How To Check If Your Hotel Room Has Bed Bugs

Mattresses are the primary breeding ground for bed bugs because they like to stay near humans, their primary food source. These tiny insects often hide in the folds of mattresses, where they can easily access their hosts.

To check effectively for bed bugs in a mattress, you must examine every part thoroughly. You should inspect the top of the mattress for dark spots, shed skin, or bugs themselves. Also, check the seams on all sides of the mattress, which are common hiding places for bed bugs. These insects can easily hide in tight and small spaces so you shouldn't miss to inspect the beddings, pillows, and comforters properly.

The next thing you should check for is the area surrounding the bed. Unlike the mattresses, these bugs can also hide in the nearby areas so inspect all the cracks and crevices near the bed.

Pay particular attention to the areas with crevices or tufting where these pests can often find refuge. You should also check for the joints and corners of the bed frame as these are the areas they can hide. Also, these bugs can sometimes find their way into the electrical outlets and USB ports therefore, they should be checked properly. Other things such as bed skirts, box springs, and the carpets around the bed are also some items where you can find bed bugs or their signs.

If your hotel room features textured or carpeted walls or ceilings, ensure these are included in the inspection. These pests are habitat to stay in these tightened spaces for hiding especially in rooms with carpeted walls. 

Check for any gaps in the walls and ceilings of the room. The bugs can easily hide in these areas, where they are dark and undisturbed. It would help if you also examined the texture for signs of bed bugs checking for dark spots, shed skins, or the bugs themselves. If your hotel room has carpeted walls, check for their dropping as these surfaces provide a comfortable hiding place for them.

When inspecting your hotel room for bed bugs, the major thing to remember is that they can easily penetrate through fabrics and live inside the furniture. So, it is crucial to examine these items thoroughly. 

Examine the items such as sofas, chairs, and recliners, and check the seams, cushions, and folds for signs of bed bugs. You should pay more attention to areas where the fabric is loose. You should also check the folds of throw pillows for bugs and their eggs and the area near the top where the curtain rod is attached. Make sure to check the curtains while inspecting.

One of the common ways bed bugs can enter your hotel in the first place is through the guest's luggage. Reduce the risk of bed bug infection by either examining the luggage racks properly or investing in quality luggage racks for each room. 

The quality ones provide safe and elevated space to store the luggage in the room and directly encourage to keep the belongings away from the bed and other furniture. It will help you to make your guests comfortable and proactive pest management. Also, you can check for any cracks or gaps in the luggage racks in the room where the ground meets the wall or floor so that they won't hide.

If you have been proactive with your bed bug prevention and treatment, there is a high chance that you won't encounter any reports from unhappy guests. However, if these bugs are to be found and reported, then

1. Quick Response

When you find a bed bug sighting with evidence, such as photographs, immediately offer your guest a new room or a refund, as appropriate. The guest satisfaction should be properly ensured and safety is paramount. Taking evidence will help you 

2. Don't Panic And Inform the Hotel Staff

When bed bugs can be unpleasant, they are not so much dangerous. Therefore, you shouldn't get panicked in these situations.

However, you can show the evidence of bugs being spotted to the hotel staff and inform them about the bug infestation with the evidence you collected.

3. Room Re-Inspection

Once informed about the infestation, request the hotel staff or concerned authorities to re-inspect the room for the bugs, especially in those areas where you saw them. Conduct a thorough inspection beforehand to be assured about the incident.

4. Request A New Room

Once you find the bed bugs in your room, request the hotel staff or the authorities for a new room immediately. Approach the staff calmly and explain that you found the bed bugs in your current room and are requesting a room free of infestation.

You can provide or show evidence to the hotel staff, further strengthening your request. However, if you are unsatisfied with their initial response, you can contact the customer service department or hotel management to resolve the issue. 

5. Inspect Your Luggage

Once you have spotted the bed bugs and living in the current room, inspect your luggage to ensure that no bed bugs have made their way into your belongings.

Before you shift into a new room, you should check thoroughly all the belongings in your luggage to examine whether your belongings are infested with bed bugs.

6. Wash Your Clothes

Once you are shifted to a new room, wash all your clothes in hot water to kill any remaining potential bed bugs. You can request a hotel or laundry staff to do the necessary cleaning with hot water to restrict the potential bugs from staying in your belongings.

7. Report The Infestation

If you are unsatisfied with the hotel's response regarding the infestation, then you can consider reporting the infestation to local health authorities or the senior hotel management. 

Thousands of guests arrive and go to hotels, you can't be sure that your hotel room is completely free of bed bugs regardless of how clean they seem to appear.

These small insects can hide inside beds, pillows, or curtains, leaving guests with itchy red bites. They are notoriously hard to eliminate without the help of professional bed bugs and pest control. If your hotel room has bed bugs crawling under the covers or mattress, here are the 5 signs that your room has infestation:

Musty Odour

If something smells like a damped, musty scent during the inspections, it's likely an indication of bed bugs. They often leave a trail of unpleasant odor behind, raising an immediate concern for potential infestation.

Red Spots

Keep an eye out for red stains on bedding and furniture. These spots could be blood strains from bed bugs, either crashed or after feeding.

Eggs

These bugs look like rice grains, which can be found around the bed or the corners of the room. They have more oval or flattened shares, where the rice grains are typically rounded. 

Also, they can vary in color from reddish-brown to nearly black, while the rice grains are usually white or slightly off-white. 

Live Bed Bugs

The most common sign of a bed bug infestation is spotting the live moment of these pests. These are small, rounded, and reddish-brown insects, the features to be noted while inspecting the room for inspections. 

They usually hide in dark, secluded areas, such as mattress seams, bed frames, and furniture cervices.