Bed Bug Safety Overtakes Stars, Cleanliness and Value as Travellers' #1 Hotel Booking Concern, Phocuswright Research Confirms

• 4 in 5 travellers across the US and Europe rank a guaranteed bed bug–safe room as their #1 hotel necessity; above non smoking rooms, Wi-Fi and air conditioning

• Bed bugs outrank linen cleanliness, value for money and staff friendliness as the single biggest concern at time of booking, in every market surveyed

• 84% would choose a certified 4-star hotel over an uncertified 5-star at the same price; 7 in 10 say they will pay more for a guaranteed safe stay

A fundamental shift is taking place in how travellers choose hotels. New research from Phocuswright, finds that bed bug safety now ranks as the #1 hotel booking concern; outranking linen cleanliness, value for money, staff friendliness and location in every market surveyed.

1,082 leisure and business travellers across the United States, United Kingdom and France were surveyed in the report, with the data confirming what the industry is now seeing: this is the decade-defining hotel attribute, and the hotels that surface it as a verified, bookable credential are about to compete on ground that no one else yet occupies.

57% of US travellers, 55% in France and 53% in the UK rated bed bugs as an “extreme concern” when booking; ahead of every other attribute in every market.

Guests are silently taking action on this already with 78% scanning reviews for bed bug mentions before booking and 71% checking the bed on arrival. 68% of guests wash their clothes at 60 degrees on returning home, to protect themselves from possible issues and only 10% ask the hotel directly about bed bugs. Half say they would refuse a property based on a single recent review, silently and with no explanation.

When visible, independent certification is introduced as a booking attribute, the response is decisive. 84% of respondents say that they would choose a certified 4-star over an uncertified 5 star at the same price and 82% would pick a lower rated certified hotel over a higher rated uncertified one.

 The category is decisive even when it comes to well known brands too with 76% saying that they are more likely to try an unfamiliar brand if it holds certification. 7 in 10 will pay more to stay at one too and 84% say they are more likely to return. Ranked as a room necessity, a  guaranteed bed bug–safe room scores 81%, significantly above essentials such as non-smoking (65%), Wi-Fi (61%) and air conditioning (50%).

Hotels stayed silent because they assumed the subject was best left unraised. Guests made the same calculation and then acted on it anyway.

At Valpas, we let travellers book knowing their hotel is genuinely bed bug–safe, by certifying properties across 80+ destinations and pushing that verified, real time proof directly into the booking platforms and AI systems where the booking decision now happens.

Some will worry that naming bed bug safety draws attention to it. The data says the opposite as 84% would choose a certified four-star over an uncertified five-star. The visibility objection just became the commercial case. The hotels that surface this credential now are not catching a trend; they are setting the standard

Martim Gois, Co-Founder and CEO, Valpas

The category is being set

Non-smoking rooms, Wi-Fi, sustainability: each arrived as a back-office cost before traveller demand forced it into the booking flow. The Phocuswright data confirms bed bug safety is the 2020s iteration. Marriott International, and Michelin recognised properties are already Valpas-certified across 30,000+ rooms in 25 countries. The certification methodology is independently verified by Bureau Veritas on the same audit-grade footing as fire safety or water quality and recognised by the GSTC and WSHA. Hotels carrying the certification have reported a 30% lift in direct booking conversions. With live availability in ChatGPT and across 1,000+ B2B travel platforms, the attribute is now surfacing at every point of the European booking journey.

Read the full research

Media Contact

Craig Mc Hugh

PR & Public Policy Manager [email protected]