The last thing anyone wants is bed bugs. There is nothing worse than bed bugs. Even though you don’t want bed bugs at your hotel, it’s entirely possible that they have them.
In the wake of rumors of a bedbug epidemic in Paris, we have tips on how to check your hotel room for bedbugs, but what to do if you do find them. Bringing these guys home is not worth the risk.
In addition to being difficult to kill, bed bugs are becoming more resistant to some types of pesticides. As a result, the problem is aggravated when the bugs are transported home or to another hotel on a suitcase.
In order to protect yourself from bed bugs while traveling, travelers must understand the problem of bed bugs in hotels and know what to look for.
Do Hotels Usually Have Bed Bugs?
It’s probably true that bed bugs are more common in hotels than you’d like to believe. It has been reported that people in all 50 states have seen these insects.
Hotel rooms are not the only places where they can be found. They can also be found in offices, daycares, hospitals, nursing homes, dormitories, apartment buildings, and single-family homes.
Over the past few years, bed bugs have become a more common problem, especially among hotels. The number of bed bug incidents in New York City hotels increased by 44% between 2015 and 2016.
There is a negative association between bed bug infestations and hotels – you might imagine that something like this is more likely to happen in seedy little motels.
In spite of this, bed bugs are not discriminatory regarding the cleanliness or level of luxury of a room.
Whether it’s in five-star hotels or resorts, bed bugs can be found in even the cleanest of rooms. They usually thrive in small roadside motels.
Be Wary From The Start
The first thing you should do when you enter your hotel room is not to flop down on the bed or your suitcase. Likewise, anything upholstered should be treated the same way.
Let your suitcase stay in the bathroom for now. As far as your purse is concerned, you can set it on the counter or on a table, but to be totally honest, the bathtub is the most safest place for it right now.
There is the possibility that bed bugs can be found in any hotel, so don’t assume the hotel you’re staying in is too nice or so clean to warrant checking.
You can find details on where and what to look for here. Basically, pull up the corners of the bedsheets and mattress covers, and check for stains or grit.
It is a fact that bed bugs live in dark crevices, out of sight, but come out each night to feed on the blood of people (aka you). The parasites can hide inside beds and around headboards, so make sure you check the edges of those items as well.
However, unlike their name suggests, they can also be found living on other furnishings, such as couches. Check out those places.
Quick Facts About Bed Bugs in Hotels
- A bed bug is a small insect, about the size of an apple seed.
- A thread hole in a sheet can be penetrated by young bed bugs.
- Up to 500 offspring can be produced by these pests within a lifetime.
- It is a parasite that feeds on the blood of humans and animals.
- In the night, these tiny bugs emerge from their hiding places and feed in cracks in wooden furniture, mattresses, and bedding.
- Itchy red splotches are often caused by bed bug bites, which resemble mosquito bites. Bed bugs, however, do not transmit diseases.
- It has been reported that bed bugs have become a problem in over 80% of hotels in the last year.
- Hotel staff can lose revenue and incur large treatment costs as a result of bed bug infestations.
- When hotels deal with an infestation, their reputations are negatively impacted and lawsuits are possible.
- Hotels and homes can be infested with the bugs by suitcases or furniture that moves.
The First Thing To Do If You See Bedbugs
It looks like you’ve discovered evidence of bed bugs. After (or in the process of) identifying what you’ve found, I would take clear photos, just in case they prove helpful when complaining or asking for a refund at corporate headquarters.
It’s time for your luggage! It’s in the bathtub, isn’t it? If so, it’s safe for the time being. Otherwise, put it in the bathtub. The chances of bed bugs hitching a ride home are high.
It’s best to treat your suitcase as potentially contaminated until you’re able to thoroughly clean it and everything inside if they snuck in while you weren’t looking (for example, if you don’t find them till you’ve been in the hotel room for a few days). It’s not necessary to clean right away.
Don’t Panic
The majority of people who stay in a bed bug infested room do not bring bed bugs home with them. In any case, you should act as if you have picked up a few bed bugs.
It is most likely that bed bugs will be found in luggage next to, or on, a bed. In order to reduce your risk, you should keep your luggage away from the bed, perhaps in the closet on a luggage rack.
How to Check for Bed Bugs in Your Hotel
All types of hotels are experiencing bed bug infestations these days, so it’s important to inspect your room after you check in to ensure it’s not infested.
The following tips can help you check your hotel room for signs of these infamous pests.
Make Sure Your Luggage And Belongings Are Safe
The least likely place for bed bugs to hide and later hitch a ride on your luggage is on a luggage rack away from the beds, or in the bathroom.
Keep your luggage on the rack after inspecting your room, and try to keep your things tidy. Clothing and extra items left strewn around the room make it easier for bugs to hide.
During your stay, you may also want to bring large garbage bags to keep your suitcase and other belongings safe.
Check Your Room For Bugs
You should thoroughly inspect your hotel room before settling in. Bugs can hide anywhere, including soft surfaces and cracks in wooden furniture. They don’t just hide in beds.
Examine the seams of carpets and floors as well as under the sheets, under and around mattresses, couches, chairs, headboards, and artwork.
If you have a flashlight, use it to see. There is no need for a microscope to see adults and eggs of bed bugs.
Besides small, dark, rust-colored spots on bedding, look for discarded exoskeletons as well as small, dark, rust-colored spots on mattresses.
Report Any Issues To Hotel Staff
The hotel staff should be notified immediately if you discover bed bugs in a hotel room so that they can investigate the room and surrounding rooms.
In order to reduce your chances of contracting bed bugs, avoid staying in rooms with visible evidence, and ask for a different room if possible.
Check For Bugs At Home
When you return from travel, make sure you thoroughly inspect your luggage for any bugs. Heat from the dryer will kill the bugs, not washing.
The travel clothes should be placed in the dryer for 30 minutes to kill any hitchhikers left behind. A freezer can also be used to kill bugs if you have items that will fit inside.
Always Contact The Front Desk
At the moment, you must determine where you’ll spend the night, since you don’t want to stay in this bed bug-infested hotel room.
Explain the problem to the front desk. A number of states require that bed bugs be exterminated before a room can be used again if there are bed bugs present.
If you request a change of room or cancel the reservation, you can reasonably expect the hotel to do so.
The infested room should be moved as far away from you as possible if they decide to move you.
Rooms adjacent to the infested room, or rooms above or below, may also be infested. Do not agree to stay in the new room until you have inspected it.
You should also ask the hotel employee for garbage bags while they are apologizing to you. Bringing bed bugs to your next accommodation is a bad idea if you have them in your suitcase.
In any case, you may be paranoid about the possibility if you don’t do that. Don’t forget to wrap up your bags with plastic for the duration of your trip.
How Bad Is It To Stay In A Bed With Possible Bed Bugs?
Do you have any other options if you have already spent a night in the cursed room or only discovered the bugs after you have already spent the night there? Are bed bug bites painful?
There is no immediate health threat from bed bugs as their bites do not transmit diseases.
Chagas disease may be transmitted through bed bugs’ feces, although it is normally transmitted by the kissing bug, a relative of bed bugs.
Make sure to wash your skin after scratching your bed bug bites just to be safe.
I have some bad news to share with you. The feeling of being bitten by a bed bug is not pleasant. In most cases, bites occur in clusters or consecutively.
Itchy and looks like mosquito bites. When you are bitten, you won’t notice anything, but the next day or a few days later, you may find yourself itching.
It’s possible to become desensitized to bed bugs after being bitten many times. It is possible that you are just lucky—people’s reactions vary, and some do not seem to react at all.
If You Can’t Get A Different Room, Protect Your Bed With Plastic Sheeting
Get some plastic sheeting and place it on top of your bed if you need to stay in a place with bed bugs, and do not allow it to touch the ground. Remove the headboard from the bed.
Make sure your bedding doesn’t touch the floor when you place clean sheets on top of the plastic. A plastic-encased bed like this is relatively safe to sleep on.
What Bed Bugs Can Mean for a Hotel
The responsibility of hotels is to provide guests with safe, comfortable spaces, and to protect them from specific dangers, like bed bugs.
In other words, hotels should move guests to other rooms and call in professional help as soon as guests report bedbugs.
An average infestation of bed bugs at one hotel costs more than $6,000, according to one study.
Loss of business, extermination costs, and replacement costs are included in this figure. Hotel costs can skyrocket further if guests sue for damages.
It’s easy to see how these little pests are quite costly to hotels when the average hotel faces seven infestations every five years.
A bed bug infestation can have a negative impact on a hotel’s reputation as well as financial costs. It can also mean more lost business for the hotel if the hotel receives negative publicity.
There are millions of dollars spent each year on pest control by the hotel industry, as the industry is constantly searching for new solutions to deal with these pesky insects.
Final Tips
You should not leave your laundry sitting after you get home. Leaving your suitcase or dirty clothes out can give bed bugs a chance to invade your house if you have picked up some.
Place all clothing into the laundry as soon as you arrive home, leaving the luggage outside if possible. Drying clothes for 30 minutes on the highest setting kills bed bugs and bed bug eggs, not the water.