Can I claim compensation from a hotel over bed bugs?

Asking is reasonable. You paid for a bed you could sleep in. Whether you get money back, and how much, depends on the consumer law where you booked, the kind of booking (a hotel direct, a holiday rental platform, a package holiday) and what you can show. So the strongest thing you can do is build a clear record now, and get advice before you accept any offer.

We cannot tell you what your claim is worth. Nobody can from the outside. But we can tell you what makes a claim easy to take seriously, and who to ask.

Report it while you are there

1. Tell the hotel, host or rep straight away, and ask for another room or another property. If you booked a package, tell the tour operator’s rep too, not only the hotel.
2. Put it in writing. An email, a message on the booking platform, or a note you ask reception to sign or acknowledge. A chat at the desk is easy to forget, on both sides.
3. Write down what they offered and what they did, with times. A swapped mattress, a new room, nothing at all.
4. Protect your luggage so the problem stays in the hotel. How to avoid bringing them home has the steps.

Collect your evidence

• Photos and video of the bugs and where they were: mattress seams, headboard, the bed frame, sofa cushions. Include the room number or something that shows which room it is.
• A bug, if you can. Sealed in a small bag or taped to a card, so its identity is not in doubt. The bed bug guide shows what to look for.
• Photos of bites, dated, over several days.
• A doctor’s or pharmacist’s note if you saw one about the bites. Keep any receipts for treatment.
• Receipts for knock-on costs: laundry, dry cleaning, a night elsewhere, anything you had to replace.
• Your booking confirmation and the messages you sent.

Bites: if they spread, blister, look infected or you feel unwell, see a doctor or pharmacist. Your health comes before the claim, and their note is useful evidence too.

Make the complaint

Write to whoever you paid: the hotel, the platform, or the tour operator for a package. Keep it calm and short. What happened and when, what you reported on site and how they responded, what it cost you, and what you are asking for. Attach the evidence. Ask for a reply by a date.

For a holiday rental booked through a platform, use the platform’s own reporting and resolution process as well as messaging the host. Platforms usually have rules about what happens when a place is not as described, and they often have time limits, so report it promptly.

If the offer feels far too low

That feeling is common, and you do not have to decide on the spot. Before you accept, read the wording. Some offers are made as a “full and final settlement”, which can mean you cannot ask for more later.

Then get advice. Who to ask depends on where you live and how you booked:

• Your national consumer advice body. In the UK, Citizens Advice. Elsewhere, your consumer protection agency or fair trading office.
• For a package holiday, check whether the tour operator belongs to a trade association. Many run a complaints or dispute scheme you can use after the operator’s own process.
• For a cross-border booking inside Europe, the European Consumer Centre in your country can advise.
• Your card provider, if you paid by card. Ask what options they have for services that were not provided as described.

Tell them what you were offered, what the holiday cost and what you lost. They can tell you whether the offer is in line with what is usual where you are. We cannot, because the law and the norms change from country to country.

Watch at home too

If bed bugs did come home with you, that changes the conversation. Put interceptor cups under the bed legs and check them weekly for a few weeks, as our page on bed bug interceptors explains. Keep dated photos of anything you catch and the invoice from any professional treatment. Ask your adviser whether those costs can be added to the claim.