Pests Like Bed Bugs Rank Ahead of Cleanliness, Staff and Value as Travellers' #1 Hotel Booking Concern, Phocuswright Research Confirms

Why this matters

This survey finding that bed bug safety now eclipses cleanliness, staff quality, and even value as the foremost concern for hotel guests signals a subtle but important shift in hospitality sector fundamentals. For institutional investors and lenders, it underscores the growing premium placed on operational risk management and brand reputation in hotel assets. Hotels that can credibly certify pest-free environments—especially at the upper-midscale and upscale tiers—may command a competitive advantage in occupancy and pricing power, influencing underwriting assumptions around revenue stability and tenant creditworthiness. From a capital markets perspective, this heightened guest sensitivity to pest issues could translate into greater scrutiny of property-level due diligence, particularly in urban and older assets where infestation risks may be elevated. It also suggests that operators and owners who invest in rigorous pest control protocols and transparent certification processes may better insulate themselves from reputational damage and revenue volatility. For allocators, this dynamic highlights the importance of operational diligence alongside traditional metrics such as location and physical condition, as intangible factors increasingly shape hotel asset performance in a post-pandemic recovery environment.

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