Planning an overnight escapade? Checked whether the sheets are Egyptian cotton but overlooked the pressing issue of what life-giving liquid you'll be swigging from the hotel tap? Read on as we interrogate hotel tap water and whether it should find its way into your guts, or be used merely for your ablutions.

The safety of hotel tap water is as dubious as a midnight kebab after tequila. According to doctor and water enthusiast, Scott Bartell, this is mainly due to your geographical location and the specific regulations of the hotel. A hotel might boast overzealous water purification methods that rival NASA's, or just as likely, harbor a rickety old filtration system that's seen more maintenance in its marketing than in reality.

Remember, certain older hotels are practically historical sights. Their tapping into nostalgia doesn't mean you want to drink water that's been tap dancing in lead pipes. Facing a boil water advisory? The hotel should cozy up to bottled water, or you might see more of your hotel suite's bathroom than its alluring pool view.

In the land of bald eagles and apple pie (a.k.a 'Murica), tap water is generally "very safe" and regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) - thanks, science! However, like taste in music and ability to park, the quality of tap water varies wildly from place to place. When the water responsibility passes to the property owner on its journey down the pipeline into your hotel, things could get interesting.

Drinking hotel tap water that's been mingling with contaminants can lead to unwanted souvenirs. Some of them might require medical attention like gastrointestinal illness, reproductive problems, and in some severe cases, neurological disorders. If you're of fragile constitution (infants, small children, pregnant, older adults, those with weakened immune systems), drinking dirty water could turn your vacation to an involuntary fasting retreat quicker than you can say "room service."

Genuinely unsavory tap water can push your body to offload unwanted toxins in ways you never planned, causing (terms coming up might not be great conversation starters at dinner parties) stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, fever, kidney failure, and hepatitis.

According to yearly stats, millions of people fall ill and numerous die because of unsafe drinking water worldwide. But before you get carried away gloating about that globally sourced e-Coli you got at a United States hotel, Bartell mitigates that "most of that burden occurs in developing countries.”

If you land at a hotel and the tap water greets you with an appearance more befitting a thriller movie than a refreshing drink, steer clear. Suspiciously cloudy, particle buddies swimming around, or has a disappointment of a smell or taste? You've got yourself some bad quality H2O.

Feeling skittish about drinking tap water from your hotel? Then pack portable water filters, invest in flashy UV light purifiers, chew on purification tablets, or lather up the iodine water disinfectants. But whatever you do, don't just blindly trust any tap water, especially when on vacation. Hey! You're away to break your routine, not your intestines!