In this post we’ll be discussing how to check for bed bugs while travelling (hotels, motels etc), although the methods discussed are pertinent to checking for bed bugs anywhere, so you may use these methods in your own home if you wish.

Before we get into how to check for bed bugs, a quick word on what to do with your luggage when you enter the room you will be staying in. Most people, when they enter the room, immediately throw their luggage onto the bed or luggage rack or both. This is really not a good idea, because there may very well be bed bugs in either of those places which could get into your luggage and end up hitching a ride home with you and infesting  your home, which is obviously not desirable. Instead, the best thing to do upon entering your room is to proceed with your luggage immediately into the bathroom and place it in the bath tub. Once you’ve placed your luggage in the bath tub, you may proceed to your room to commence the check.

 The first place to check is the bed, in particular the headboard. It is useful to have a flashlight when performing the check so grab one if you have. Thoroughly inspect behind the headboard, looking in any creases or cracks where bed bugs might hide. Once you have inspected the headboard, proceed to the front of the bed. The next place to look is along the piping of the mattress. Carefully inspect cracks and crevices along the piping of the mattress looking for any bed bugs signs like adult bed bugs, eggs or brown spots, which are bed bug faecal matter. Do this all the way around the entire bed, the top part and the bottom part.

The next place to look is on the surface of the actual mattress and on the mattress pad/cover, if there is one. What you’ll be looking for here is a bit disgusting, but a necessary check all the same. Here you are looking for red stains, which are blood spots from bed bugs that were feeding and were squashed by their human host while doing so.

Next you’ll be inspecting any bureaus or nightstands abutting the bed. Take out the drawers, and inspect inside along the edges, looking for any signs of bed bugs. Bed bugs are excellent hiders, but will usually always be within 20 feet of their host, so chances are that in a hotel room, they’ll either be in or on the bed or in the drawers of the nightstands.

If you do find any bed bugs while performing this check, you should immediately leave the room with your luggage and inform the hotel manager. In most cases, it will not be necessary to go to another hotel, bed request to be moved to another room as far away from the infested room as possible. Just because bed bugs are in one room it does not mean that they have infested the entire hotel. Bed bugs are easily transported, and it is likely that where they are found in a hotel room they were transported there and not necessarily found throughout the hotel. The fact that bed bugs are so easily transported means that bed bugs are frequently found in hotels whether they are 5 stars or 1 star.

While of course it is not pleasant to find bed bugs in your hotel room, the presence of bed bugs in a room has nothing to do with its cleanliness. Bed bugs are attracted to blood, not dirt, so you shouldn’t assume that a hotel is unclean because you find bed bugs in your room.

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