Your fun and relaxing vacation can quickly become stressful if bed bugs show up. These pests love to hang out in hotels where they can easily find a bloodmeal. Before settling into your room, it’s always best to check for bed bugs. If these pests crash your trip, there are a few things you’ll want to do. Check out how to handle a run-in with bed bugs while traveling.
Where To Check for Bed Bugs
When you arrive at your hotel, you’ll need to inspect the room for bed bugs. Check out where these pests are likely to hide.
- Bed & Bedding: Bed bugs are most commonly found on beds. Carefully inspect the mattress, pillows, sheets, blankets, and headboard. Look for bed bugs as well as dark or red stains.
- Other Furniture: These pests can also hide on other furniture in the room. Do a quick check for bed bugs on upholstered items including couches and chairs. Pay special attention to furniture close to the bed like nightstands.
- Perimeter of the Room: Bed bugs can easily spread throughout the room. They are known to hide behind wall art, on curtains, and in cracks in walls. You’ll want to scan the perimeter of the room for these pests.
- Other Items: If a bed bug infestation is severe, there’s a chance other items in the room could be affected. Bed bugs can hide on alarm clocks and décor. These pests can also slip into books.
What To Do if You Find Bed Bugs
If bed bugs are hanging out in your room, you’ll want to take steps to deal with the problem and protect your items. We’ve made a list of things to do if you find bed bugs in your hotel room.
- Contact Management: If you find bed bugs or signs of an infestation, you’ll need to alert the hotel’s staff. It can be helpful to take pictures of the bed bugs to show to management. Notifying the hotel’s staff will allow them to resolve the problem and take steps to get rid of the infestation.
- Change Rooms: After alerting management, you’ll need to change rooms. Make sure the room you move to doesn’t share walls with the infested room since bed bugs can easily slip between rooms. You’ll want to check your new room for signs of bed bugs too. If you don’t feel comfortable staying in the hotel, then you can choose to head to a new one.
- Protect Your Items: If your luggage has been exposed to bed bugs, you’ll want to ensure your items are safe. Place your clothing in a sealed plastic bag. If the hotel offers laundry services, you’ll want to wash and dry your clothes on high heat settings. Place your items in a clean, sealed bag.
What To Do After Arriving Home
After your vacation, you’ll want to make sure you don’t bring any hitchhiking pests into your home. Check out a few tips to help keep bed bugs from sneaking inside.
- Be Careful Unpacking Your Suitcase: You don’t want to unpack your suitcase in your bedroom. Instead, take your luggage to your garage or laundry room. This can help to keep bed bugs from spreading throughout your home.
- Wash & Dry Your Clothes: Take your clothes straight to your laundry room. You’ll want to opt for high heat settings when washing and drying your items. The heat will help to kill bed bugs and their eggs.
- Vacuum Your Suitcase: To remove bed bugs from your suitcase, thoroughly vacuum it. Make sure to place the contents of the vacuum into a sealed bag and throw it away in an outdoor trash bin.
- Use an Insecticide Dust: If bed bugs manage to invade your home, you can use an insecticide dust, like our Bed Bug Killer, to help get rid of these pests. The dust can be applied to your mattress, box spring, bed frame, furniture, baseboards, and other areas where bed bugs have been seen.
Finding bed bugs in your hotel room can be worrisome, which is why it’s important to know how to handle the situation. Be sure to notify management and take steps to protect your belongings. If you’re dealing with bed bugs or other pests, we’re here to help! Check out our Maggie’s Farm Simply Effective™ Pest Control products for a more environmentally and family-friendly solution.