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The holiday travel season is upon us, and many of us will undoubtedly be checking into a hotel room or two. If you are like the many other Britons with holiday travel plans, you will want to know a few tips to avoid pesky bedbugs.
Hotel Mattress Bedbug Check
An Alarming Case Study
Recently, Martha Kraft checked into a hotel room with her daughter and two grandchildren. Instead of the four of them spending quality time together, they ended up spending time with bedbugs as well. In fact, they were crawling all over them.
Unfortunately, their story is all too common, because thousands of hotel guests across the UK and around the world get bitten by bedbugs every year. From five-star hotels to little run-down places and everything in between, where there are beds, bedbugs are a very real threat.
Mattress BedBug Check List
As the general manager of a pest control company, Kurt Scherzinger has seen his fair share of bedbugs. You may want to kick your feet up and relax when checking into your room after a long trip, but according to Scherzinger, it’s imperative that people inspect the room before getting too comfortable.
Scherzinger has inspected hundreds of local hotel room mattresses, and he says people must follow three important tips when arriving at any resort or hotel.
Tip #1: Keep Your Belongings Off of the Carpet or Bed
Bedbugs are known to reside in carpet and beds, so never lay your luggage on either. Instead, lay it on a clean table or luggage rack, because bedbugs avoid exposed places.
Tip #2: Inspect the Room
Start inspecting the room right away. Begin by pulling the sheets and blanket down and inspecting all the beds in the room, paying particular attention to the edging of the mattress.
According to Scherzinger, you should pull off the sheet first. Then, examine the edging or piping around the matrress, because bedbugs rest here, waiting to irritate their next victims.
Bedbugs resemble small apple seeds, and they usually leave behind little red or brown stains, which is actually fecal matter.
Tip #3: Check the Other Furniture
After the mattress has passed the inspection, check around the headboard, nightstand, and in the nightstand drawers, because bedbugs often like these warm, dark places.
“I would definitely do a thorough inspection of the dresser drawers and nightstand before you unpack a bag into the dressers,” Scherzinger advises.
What to Do After Finding Bedbugs
If you suspect your room has a bedbug infestation, immediately demand another room. According to Scherzinger, it’s rare for bedgugs to infect numerous rooms at the same time, so chances are another room will be bedbug-free.
After arriving home, Scherzinger says you should thoroughly wash all your clothing using hot water, throw the clothes in a hot dryer for at least 30 minutes, and place your luggage and shoes in a black plastic bag and leave them outside in the sun to kill the bedbugs. In some cases, it can take months to completely get rid of bedbugs, so prepare for a battle.
How to Protect Yourself and Your Belongings
Other than thoroughly examining your hotel rooms, one of the best things you can do to protect yourself from bedbugs while on holiday is to purchase bedbug- resistant luggage. Ranging in price from £20 to several hundred pounds, these new travel totes are definitely worth the price, especially if you frequently stay in questionable hotels.
One particular type of bedbug-resistant luggage heats up the interior contents, killing any bedbugs that make their way inside. However, if your budget doesn’t allow for this type of luggage, a bedbug-proof mattress cover will also work well.
A little due diligence will go a long way as well. In addition to checking out online reviews and reports of the hotel you are considering, websites like BedBugReports.com and BedBugRegistry.com will tell you which hotels are safe and which ones should be avoided.
Just remember, bedbugs can just as easily be found in new hotels and pricey resorts as they can in small, inexpensive hotels. However, any respectable hotel will shut down a suspect room and immediately treat for bedbugs.
In the end, a little awareness and effort can go a long way in ensuring you remain safe from bedbugs while traveling this holiday season.
Simon Johnson is dedicated to the Perfect Nights Sleep at My Next Mattress
