The latest statistics for June 2009 show occupancy rates down 10-15% year to date, depending on the city. For the month of July 2009, occupancy is down an average 8% with daily room rates lower by 9.1% to $98.13 USD. Worse still, revenue per available room dropped a whopping 16 3% to $65.77 USD. Most hotels , whether large or small , are trying to cope with lowered revenue and profit creating budgetary constraints that hamper their ability to upgrade services. The decline in corporate travel alone, is expected to hit 15% in 2009.

With lower profit comes lower services, and higher volumes of consumer complaints regarding hotels are on the rise. The top 2 complaints: bedbugs and dirty rooms / bedding.

Bedbugs are a particularly difficult problem for hoteliers and are probably the most feared complaint of hotel managers. They are almost impossible to prevent and are extremely difficult and costly to eradicate once an infestation has begun. Pest management companies have recorded a 71% increase in calls concerning bedbugs since 2001 and sales have increased 30% in 2008 over 2007. Internet sites like Bedbugregistry have sprung up to help travelers identify and avoid hotels with bedbugs. While complaints to these sites are unverified, there is no doubt that the problem is becoming acute.

The other major complaint deals with dirty rooms and bedding. There isn't a traveler who has not experienced this problem in one form or another. Dirty bathrooms, unchanged bed sheets, dingy carpeting are only a few of the most common complaints. Lower profit margins and lower profits cause hotel companies to cut staffing and maintenance budgets, causing more unhappy customers.

Modern hotel maladies are not confined to bedbugs, swine flu,( H1N1), Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and scabies are all worrisome to travelers, not to mention the ever present E. Coli bacteria. Technology has not kept up with global travel rates. More people travel yet preventative measures to ensure transmission rates stay low or negligible are rare. Most hotels have not adopted cutting edge methods to eradicate bedbugs and neutralize bacteria and viruses. They rely on the brute strength of powerful chemicals and insecticides put in the hands of barely trained staff to clean rooms and bedding.

Increasingly, it is becoming the customer who must take a buyer beware approach to cleanliness of any hotel room they use. The proliferation of products to combat the warranted fears of the traveling public has become an industry unto itself. UV lamps, steam applicators, anti bacterial lotion,sprays and wipes, anti allergen travel sheets, and bedbug sprays are but a few of the numerous products marketed to travelers.

Unfortunately hotel hygiene will not improve for the foreseeable future because of fiscal constraints and public perceptions. The bedbug problem is slowly making it's way into the public consciousness. Until a major outbreak of actual disease associated with the hospitality industry occurs and is vetted in the media will travelers wake up and demand action. Don't rely on that happening, take simple ,easy precautions to protect yourself and family while traveling.

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