Ah, summer. More sunlight, longer days, warmer weather, increased travel, and the heightened risk of you bringing bed bugs back with you to your Phoenix or Tucson home. When you go on vacation, the last thing you are probably thinking about are the pests that could be staying in the same lodging accommodations as you are and ultimately hitching a ride home with you. We are going to review how to check your hotel room for bed bugs to lower the chances of a bed bug infestation in your Arizona home.
How to Check your Hotel Room for Bed Bugs
With thousands of travelers, it’s inevitable that hotel rooms and other vacation accommodations are prone to bed bug infestations. Whenever you are staying somewhere outside of your home, it is a good idea to inspect the space for bed bugs as soon as you arrive and before you unpack.
Let’s review how to check your hotel room for bed bugs.
- Don’t Unpack. When you first go into a hotel room, place luggage and your other personal items in the bathtub or shower, on a luggage rack, or anywhere else where it will be off the floor and away from upholstered materials.
- Inspect the Bed Corners. Pull back the sheets and inspect the mattress seams, particularly at the corners. Look for bed bugs themselves or dark brown spots. Be sure to thoroughly inspect the mattress and peel back all the layers of bedding that are there. You can use a credit card to get under the mattress folds and examine further. Inspect all four corners of the bed, not just one or two.
- Check the Rest of the Bed. Now it is time to pull back the covers and completely check the sheets and other bedding for signs of bed bugs.
- Examine the Rest of the Room. Check all upholstered furniture and the seams, curtains, behind the headboard and nightstands, etc. Use a flashlight, even the one on your phone, to look in dark corners for any indication that there may be bed bugs present.
After you have checked your hotel room for bed bugs, if you see no sign of them, there are still some steps you should take to protect your belongings from these little critters.
- Carry a few plastic trash bags in your luggage. You can enclose your clothing and other items in trash bags inside your luggage to prevent bed bugs from latching on.
- Don’t place your luggage on beds, furniture, or on the floor. Throughout your stay store your luggage on a fold-out luggage stand, if there is one, or in the bathtub or shower.
- Minimize what you bring. The less you have, the less places there are for bed bugs to attach to.
- Be alert on public transportation or in a rental car. If you ride on public transit, fly, or rent a car, change and launder your travel clothes as soon as you get home or to where you are staying. If laundry is not available, place the clothing in a plastic bag to be laundered later.
If you find signs of bed bugs in your hotel room, leave immediately and notify the property as soon as possible.
If there are signs that you may have brought bed bugs into your home, you should contact a professional pest control company right away. Bucksworth Home Services is your trusted bed bug pest control company in Arizona, in the East Valley and beyond. When you have a bed bug problem, contact us.
With our 24-Hour Promise, we will be at your home in under 24 hours to fix the problem, and when it comes to bed bugs, the problem cannot wait.