfectant works best on clean surfaces.
• Treat the space when it is empty. Food, ingredients and plants are removed or sealed away before fogging or ozone treatment.
• Rinse food-contact surfaces. Before the kitchen reopens, food-contact surfaces are rinsed with clean water as advised.
• Check the drains. Kitchen drains that backed up during the flood can keep releasing a sewage smell until they are cleared.

Protecting the Housekeeping Team

Housekeepers do most of the hard work after a flood, often for long hours. A few precautions protect their health:

• Rubber gloves, boots and a well-fitting mask while handling moldy linen, lifting carpet or cleaning the laundry.
• Waterproof dressings on any cuts before starting work.
• Moldy items bagged before they are carried through guest corridors.
• Regular breaks, clean drinking water and hand washing before eating.
• A clear rule that anyone who feels unwell after working in floodwater tells their supervisor and sees a doctor.

10 Reasons Riverside Hotels in Amphawa Choose WHD

1. Zone-by-zone planning helps the hotel return to selling rooms quickly without putting guests at risk.
2. We start with the real sources: carpets, the linen room and the laundry.
3. Fine-mist disinfection fogging reaches the walls behind linen shelving.
4. Chemgene HLD4H leaves no harsh smell in guest areas.
5. Ozone treatment breaks down musty odor in carpets and curtains instead of masking it with fragrance.
6. Work is scheduled outside lobby and restaurant service hours.
7. Controlled ozone dosing and care for sensitive in-room equipment.
8. Dust mite removal for mattresses and sofas in guest rooms.
9. Mosquito spraying for the riverside restaurant and hotel garden.
10. Easy to reach on LINE. Send a floor plan and photos of problem areas for an initial assessment.

Before and After: Thana's Hotel

In the Customer's Words

"We thought the upper rooms could go straight back on sale because the water never reached them. We forgot the smell would rise from downstairs. The team helped us plan the order, starting with the linen room and the carpet before the guest rooms. Now the housekeepers say the towels smell like they used to."

— Thana, manager of a Mae Klong riverside hotel, Amphawa district (illustrative scenario)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can the ground floor be ozone-treated while guests are staying upstairs?
A: Only if the zones can genuinely be separated safely. The treated zone must be sealed and vented directly outside. If that is not possible, we will recommend pausing guest stays during treatment.

Q: Does all flooded carpet need replacing?
A: It depends on how long it was underwater, how dirty the water was and the condition of the underlay. Carpet that sat in floodwater for a long time and smells rotten usually should be replaced. Please involve your carpet contractor in the decision.

Q: Does linen that never got wet but smells musty have to be thrown out?
A: Usually not. Most of it can be re-washed in hot water as the label allows and dried thoroughly, but it should only go back into a linen room that has been properly cleaned.

Q: When can rooms go back on sale after ozone treatment?
A: Once the space has been ventilated, the ozone has fully broken down and our team has re-checked it. We give you a clear time on the day of the service.

Q: Will ozone damage the air conditioners and televisions in the rooms?
A: We control the ozone dose to suit each room and advise covering or moving sensitive equipment and valuable artworks.

Q: Should the air conditioners be cleaned as well?
A: Yes. Clean the filters and have a technician check units on the ground floor or any that smell musty, because a moldy air conditioner will blow odor straight back into the room.

Q: Can you treat the riverside restaurant too?
A: Yes, outside service hours. Food, ingredients and plants are removed or sealed away first, and food-contact surfaces are rinsed with clean water before the kitchen reopens.

Q: How do we know the smell will not come back next rainy season?
A: No treatment can stop new moisture from entering a riverside building. What keeps the smell away is the combination of removing the current mold and odor, keeping humidity under control, and following the weekly routine above. If the old spots start to show again, contact us early, because a small problem is much quicker to fix than a large one.

Let Guests Remember the River View, Not the Musty Smell

Serving hotels, resorts and homes in Amphawa, Mueang Samut Songkhram, Bang Khonthi and nearby areas.

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Call 065-556-6294 · LINE @whd268 · Email worldhealthdisinfection@gmail.com

Related Pages and Sources

• Ozone treatment for odors and chemical residue
• Dust mite removal service
• Master Ozone Generator
• All articles
• External sources: WHO: Floods and health and Thailand Department of Health

#HotelOdorRemoval #OzoneTreatment #PostFloodDisinfection #MoldRemoval #MustyOdorRemoval #Disinfectant #HotelDisinfection #DisinfectionService

Keywords: removing musty odor from a hotel after a flood, riverside hotel flood recovery, musty carpet, moldy linen room, hotel room ozone treatment, Amphawa, Samut Songkhram 2026