Bed Bugs in Hotels; How to Prevent Bedbug Problems While Traveling

How To Check For Bed Bugs in a Hotel Room

Tips for Avoiding Bed Bugs In Hotels

When you stay in a hotel, be forewarned: bedbug prevalence is on the rise, and hotels and motels are a favorite dwelling place of these pesky critters.

Bedbugs can cause severe itching and welt-like bites, and it’s costly to get rid of them if they follow you back and into your home.

But no need to get alarmed just yet. Here are some suggestions to reduce your chances of bedbug problems:

Why start in the bathroom? Where do bed bugs in hotels hide?

When you first enter your hotel room, be sure to put your luggage in the bathroom until you’ve given your hotel room a thorough bedbug inspection.

Bedbugs don’t like the tile floors found bathrooms. There also aren’t as many hiding places. Bed bugs like to be closer to where people sleep.

How to check for a bedbug infestation – Inspect the bed

When you pull back the linens, check around the entire bedding area. Check underneath the mattress, as well as behind the headboard.

You are looking for blood stains or small black dots that look like mold or ground pepper. Look for the bedbugs themselves, too. Bed bugs are small, about the size of a seed. You may find them anywhere in the bedding, including hiding in the corners or along the seams. 

If you see anything, alert the hotel staff immediately

Check out the rest of the room and broaden your bedbug search to the area near the bed. Check on the side tables, behind picture frames, under the telephone, and the alarm clock. Most bedbugs live within about 15 feet of the bed, but some may still be in cushions of couches or chairs. Also, look carefully in the closet before you put your clothes away.

Do bed bugs travel from room to room?

Bedbugs travel from room to room. They could be right next door, and they travel far when seeking meal sources.

Move two floors away when you switch rooms

Once you have alerted the hotel staff, any suspicious marking or evidence of bedbugs should be enough to warrant a new room. When it comes to bed bugs, hotel staff should be more than willing to accommodate any request.

Be sure to request that your new room be at least two floors away from your first room. There’s a good chance that the bugs may spread throughout the hotel floor through the wallboards or electrical sockets.

Other things to do about bed bugs in hotels

  • Speak up
  • Ask the hotel about what bedbug prevention plans they have
  • Read hotel reviews (carefully)

Once you return home

  • Wash ALL of your clothes
  • Clean out your suitcases
  • Watch for bedbug bite marks

Call a professional

If you’ve brought home bedbugs from a recent hotel stay, call a pest control service company that specializes in bed bugs to conduct a home inspection. While NJ Pest Control does not remove and control bed bugs we would be happy to assist you with all of your other pest and wildlife control, removal and prevention services.

Contact NJ Pest Control today for any other pest problems you may be having.

NJ Pest Control

1240 Sussex Turnpike, Randolph, NJ 07869
Randolph, NJ
877-4NJ-PEST (877-465-7378)