How can you tell if a hotel has bed bugs before booking?

Sort its reviews by newest on a booking site and Google Maps and search for "bed bugs", "bites" and "bitten". Recent, repeated reports are the warning sign.

What are the first signs of bed bugs in a hotel room?

Clusters of tiny dark spots on mattress seams or the headboard, rust-coloured smears on sheets, and pale shed skins.

Do good hotels have bed bugs?

Some do. 37 of 159 (23%) hotels rated 9.0+ in our scan had a review mentioning bed bugs or another pest.

How to tell if a hotel has bed bugs — before and after you book

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

You can tell a lot about a hotel’s bed bug history before you pay for it, and confirm the rest in five minutes when you walk into the room.

It is worth doing even at a top hotel: of the 192 hotels we scanned, 10 of 192 (5%) had at least one guest review mentioning bed bugs. See highly rated hotels with pest reports and hotel chains with bed bugs.

Before you book: search the reviews the right way

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.

The review words that give bed bugs away

Guests rarely write "bed bug infestation". They write "bitten", "bites", "itchy", "bugs in the bed", "little black spots", "blood on the sheets". Search for those as well as "bed bugs".

Check the hotel’s replies too. A reply naming a date, a room and a treatment is a hotel that dealt with it. A reply that denies everything, or none at all, tells you something else.

How often good hotels have bed bug reports

Ratings are no shield either: 37 of 159 (23%) hotels rated 9.0 or higher on Booking.com had at least one review mentioning bed bugs or another pest.

Price is no shield: among 153 four- and five-star hotels we scanned, 7 of 153 (5%) had at least one review mentioning bed bugs.

City by city: hotel pest reports by city. If you cannot find any recent reports, that is a good sign — but still check the room.

When you arrive: the five-minute room check

Leave your bags in the bathroom or on a hard surface until the check is done. Never on the bed or the carpet.
Pull back the sheets at the head of the bed and check the mattress seams, piping and corners with your phone torch.
Look for the signs, not the bugs: small dark-brown or black spots (dried droppings), rust-coloured smears, pale shed skins, tiny white eggs.
Check behind and under the headboard — the most common hiding place — plus the bedside-table drawers and the sofa seams.
Inspect the luggage rack straps and joints, then use it for your case, away from the wall.

More detail and photos of what to look for: how to check a hotel room for bed bugs.

Signs of bed bugs in a hotel room

Small dark-brown or black spots in clusters on mattress seams, sheets or the headboard — that is dried droppings.

Rust-coloured smears or tiny blood spots on the sheets or pillowcases.

Pale, empty shed skins and tiny white eggs in seams and joints.

Live bugs: flat, brown, about the size of an apple seed, often in a line along a seam.

Found any of these? Follow what to do if your hotel has bed bugs.

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

How can you tell if a hotel has bed bugs before booking?: Sort its reviews by newest on a booking site and Google Maps and search for "bed bugs", "bites" and "bitten". Recent, repeated reports are the warning sign.
What are the first signs of bed bugs in a hotel room?: Clusters of tiny dark spots on mattress seams or the headboard, rust-coloured smears on sheets, and pale shed skins.
Do good hotels have bed bugs?: Some do. 37 of 159 (23%) hotels rated 9.0+ in our scan had a review mentioning bed bugs or another pest.

More guides

Hotels with bed bugs: what guest reviews report10 of 192 (5%) hotels we scanned had a guest review mentioning bed bugs. City-by-city data and how to check your room. Cockroaches in hotel rooms: what guest reviews report49 of 192 (26%) hotels we scanned had a guest review reporting cockroaches, mice or other pests. See the data by city and what to do. How to check a hotel room for bed bugsA five-minute room check, the signs to look for, and what to do if you find them. 10 of 192 (5%) hotels we scanned had a bed-bug review. Which cities have the most hotel pest reports?Bed bug and pest mentions in guest reviews of 192 hotels across 95 cities, compared city by city. Why 9.0+ rated hotels still get pest reports37 of 159 (23%) hotels rated 9.0+ had a guest review mentioning bed bugs or pests. Why a high score doesn't rule them out. Hotel chains with bed bugs: Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Accor and moreBed-bug reviews at 18 chain hotels, group by group — Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Accor, Hyatt — against independents. Quiet hotels: how to find one, and how to get a quiet room542 of 1,792 (30%) hotels we read are rarely called noisy by guests. Quiet hotels by city, and how to get a quiet hotel room. Is there a bed bug registry for hotels?Most countries keep no official bed bug registry for hotels. What exists, how to search it, how to report a hotel. 10 of 192 (5%) had a report. What to do if your hotel has bed bugsFound bed bugs or bitten in a hotel? What to do in the first 30 minutes, how to get a refund, whether you can sue, and how to keep them out of your… Dirty hotel room: what to do, and how to avoid oneDirty hotel room? What to do on the spot, how to get a refund, and how to spot a dirty hotel in the reviews. 54 of 192 (28%) hotels had a pest report.