The ideal hotel room should not recall anyone’s previous presence. Cleaning the room after the guest checks out is above all about erasing the memory. The bed must forget the previous body, new sheets must be put on and stretched tight, the bathroom must be shined to a sparkle. Every trace of a prior human presence—a hair on the sheet, a faded lipstick stain on the pillowcase, is a disaster. Only oblivion is aseptic.
