(WHTM) — You’re a family on your long-planned vacation. Or maybe you’re a business traveler who wants nothing more than to go to your room, fall into bed, and get some much-needed sleep before the big presentation tomorrow. You check into your hotel, get to your room, open the door, and…
You see something. Something so upsetting that it makes you spin right around and leave the hotel without even worrying if you can get a refund.
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What would that something be?
The travel website thevacationer.com recently published the results of their online “Hotel Dealbreakers Survey,” asking people what would make them leave a hotel, even if there’s no guaranteed refund. The questions were chosen and results analyzed by the post author, Eric Jones, who as well as being co-founder of The Vacationer is a Mathematics and Statistics Professor at Rowan College South Jersey. (More about his methodology later.)
The results, ranked highest to lowest, are:
- Bed bugs — 81.02%
- Foul odors such as from smoking, mold, urine, excrement, etc. — 68.14%
- Finding a camera — 66.08%
- Stained sheets and overall unsanitary hotel (found by black light or naked eye) — 65.78%
- Unwanted critter in the room (such as snake or cockroach) — 65.49%
- No locks or broken locks — 65.00%
- Broken plumbing such as toilet, shower, or sink — 62.14%
- Hearing gunshots — 55.26%
- Bad neighborhood with unsavory characters outside (prostitutes, etc.) — 55.16%
- Rude or suspicious acting staff. — 45.72%
- Hidden resort fees not clearly disclosed at booking — 34.61%
- Suspicious acting guests — 33.24%
- Partying or loud behavior from guests — 29.30%
- Seeing a ghost or sensing the hotel is haunted — 19.76%
- Online pictures aren’t accurate or seem outdated — 16.32%
- No bible in the side table — 4.52%
- None of these — 6.29%
The methodology, as explained on the website: “This 2023 Hotel Dealbreakers Survey was conducted by SurveyMonkey on behalf of The Vacationer. In total, 1,017 Americans over the age of 18 were polled on March 1 to March 2. Of those surveyed, 46.02% were male and 53.98% were female. The age breakdown of participants included in this survey was 22.32% in the range 18-29, 26.55% in the range 30-44, 26.35% in the range 45-60, and 24.78% over 60. This survey has a confidence level of 95% and a margin of error of ±3.136%”
To read the entire survey, click here.
