One of the more common stoppers from having an excellent time in a hotel room is bed bugs. They are tiny, sneaky insects, but they can ruin your travel experience and even bring themselves home with you if you don’t take necessary precautions. Notorious for their ability to hitch a ride on luggage and clothing, infestation may occur long after a trip if precautions aren’t taken. While the chances of encountering bed bugs in a hotel are low, they are not zero. You will save much trouble later if you know how to check them properly.
Why Check Hotel Rooms for Bed Bugs
Bed bugs feed on human blood, and they are active mainly at night. Because they are tiny, easy to miss, and because of their ability to hide in any crevice, no matter how small, they are difficult to spot. Among hotels, those with high turnover sometimes become infested with bed bugs because people bring them in unknowingly.
It is really achievable to minimize dealing with bed bugs if you are conscious and know how to inspect a hotel room for them. Further, an easy checkup will avoid transferring these pests to your home, where they can infest your house and become an expensive and problematic issue to correct.
Indications of Bed Bugs to Watch Out For
Before you begin checking, here are the indicator signs of bed bugs that may have been present:
- Dark spots or stains: These could be bed bug feces or blood marks caused by crushed bugs. These are usually found along the seams of the mattress, edges of the headboard, bedding, and nearby furniture.
- Blood smears: Tiny blood spots on the mattress, bedding, or other surrounding areas could indicate that bed bugs have fed on previous residents.
- No evident source bites: If you wake up after an overnight stay with tiny, red, itchy bites, it might be a sign of bed bugs. Not everyone reacts to bed bug bites, but some people break out in itchy welts.
- Exoskeletons: Bed bugs molt as they grow, leaving yellow shell-like structures. These small exoskeletons can be found scattered along the edges of mattresses or under furniture.
- Live bed bugs: Bed bugs are reddish-brown, apple-seed-sized insects visible to the naked eye, although they are difficult to locate due to their adeptness at hiding in crevices and cracks.
How to Check for Bed Bugs in a Hotel Room
Knowing the signs is half the battle. Now it’s time to inspect. Here’s how to check for bed bugs in a hotel room, step-by-step:
1. Keep Your Luggage Off the Floor
Do not immediately put your bags on the bed or luggage rack. Bed bugs look for these places as favorite hideouts. Place your bags in the bathroom instead, as it is less likely that bed bugs lurk there. Acrylic bathroom walls or bathtubs are too smooth a surface for bed bugs to cling to.
2. Examine the Bed
Examine the bed first. Bed bugs habitually hide near their source of food: humans. Here’s what to look for:
- Mattress seams: Pull up the bedding and inspect along the mattress seams, especially the corners.
- Headboard: Bed bugs like to hide in cracks and crevices. Shine a flashlight around the headboard and watch for signs of bed bugs or droppings.
- Nearby furniture: Bed bugs may also hide in nightstands or chairs. Inspect seams, joints, and crevices for signs of activity.
3. Wall and Ceiling Inspection
Bed bugs can crawl across walls and ceilings and hide behind picture frames, electrical outlets, and baseboards. Inspect these areas, especially if they are near the bed.
4. Other Furniture Inspection
Shine a flashlight into the seams, folds, and crevices of upholstered furniture, such as chairs or sofas. Look at the outside and inside surfaces where fabric meets the frame. Check woodwork for cracks and joints.
5. Dirty and Clean Clothes Separation
Bed bugs prefer dirty clothes. Store your dirty clothes in sealed plastic bags, and keep them away from your clean ones. Do not hang clothes in hotel closets.
What to Do If You Find Bed Bugs
If you find any sign of bed bugs, report it to hotel management immediately. Request a room in another part of the hotel. Do not accept a room next to or above or below the infested room, as bed bugs can easily transfer from one room to another.
Bring plastic bags with you to seal your luggage if you suspect it has been exposed to bed bugs.
Avoid Bringing Bed Bugs Home
Even if bed bugs do not show up in your hotel room, take precautions on your way home:
- Check your bags: In a brightly lit area, inspect the seams, zippers, and pockets of your suitcase for signs of bed bugs.
- Dryer treatment of clothes: Place all clothes directly into the dryer and run it on high heat for 30 minutes. High heat kills bed bugs and their eggs.
- Use a hard-shell suitcase: These are easier to clean and inspect than soft-sided luggage. If you suspect that you’ve encountered bed bugs, clean your suitcase with hot soapy water or a bed bug-killing agent.
Final Tips
Minimize your chances of encountering bed bugs by:
- Using hotels with adequate pest control.
- Reading comments from other travelers online before booking to see if they encountered bed bugs.
- Using bed bug-proof bags for your luggage.
By staying careful and watchful for the signs, you can avoid the unhappy experience of bringing bed bugs back from your travels. A short inspection may save you from a much bigger issue later.