Hawaii visitors may assume that hotels are held to high cleanliness standards, but the state has taken a hands-off approach when it comes to one persistent problem—bedbugs. While other destinations are moving toward stricter oversight or innovative solutions, Hawaii’s hotel industry is left to self-regulate. A new certification is emerging that could change how travelers think about hotel safety, but will Hawaii hotels take notice?
No state help for visitors as bedbug problem grows.
Despite Hawaii’s reliance on tourism, the state has no specific laws requiring hotels to prevent or disclose bedbug infestations. The issue gained fresh attention recently when lawmakers proposed new regulations, but only for residential rentals. Senate Bill 456 would require landlords to ensure rental properties are bedbug-free, placing the pests on par with other major housing issues like plumbing and electricity failures. However, the bill does not extend to hotels, leaving travelers without official protections.
Hotels in Hawaii operate under general health and safety standards, but unlike some states, there is no dedicated law addressing bedbugs in accommodations. In places like Nevada and New York, hotels are required to fumigate infested rooms and disclose past issues to guests. Hawaii has yet to adopt similar measures, leaving it up to individual hotels to handle infestations as they see fit.
Bedbugs don’t discriminate, and neither do online reviews.
The hospitality industry argues that maintaining clean, pest-free rooms is in its best interest, given the potential damage to a hotel’s reputation. But incidents still happen, even at high-end properties. Reports of bedbug encounters in Hawaii hotels have surfaced online, with travelers sharing detailed accounts of waking up to bites and spotting pests in their rooms.
Traveler Dennis S. shared with BOH his firsthand experience with bedbugs after being placed in a hotel by Hawaiian Airlines:
“Upon getting ready for bed, I spotted a bedbug on my pillow. I should have saved it, but I flushed it down the toilet. I notified the front desk and there were no more rooms available to move to. I stripped down the bed and didn’t find any more bugs. Hawaiian Air flew us home the next day and gave us $500 each future travel credit. The bedbug room cost Hawaiian Air $400.”
Other travelers noted that bedbugs are not just a hotel issue but can also be found on flights. Rosie commented:
“I was on a flight from Hawaii back home to Las Vegas on American Airlines, and we had bedbugs on our flight. The flight crew did nothing at all for us…”
These concerns highlight how easily bedbugs can spread at hotels, in checked baggage, or even on aircraft seating.
A new certification could change the game.
While Hawaii has not taken action, other parts of the world are embracing new ways to tackle bedbugs. One of the most promising developments comes from Valpas, a European company offering a new certification program that guarantees hotel rooms are free of bedbugs.
Valpas technology replaces standard bed legs with smart bed legs that attract and trap bedbugs upon contact. These devices send real-time alerts to hotel staff, allowing immediate action before an infestation spreads. Hotels using the system receive a certification visible on booking platforms, letting guests know they are staying in a verified bedbug-free room.
This approach offers a proactive solution compared to traditional pest control, which often involves costly fumigation after the fact. Valpas has already gained traction in parts of Europe and is now expanding into Japan with the backing of Canon Marketing Japan.
Will Hawaii hotels embrace this new standard?
With Hawaii’s hotel industry facing increasing scrutiny over rising fees and service quality, adopting a visible bedbug-free certification could offer a competitive advantage. However, no indication exists that major Hawaii hotels are considering it.
Travelers who are concerned about bedbugs currently have few options beyond checking reviews and inspecting rooms themselves. Mary raised concerns about what passengers can do to prevent exposure:
“But what can passengers do as a preventive measure besides hard suitcases? Can we spray our seats before sitting down? With what? Bedbugs dropping out of an overhead bin for a five-hour (or longer) flight would drive me insane. Literally. There aren’t enough Mai Tai’s to calm this momma down for that experience.”
These concerns raise the question of whether hotels in Hawaii will act on their own or wait until the issue becomes more widely discussed among visitors.
If the trend of certified bedbug-free hotels continues to grow internationally, Hawaii’s hotel industry may eventually have to respond. Until then, visitors must rely on their research and hope for the best.
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To think that Hawaii will pass any law regulating hotels is funny. The hotel lobby pays top dollar to own your state government. Best thing to do is everybody write reviews about such problems and on as many sites as you can.
After 20 years of yearly Hawaii travel (4x one year!), Oct 2023 was our last trip, possibly forever. There are many reasons including this issue, ants in our high end suite at one of the island’s best properties with management not really caring, etc etc.
All of this can be wrapped up as the value just not being there, and it’s not even close, it’s massive.
It’s a real tragedy because Hawaii (and Kaua’i specifically) used to be our happy place, but the slide started in 2015ish and now the price mismatch is just ridiculous. We both agreed that at half the cost it still probably wouldn’t make the cut.
A suggestion based on 60+ years of staying in and patronizing Hawai’ian hotels, condos, rental homes, and military housing facilities …
Do your own cleaning … that’s the “only” way you’ll ever get it done to your satisfaction … and it’s not that hard. Either bring the “stuff” with you … or if that’s too hard or you’re planning a long stay — buy it locally.
I had a fine gentleman Thai friend who owned a Waikiki hotel in the area of the “old” Edgewater that was taken down years ago … progress ???
I stayed there a lot on my own dime on airline layovers and he once told me: “the staff doesn’t know what “clean” is … I’d do it myself … ”
And he was right.
This reminds me of my friend’s nightmare trip to Hawaii where they had to throw out luggage after bringing bedbugs home. I’d probably pay extra to stay somewhere with a guarantee that this won’t happen.
I always check hotel reviews for bedbugs, but it’s frustrating that there’s no real regulation. Maybe certification like Valpas would make choosing a hotel easier. Not sure. Hope one Hawaii hotel signs on so we can get some reports.
Valpas technology is amazing. Should be standard.
The bedbugs come in the unit on suitcases and Costco boxes that get left in the unit when the quests arrives. This includes German cockroaches that ride in, in Costco boxes. The last time we had an infestation in one of our units was 6 years ago and is cost $3,000 to treat the unit and since have encased all mattresses and box springs in bedbug proof cases. That coupled with the Costco boxes warning to all quests has eliminated any problems.
This digital leg solution seems like a very costly solution that only addresses the problem after it’s already begun.
There is a standardized packing solution that could make great strides in preventing the issue before it starts/arrives–luggage wrap.
Traditional industrial plastic wrap is typically used to add stability to cargo loaded on pallets, but also provides a barrier to protect the contents. Cargo wrapping machines are very fast and efficient, and could easily be scaled for post-security wrapping of both checked and carryon luggage. Unless travel bags already have the bugs in them prior to departure, a well-wrapped bag post-security would likely prevent any intrusion of bed bugs into the bags, and mostly eradicate them on the island or at least slow the growth.
Because warehousing operations already provides the solution, and training is prevalent, the cost to implement would be minimal (compared to the scope of airport ops, anyway)
Would there be an added hotel charge for this bedbug free room if it ever becomes available? Would it only be applied to upscale hotel properties and room types? IMO I can see this as an chargeable ammentity that hotels can charge like a non smoking room especially if the State of Hawaii don’t want to get involved. Bedbugs or not IMO another added fee or charge. Crazy how the state requires rentals facilities to inform people and when the room was treated but not hotels.
The “State” knows where the $$$$ is and they act accordingly … and in “Paradise”, they always have, they always will …