A room can look immaculate, but if it doesn't smell fresh, guests notice immediately. According to a recent study1, odor is one of the leading causes of negative hotel reviews, lower guest satisfaction scores, and lost repeat business.
Eliminate Odor. Elevate Every Stay.
Odor Is One of the Biggest Threats to Guest Satisfaction
What Guests Can't See Could Be Hurting Your Ratings
93% of hotel guests would downgrade a 5-star stay over odor
In fact, unpleasant odor would cause 84% of guests to reduce their rating by at least 2 stars
Top reason for
negative reviews
Ecolab Solutions Designed to Tackle Tough Odors, so your Rooms are Guest-Ready
Bio-Enzymatic Odor Eliminator
Bio-Enzymatic Odor Eliminator
Tackle stubborn and biological odors such as pet, urine, body odor, and garbage odors.
ZephAir™ Tough Odor Remover
ZephAir™ Tough Odor Remover
Designed to eliminate tough odors like food and smoke on soft surfaces.
What else are guests saying?
What else are guests saying?
Discover the factors that have the greatest influence on guest satisfaction, online reviews, and the likelihood of repeat stays.
A third-party survey of 598 hotel guests, conducted on behalf of Ecolab in November 2025, explored what drives hotel selection, what encourages guests to return—or choose not to—and which issues most commonly lead to negative reviews and lower satisfaction scores.
The results are clear: cleanliness remains one of the most important factors guests consider when choosing a hotel. It is also one of the few factors that hotels can directly control, making it a critical opportunity to enhance the guest experience, strengthen reviews, and build guest loyalty.
FAQs
To remove tobacco or marijuana smoke odors from a hotel room, use a specialty odor remover such as ZephAir™ Tough Odor Remover. ZephAir™ Tough Odor Remover fights tough tobacco and marijuana smoke odors by binding to odor molecules to break them down, not simply cover them up.
Be sure to spray all fabric surfaces (upholstered furniture, curtains, etc.). Additionally, for particularly stubborn odors, ZephAir™ Tough Odor Remover can be applied with the Fogmaster Jr., which dispenses a fine mist of product capable of penetrating fabrics. This helps the product bind to odor molecules so you can turn the room faster.
For pet or urine odor elimination, use a specialty odor eliminator such as Bio-Enzymatic Odor Eliminator. Bio-Enzymatic Odor Eliminator pairs, binds and biodegrades to remove, not cover, biological odors. It is effective against urine, body, pet and trash odors and can be used on hard and soft surfaces.
To eliminate food smells, try a specialty odor remover such as ZephAir™ Tough Odor Remover, which binds and biodegrades to remove, not cover, tough food odors such as curry, onion and garlic.
Be sure to spray all fabric surfaces (upholstered furniture, curtains, etc.). Additionally, for particularly stubborn odors, ZephAir™ Tough Odor Remover can be applied with the Fogmaster Jr., which dispenses a fine mist of product capable of penetrating fabrics. This helps the product bind to odor molecules so you can turn the room faster.
To remove musty smells from a hotel room, use a specialty odor remover such as ZephAir™ Tough Odor Remover which fights tough odors by binding to odor molecules to break them down, not simply cover them up.
Be sure to spray all fabric surfaces (upholstered furniture, curtains, etc.). Additionally, for particularly stubborn odors, ZephAir™ Tough Odor Remover can be applied with the Fogmaster Jr., which dispenses a fine mist of product capable of penetrating fabrics. This helps the product bind to odor molecules so you can turn the room faster.
To remove odors from fabrics and upholstery, try ZephAir™ Tough Odor Remover which was formulated for use on curtains, upholstery, linens, bedspreads, carpets, rugs and a variety of other fabrics. You may also want to try the Fogmaster Jr., which dispenses a fine mist of product capable of penetrating fabrics. This helps the product bind to odor molecules so you can turn the room faster.
For everyday odors and standard room refreshing, use Ecolab Room Refreshers. For tough odors like tobacco, marijuana, and food odors, use ZephAir™ Tough Odor Remover. For biological odors, like pet odors, urine, trash, and body odors, use Bio-Enzymatic Odor Eliminator. Ecolab recommends rotating scents quarterly to avoid nose blindness.
Based on a third-party survey of 598 hotel guests conducted on behalf of Ecolab in November 2025, odor is a top trigger of negative reviews—and one of the biggest obstacles to 5-star ratings and repeat stays. In fact, 93% of hotel guests would downgrade a 5-star stay over odor.
Get In Touch with Us
One miss can outweigh an otherwise great stay.
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With unparalleled expertise and cutting-edge technology, we partner with customers to deliver world-class results and optimized operations. Contact us to learn how we can help you.
Ecolab Inc.
1 Ecolab Place
St. Paul, MN 55102
Ecolab Customer Service:
Phone: +1-800-352-5326
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