When ChatGPT Can Prove Your Hotel Is Clean: Valpas at ITB Berlin
At ITB Berlin, Simone Puorto sat down with Martim Gois, Founder of Valpas, to talk about a problem most hotels treat as a maintenance issue but should treat as infrastructure. The short version: Valpas prevents bedbugs in real time and feeds verified cleanliness data into AI travel search. ChatGPT can now surface that data when recommending hotels.
For operators and event planners, this moves cleanliness from a promise to proof. And it's already live.
How hotel search has changed-permanently
Guests don't just ask "What's the rate?" anymore. They ask "Can you prove the room is clean?" and "Has this property had bedbug issues?"
Until now, AI assistants pulled from reviews and marketing copy-useful, but not verifiable. Valpas supplies room-level certification that updates in real time. That verification now appears in AI-assisted discovery, with ChatGPT as the first integration announced this week at ITB.
A hotel that is Valpas-certified is a hotel an AI can prove is clean. That's a different booking proposition than a claim in a description.
Bedbugs are a distribution problem, not a housekeeping problem
Martim reframed the issue: bedbugs move like a virus. Guests carry them from home to hotel to home again. Half of European households have dealt with an infestation at least once.
The usual playbook-find, close floors, treat with pesticides-burns cash, time, and reputation. It doesn't stop the next guest from introducing the problem tomorrow.
Valpas takes the proactive route. Safe sleep devices installed under or next to beds run continuously. If a traveler arrives with bedbugs, the system removes them within the first two hours, stopping infestations before they start and logging proof of safety at the room level.
That data then flows to OTAs, RFPs, brand sites, and now AI assistants. It's prevention and distribution of proof in one loop.
The fourth pillar of sustainability: pesticide-free rooms
Hotels have focused on water, waste, and energy. Indoor pesticide use has been the blind spot. It's risen as bedbugs spread, while efficacy has dropped as resistance builds. Exposure windows have lengthened, and most of those chemicals don't stay indoors-they disperse, harm ecosystems, and contribute to pollinator decline.
Regulators and standards bodies are moving. The EU Ecolabel is updating criteria with input from Valpas, and the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) is aligned. The category is forming, and pesticide-free verification is becoming the new baseline for "sustainable room."
Corporate travel is next-and it won't be optional
A bedbug incident on a business trip isn't just a complaint. It's an HR event with duty-of-care implications. Procurement teams know it.
Formal RFP criteria for certified bedbug safety are not set everywhere yet. That's the window. Properties that certify now will default to the shortlist when policies harden.
What to do now (practical steps for GMs, owners, and sales leaders)
- Audit risk and downtime: quantify past outbreaks, closed-room nights, and pesticide spend. Put a number on it.
- Engage Valpas (or equivalent prevention) for a pilot on a high-ADR floor or your most sold room type.
- Connect the certification feed to PMS/CRS and OTAs. Ensure the verified badge and data appear on every booking surface.
- Update corporate RFP templates: add "Certified bedbug prevention and pesticide-free rooms" under Safety & Sustainability.
- Train front desk and sales: how to explain "verified clean rooms" in one sentence and use it in rate negotiations.
- Add pesticide-free metrics to ESG reporting and owner updates. Tie it to EU Ecolabel/GSTC progress.
- Optimize website FAQs and confirmation emails with "How we prove your room is clean." Set expectations before arrival.
- Track impact: conversion from AI-driven queries, ADR lift on certified room types, and reduction in room-out-of-order days.
Operations and marketing benefits you can bank
- Zero infestations becomes a measurable KPI backed by logs, not a hope.
- Fewer room outages and contractor visits. Less chemical use. Less guest recovery cost.
- Higher trust in corporate negotiations. Stronger duty-of-care story for travel managers.
- Clear differentiation in AI-driven discovery where verification beats claims.
Why this matters now
AI is changing how travelers search and how buyers screen. Verification wins these new moments of truth. If ChatGPT can show proof of cleanliness at the room level, that property earns the click-and often the higher rate.
Early movers set the category, shape RFP checklists, and collect the compounding benefits of trust.
Fast facts on Valpas
- Live across 60+ destinations and 50,000+ beds.
- Certified hotels include brands like Marriott and Aman.
- Proprietary safe sleep tech removes bedbugs within the first two hours of a guest stay and streams verified room-level data in real time.
Bottom line
Clean isn't a slogan anymore. It's a feed. Get certified, wire the proof into every place guests and buyers look, and let AI do the signaling for you.
Want more practical AI playbooks for operators and planners? Explore AI for Hospitality & Events.
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