How to Avoid Bed Bugs in Hotels

A little lone wandering bed bug that happens to make it to your luggage can wreak havoc when taken back home and result in a massive bed bug infestation. Of course the bed bug has to be a female bed bug who is ready to lay eggs, but identifying one is not easy, so it is just better to keep them away at all costs. Bed bugs usually get picked up when you happen to stay over at someone's house that is infested with bed bugs, or while traveling and staying at hotels that are infested by the same. Bed bug infestations are on the rise and it is a good idea to carry out preventive measures rather than trying to deal with them, because it is extremely difficult to get rid of them completely. So here's how to avoid bed bugs when staying in hotels or while traveling. Take a look.

Helpful Tips

To be able to stay away from these little vampires as they are popularly called, requires you to put in a little effort. This effort is of course worth it because you are ensuring that you don't take back these bed bugs home. Here are the tips you should follow to protect yourself.

Read About your Hotel before You Stay There
No hotel is going to mention in its brochure that it has a bed bug problem, but travel websites allow users to provide reviews of hotels to help other users make better decisions about where they should stay. As such, going through such reviews will give you a fair idea about whether the hotel you are going to stay in is safe or not. Also look at when the review has been provided. Recent reviews should be taken more seriously than those that are 3-4 years old.

Inspect your Bed
The first thing you want to do when you enter your hotel room after a long journey is just plop on the floor. However, just before you do that, take a close look at your bed. Not many bed bugs are just wandering on them, but you may happen to spot a stray one on the bed. You can also look for blood spots or the white skin that these bugs shed regularly. Pull away the sheets, look at the mattress, lift the mattress and look through the seams or in the springs. Also look through the dust ruffle. Since they are not easily visible in broad daylight and try to hide in the darkest places possible it is a good idea to keep a flashlight at hand to spot these. Bed bugs also hide in the frame of the bed, so keep a watch for those corners. If your room has any other upholstery check the edges of these too to spot any bugs.

Keep Your Luggage Safe
While inspecting the bed and other areas of the room keep your luggage outside the room or as far away from the bed as possible. Bed bugs can easily pass through tightly zipped bags and infest your clothes which you will take back home. Even if you are staying in the room and happen to discover these bugs later, always keep your luggage on a luggage rack and not under the bed or even close to it. Within the bags, keep your clothes in tightly sealed bags in bunches so that even if a bug happens to get into the luggage it won't affect your clothes.

Carry only Clothes that can be Washed in Hot Water
To be able to effectively avoid bed bugs while traveling, carry clothes that are safe to be washed at high temperatures. Even if the bugs do get into your bags and clothes, by washing and drying them at high temperatures you can kill these and prevent an infestation. This is why it is always safer to carry such clothes as can be washed in hot water. You may have a few luxury outfits that need to be taken care of, for which the tightly sealed bags within your suitcase should be used.

If You Find Bed Bugs in the Room
After your inspection if you find bed bugs, ask the hotel to move you to a room that is away from this one and that has been checked for bed bug infestation. Bed bugs do not infest places due to lack of hygiene, so even the most expensive hotels can have bed bugs. So do not accuse the hotel of being sub-standard or anything of the sort. If you find bed bugs after you have stayed in the room for a night or so, you may demand that the hotel dry clean or wash your clothes and give them back to you to avoid any chances of an attack. If you are moved to another room and find bed bugs in there too, it is time to move to another hotel as soon as possible.

When You Go Back Home
Even if you didn't see bed bugs or were lucky enough not to be afflicted by agonizing bed bug bites, it is possible that they may have been there in the room. To be on the safe side, go back home and put all your travel clothes in the washing machine to be washed in water as hot as possible, followed by thirty minutes in the dryer on high heat. Also check inside your bag for any bed bugs, in the zips and the seams of the bags. If possible, steam clean your luggage. Even if your luggage is hard covered, check the internal fabric for any such bugs.

By following these preventive measures, you should be able to effectively avoid bed bugs in hotels or bringing them back home. Again, remember that such infestations can occur even in the best hotels. As such, make sure you keep these tips in mind even when staying in the best hotel in town.