Where to Check for Bed Bugs in Hotel Rooms Before Unpacking
There is nothing better than feeling like you’ve finally arrived at your hotel after a long day of travel, grabbed your key card and ended up in your room. But before lounging on your bed or unpacking your suitcase, you might want to take a quick look around the room to check for unwanted guests. Yes, we’re talking about bedbugs .
But where exactly to look for them? Is it enough to look at the sheets and hope for the best? Lifehacker spoke with two experts to find out where to find bed bugs in hotel rooms and what to do with luggage in the meantime.
Where to check for bedbugs
No matter how good your hotel or motel is, you will need to check your room for bed bugs. “When booking travel, travelers should be aware that any hotel is at risk of infestation with bed bugs, regardless of price or star rating,” says Dr. Michael Bentley, entomologist and director of education and training for the National Pest Management Association . Life hacker.
There is a checklist of things travelers should do before checking into a hotel room, Bentley said. He explains that the first thing to do is to pull back the sheets to check the seams of the mattress and box springs, especially in the corners, for ink stains, peeling bed bug skins, bed bug eggs, or even the insects themselves.
Then carefully examine the entire room for similar evidence, paying particular attention to areas behind headboards, picture frames and interior cabinets, Bentley adds. Mark Beevers, Orkin’s managing director of maintenance , recommends looking along the seams and around the buttonholes on sofas and chairs, noting that bugs love cracks and crevices in areas of a room where people spend a lot of time. In addition, if you notice clusters of brown or black spots, it could be dried bug excrement on infected surfaces, he told Lifehacker.
“If you suspect your room is contaminated, you should notify management and request an immediate room change,” Bentley explains. But you’re not quite clear yet: don’t forget to check your new room as well. “Bed bugs can move and spread through shopping carts and even wall outlets, so make sure the new room is not near, above or below the intended infestation,” he says.
Where to store luggage and clothes
First things first: you will need to hide your luggage somewhere while you check for bed bugs. Go to the bathroom because there are fewer bugs, according to Beavers and Bentley.
“Baths are not just for showers — they can also be the perfect place to stow your suitcase while you scan the room for bed bugs and other pests,” Beevers explains. “You should also leave it there overnight to avoid bedbugs as it is the safest place in a hotel room.”
Once you’ve checked out the room, it’s time to unpack. But where is the safest place for a travel wardrobe?
Bentley explains that do not put your luggage on soft surfaces or on the bed, because bugs are usually found on mattresses, box springs, and in crevices in furniture and interior upholstery.
A luggage rack will also be better than a bed or chair, but only after it has been thoroughly checked for bed bugs. “Avoid using hollow-legged hangers as bed bugs can hide in the legs,” says Bentley. For added protection, you can put your suitcases in plastic trash bags while you travel – just be sure to tie a plastic bag around when not in use to prevent bed bugs from entering, he adds.
What to do if bed bugs get on your clothes
If bedbugs manage to get into your belongings, Beevers recommends that you take immediate action. One option is to place clothes that you think are contaminated in plastic bags and seal them until ready to wash. Then, as soon as you load the laundry, close the used bag in another bag and discard it in the trash can.
“You will need to wash and dry your clothes at the highest possible temperature,” says Beavers. “Washing will kill a lot of bed bugs, but it’s the high drying temperature that will kill everyone who remains,” he explains. “To dry, let the dryer run for at least 30 minutes. The longer the clothes are in the basket or suitcase, the more time the bugs have to decompose. “
Ideally, however, this will not come to this, and it is much easier to check for bedbugs before getting comfortable, so use this strategy first.