Tamara Šikloši
Vacation time is around the corner and you might be booking a hotel right now. While it’s an amazing opportunity to change the scenery and relax, it’s also one of the most common ways people bring bed bug infestations back home.
Why?
So many luxury hotels have bed bug problems, and considering a single female bed bug in your luggage can create a severe infestation within a couple of weeks it’s a good idea to be cautious. Hotels are the perfect breeding ground for hungry bed bugs, and you might bring them home if you are not being careful. Don’t let the price of the room fool you, even the most expensive hotels have reported bed bug infestations.
So, let’s see what you can do to discover and avoid bed bugs in hotels.
How to Know if a Hotel Room Has Bed Bugs?
Bed bugs might be one of the smallest pests in the world, but their appetite is huge. So, if you don’t want to wake up with itchy bites for weeks and call professionals to help, it’s a good idea to prevent the infestation in the first place.
Considering a lot of bed bug problems come from hotels, let’s see a couple of ways you can discover bed bugs before they discover you.
Read online reviews
Don’t wait to get to your destination to find potential bed bugs, read everything you can before you head out the door. Online reviews are a great way to discover any problems the hotel you are staying in might have and prepare you for a detailed investigation.
Keep in mind that even though a hotel might have perfect reviews online, it’s always a good idea to follow the next two steps and be completely sure you are preventing bed bug infestation.
Inspect the bed
It might sound obvious, but the first place you need to check into the hotel room is the bed. Look for adult bed bugs that are the size of the apple seed or smaller bed bugs that might be around the poppy seed in size.
Remove the bed sheets, and inspect the mattress, seams, headboard, and even the wall around the bed for any bed bug infestation clues.
These might include:
- Adult bed bugs
- Bed bug eggs
- Blood stains on the bed and the sheets
- The musky odor from the bed bugs
- Droppings and brownish trails
Bed bugs usually hide during the day and wait for the victim to fall asleep to feed, so make sure to thoroughly check all the hiding spots with a bright light.
Use bed bug traps
If you have a couple of hours to spare and you want to be absolutely sure there are no bed bugs in your hotel room, use an interceptor or bed bug glue traps. These traps are not only efficient but a very fast way to confirm the infestation and prevent bringing the bed bugs home with you.
Simply place the durable interceptors under each bed leg and possibly add a few sticky traps on the bed to see if any bed bugs are captured.
How to Prevent a Bed Bug Infestation?
Bed bugs are wingless pests but that doesn’t limit them from moving around fast and finding a way into your luggage bags. As a matter of fact, this is one of the most common ways a bed bug will travel with you from the hotel room to your home.
So, to prevent that from happening, here are a couple of tips and tricks:
Leave the luggage outside
Before you do a detailed inspection and confirm that no bed bugs are present in your hotel room you should leave the luggage in front of the door, or better yet in your car. In case you realize the bed bugs are present and you have already unpacked, make sure to seal everything in bags and treat it with proper solutions back home.
This can include:
- Washing everything on a hot cycle with added laundry detergent that kills bed bugs
- Spraying down the surfaces with a bed bug-killing spray
- Isolating the contaminated items from your home to prevent bed bug infestation
Notify the hotel manager
It’s not a secret that bed bugs in a hotel cause trouble, but it’s a good idea to notify all the staff about the problem you found and require them to act accordingly. Even the most luxurious hotels rely on professional exterminators to do a detailed search from time to time to ensure the best conditions for their guests.
Leave the hotel ASAP
Once you are sure there are bed bugs in your hotel room either by finding the adults while inspecting or capturing a few specimens in your handy bed bug traps, it’s time to leave the establishment as soon as possible.
If you didn’t sit on any furniture and you left the luggage outside the room while you investigate you are probably bed bug-free and have nothing to worry about besides finding new accommodations.
Final Thoughts on Bed Bugs in Hotels
Finding bed bugs in your hotel room when you are ready to relax and have that well-deserved rest is disappointing. But, on the other hand, a few minutes of inspections can save you a lot of trouble in the future.
Although discovering bed bugs at your hotel while looking is not a pleasant experience, it is the best thing you can do to avoid an infestation of your house totally. But keep in mind that even if a few bed bugs hitchhike in your luggage or you discover the infestation too late there are ways to deal with it before it becomes severe.
Follow our detailed guide to prevent and treat bed bugs from hotels, or rely on professional exterminators if you have a bed bug infestation in your home.
