Hotel and motel rooms are one of the most popular spots where bed bugs can gather the most. Bed bugs are reddish-brown insects that are a great red flag if you are going to stay in a hotel at the time of travel. If you have ever arrived at a hotel that is full of stained sheets, there can be nothing worse than this. In this article, we are going to share the most alarming signs and hotel room red flags you should consider before you check in for the best time. If a hotel room is full of bed bugs, only heat treatment is 100% effective to get rid of bed bugs. In this article, we will discuss the 5 red flags.
How Will You Detect That Your Hotel Room Has Bed Bugs?
Having black spots on the curtains and luggage shelves
Just imagine one day when you wake up in the morning and find your body covered with red bites what will happen? It could be your worst nightmare being a traveler. You have to remove the duvet and check the fitted sheets and corners of the mattress which are the main hiding places of the pests. If you find black spots on the window curtains of the hotel room you must be sure that your hotel room has bed bugs. You have to also check the luggage racks as bed bugs grow on wood surfaces or fabrics. So we are recommending you keep your luggage in the tile bathroom where they are not able to reach and enter your luggage.
Check The Beds
You need to check the bed very well. Bed bugs are generally found in mattresses and bed frames. Dusty places are the best living ground for bed bugs. That is why, if you want to check if there are bed bugs in your hotel room you have to first check the bed.
Check the bedside cabinets
The bedside furniture or nightstands are the best places where bed bugs can hide. So, after entering the hotel room, you must check the drawers of the cabinet. Not only that you need to check very well as bed bugs can also hide behind or underneath the cabinets.
Check sofas and chairs
Bed bugs have a tremendous attraction to carbon dioxide. Sofas and chairs are the most common places where humans interact most. That is why bed bugs can hide in those places. So, you need to check the cushions and sofa coverings very well.
What are the 5 red flags in a hotel room?
There are a lot of red flags in a hotel room. One of the most common red flags is bed bugs. The other ones are as follows:
- Dust on the fan: It is one of the most common red flags a hotel room might have. We never know whether the housekeeping services are done in every hotel regularly.
- Colored or patterned sheets: We never know how many people have checked into that particular hotel room and used that bed. So, it is quite natural that there might be some stains. But sometimes, the hotel authority uses colored or patterned bed sheets to cover up the stains.
- Dead plants: A good hotel will always maintain hospitality. If there are dead plants in the hotel that will be a red flag for the hotel.
- Leaky faucets in the bathroom: One of the most common red flags is leaky faucets.
- Hard to find the exit signs: Sometimes the guests find it hard to find the exit signs which is not a good sign for a hotel.
What will you do if you find bed bugs in your hotel room?
If you find signs of bed bugs in your hotel room. Report them to the hotel immediately. The hotel may offer to have the room treated by a pest control company. If they offer this, do not agree to stay in the room unless the type of treatment is a heat treatment. Only heat treatment is 100% effective. Standard chemical treatment is only about 60% effective as it does not kill the eggs. If the hotel offers to change your room, be cautious because bed bugs spread between rooms easily. The bed bug infestation may be affecting the wider hotel. Only agree to change rooms if the hotel uses heat treatment on your room as this would indicate that they use this option on other rooms too, making it unlikely that there would be many bed bugs in the hotel.
Conclusion
Hotels are one of the most common places that are mostly used when we are far away from home on a holiday or a work trip. People always want to stay in a clean, safe, and secure place. We always want such a room in a hotel that can give us a homely feeling so that we can spend our quality time there without any problems. But some hotels are the breeding ground of bed bugs. Bed bugs are one of the most irritating insects that can cause itchiness in our bodies. That is why people generally avoid such places.