China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism has ordered an investigation into a string of hotels that were exposed as allegedly having serious hygiene issues.

Interior view of newly opened Le Royal Meridien Shanghai Hotel in Shanghai, September 25, 2006.[Photo: IC]

The ministry said it was highly concerned about the cases and has ordered local culture and tourism authorities in Shanghai, Beijing and provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi and Guizhou to investigate.

Cleaners in several posh luxury hotels were caught on cameras washing cups, sinks and mirrors with dirty cloths, towels and sponges, causing public concern.

Most of the affected hotels are part of big international hotel chains. Among them are Conrad Beijing, Le Royal Meridien Shanghai, Shangri-La Hotel Fuzhou. Some have apologized.

The Shanghai Municipal Tourism Administration said the investigation was underway and it would support law enforcement authorities in severely punishing hotels found responsible.

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development said they had summoned managers of the four hotels involved for explanation and investigation. The city's health authorities have started collecting samples from the hotel premises for testing and the result will be published soon, the authorities said.

Similar investigations are underway in Fuzhou and Guiyang, capital cities of Fujian and Guizhou provinces respectively.

The ministry called for culture and tourism authorities at all levels to tighten monitoring on tourism service quality and vowed to seriously deal with behaviors that gravely impact the quality of tourism services.