Cleanliness and high hygiene standards should be a basic given in all hotels. But with the rise of social media and online reviews, it’s never been so important to maintain high standards for your guests.
Numerous studies into consumer views on hotel cleanliness have revealed that cleanliness is the most important factor when reviewing and recommending a hotel. Furthermore, cleanliness is a major factor when deciding whether or not to return to a hotel.
Hotel cleanliness statistics
Miele Professional’s study found that 76% of people would not return to the hotel if they found it dirty and 79% of people see cleanliness as the main factor when forming their perception of a hotel; placing hygiene above good customer service, facilities and price.
The Hague Hotel School found in their study that when consumers are deciding on which hotel to choose, 46% of people see review sites as their most important source of information and 26% cited personal recommendations.
The Mystery Dining Company found that 40% of guests look to the state of the bathroom as an indication of the overall cleanliness of the hotel. With the bedroom not far behind at 28%.
Other important areas for guests include clean bed linen, clean pillows, having crisp sheets, clean towels, clean toilet seat and pan, no foul odours and no trace of the previous guest.
Online hotel reviews
With so much of the hospitality sector now relying on online reviews to attract customers, leaving customers with a positive impression is vital to the success of hotels worldwide. A bad review can sink your business, especially if you’re small or independent. And with cleanliness being a driving force behind negative online reviews (69% of hotel guests have written and would write a review on Tripadvisor about their experience) keeping your hotel clean seems like a no-brainer.
“6 in 10 people have felt the need to complain about a hotel’s cleanliness”
But you only have to take a quick look on Tripadvisor to see how many hotels are not meeting the standards expected of them by consumers. And you can see from these snippets of negative reviews, so many are related to the hygiene…
With hygiene standards being the most important factor for hotel guests, and with so many hotels neglecting to see to this, it doesn’t take much to set yourself apart from the competition. Simply hire some industrial cleaning equipment and you’ll be on your way!
