Which hotel chain has the most bed bugs?

We do not yet have enough hotels per group to compare chains.

Are independent hotels worse for bed bugs than chains?

Not in our scan: 9 of 174 (5%) independent hotels had a bed-bug review, against 1 of 18 (6%) chain hotels.

Should I complain to the hotel chain about bed bugs?

Report it to the hotel first, during your stay, with photos. If the hotel does not resolve it, write to the brand’s guest relations team with your booking number, the photos and what the hotel offered.

Hotel chains with bed bugs: Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Accor and more

192 hotels scanned · 95 cities · data refreshed 2026-11-13

Does a big hotel brand protect you from bed bugs? We sorted 18 scanned hotels by the hotel group behind their name and counted how many have at least one guest review mentioning bed bugs.

Across all chain hotels the figure is 1 of 18 (6%). Across independent hotels it is 9 of 174 (5%). The table below breaks it down by group, from Marriott and Hilton to IHG, Accor, Hyatt and Radisson.

For the overall picture see hotels with bed bugs; to check a specific hotel yourself, see how to tell if a hotel has bed bugs.

Bed bug reports by hotel chain

We do not yet have 5 or more scanned hotels from any one group, so there is no brand table yet.

Do chain hotels have fewer bed bugs than independent hotels?

Not by much, if at all. 1 of 18 (6%) chain hotels had a bed-bug review; 9 of 174 (5%) independent hotels did.

Bed bugs arrive in guests’ luggage, so every busy hotel is exposed. What differs between hotels is how fast staff spot a report, close the room and treat it — and that depends on the individual property and its manager far more than on the logo above the door.

Most chain hotels are franchised or run by a management company, so two hotels under the same brand can be run very differently. That is why we count each hotel separately and never rate a brand as a whole.

How to check a chain hotel before you book

Open the hotel’s reviews on the booking site and on Google Maps, sort by newest, and search for "bed bugs", "bites", "bugs", "cockroach" and "mice".

Read the dates. One report from three years ago means far less than two from last month. Then read the hotel’s reply: a specific answer ("we closed the room and treated it the same day") is a better sign than a template apology.

Do not stop at the brand’s own website: reviews there are collected by the brand. Use an independent booking site and Google Maps as well. On arrival, run the five-minute bed bug check whatever the star rating.

If you find them, what to do if your hotel has bed bugs covers the room change, the refund and the complaint to the brand’s head office.

Why a star rating or a big name is no guarantee

Four- and five-star hotels and 9.0+ scores do not rule bed bugs out either — see highly rated hotels with pest reports.

Group figures here cover small samples per brand: a handful of reports can swing a percentage by several points. Treat the table as a picture of how widespread reports are, not as a league table of the cleanest brand.

Browse researched hotels

Cities where every listed hotel has a full HotelShortlist review dossier:

Alytus Athens Barcelona Birštonas Bona Breuil-Cervinia Cervinia Cortina d'Ampezzo Davos-Klosters Dubai Gstaad Holzgau Jamaica Jennersdorf Kaunas Kitzbühel Kraków Kretinga Lisbon Madonna di Campiglio Magland Megève Milano Méribel Palanga Paris Pärnu Riga Rimini Rubuliai San Vigilio Sanya St. Anton am Arlberg St. Moritz Tartu Tauperlitz Trakai Trento Utzmannsbach Vilnius Vysoké Tatry Wagrain Warsaw Zakopane Zermatt Łódź Žiaukos

How we counted

We scanned the English-language guest reviews of 192 hotels in 95 cities for mentions of bed bugs and other pests (cockroaches, mice, ants, fleas and similar). Reviews that deny a problem ("no bed bugs") are excluded, and each hotel counts once however many reviews mention it.

A mention is a guest’s report, not an inspection result — it may be old, and the hotel may have dealt with it since. This page shows totals only and never names a hotel. If you represent a hotel and believe a figure is wrong, write to members@hotelshortlist.com and we will review it.

Questions

Which hotel chain has the most bed bugs?: We do not yet have enough hotels per group to compare chains.
Are independent hotels worse for bed bugs than chains?: Not in our scan: 9 of 174 (5%) independent hotels had a bed-bug review, against 1 of 18 (6%) chain hotels.
Should I complain to the hotel chain about bed bugs?: Report it to the hotel first, during your stay, with photos. If the hotel does not resolve it, write to the brand’s guest relations team with your booking number, the photos and what the hotel offered.

More guides

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