Just like our homes, hotels are victims to bed bug infestations, too. In fact, hotels allow bed bugs to migrate from one home to the next by sneaking into guests' luggage. As a precaution, you may ask the hotel about bed bug history in your room before checking in. Hotel employees may have been trained on how to check for bed bugs in a hotel room. Even if theroom was recently searched, though, you should thoroughly inspect your room upon arrival to make sure you don’t take home unwanted bed bugs. Here are four tips on how to check for bed bugs in a hotel.
1. Wait to unpack.
You should not place your bags on the luggage rack once you’ve entered the room. This is a common spot for bed bugs to nest. Instead, keep your belongings in the bathroom. Acrylic bathroom appliances like the bathtub are too slick for bed bugs to crawl on. After moving your bags, immediately begin to check for bed bugs. Common areas of infestation include the mattress, headboard and luggage rack. Inspect furniture near the bed, as well, like nightstands or pictures hanging on the wall. Remember that bed bugs prefer quiet, dark places, which means any cracks or crevices in the room could be suitable hiding spot.
2. Look for bugs.
Suggestions on how to spot bed bugs in hotels often include looking for signs of infestation. One of these signs is looking for exoskeletons thatbed bugs shed during their growth process. The exoskeletons look like empty, yellow shells scattered near hiding spots. Another sign includes small blood stains, which can be easier to detect on light or white-colored items.
If you notice any of these signs, report them to the front desk immediately. The hotel should move you to a new room. Bed bugs can travel through shared walls and can move into surrounding rooms, though. As so, you may request to move to another part of the hotel or a different floor. If you’re concerned about your luggage, you can ask hotel staff for plastic bags. These may help contain contaminated items until a specialist arrives.
3. Separate your clothes.
Bed bugs can also find their way into dirty laundry. In a University of Sheffield study, researchers found that bed bugs were twice as likely to swarm to dirty clothes compared to clean clothes. This may be due to the residual odors on the clothes that mimic the smell of a food source. Thus, you should bag dirty laundry and keep it separate from clean clothes. If you suspect infestation, it can be helpful to keep bagged clothes in a bathtub. This can trap the bed bugs and prevent them from spreading to other areas in the room.
4. Practice at-home procedures.
Not everyone knows how to check for bed bugs in hotel rooms. That means bed bugs can cling to belongings and wind up in your home. As a best practice, you should seek immediate professional help. By scheduling an appointment with Terminix®, our trained specialists can help to treat affected areas. Additionally, we can help to inspect other areas of your home where bed bugs may have moved.
