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I use the bedbug registry website to see if a hotel is listed - if it is, I don't book there (just be careful when doing the search - a hotel might be listed under a slightly different name variation than what you type in and might not pop up in your initial search - I search a few times using various terms just to make sure).
When we check in, we pull the beds apart and check under them and along every seam. We check behind wall hangings (when able - nowadays this things won't even pull away from the walls) and headboards.
We leave our suitcase in the bathtub and only remove it when showering.
2. Take a spray bottle of alcohol with you, and spray in the cracks, and around the door. If there any, they'll come out, and die - alcohol kills them.
2. Take a spray bottle of alcohol with you, and spray in the cracks, and around the door. If there any, they'll come out, and die - alcohol kills them.
1. Even if the website gets over 40,000 visitors and 100 new reports a day, and has more than 20,000 reports about 12,000 locations at last count (2010), you should not rely on it.
How can you be sure these reports are true? The bedbug reports submitted through this site, have not been vetted for accuracy. So, while some of them are true and some not, you would have absolutely no idea which, if any of them are true. Some travellers file reports, others are not , either because they don't know about the site or because they lack adequate motivation.
So your best bet is to check the links I posted above. Also check hotelchatter.com and tripadvisor.com.
2. In 2013, a Rutgers University research team tested several substances against bed bugs. They discovered that half the bed bugs sprayed with rubbing alcohol were still alive after four days, making this substance one of the least effective weapons against these insects.
Bed bug eggs take up to 14 days to hatch, so you need to spray infested surfaces every two to three days for two weeks to kill newly hatched insects.
Most of all, don’t stay home. The world is a beautiful place. You can get bedbugs without leaving your home if someone else’s home is attached. People can get bedbugs just from going to work, or going into someone’s house, or riding in a plane. So get out there and enjoy the world. But be careful out there.
"Some reports are posted by malicious tenants. Some are posted by evil competitors. Some are posted by hypochondriacs." From the FAQ section from the Bed Bug Registry site. LOL! Really.
Any suspicious marking or evidence of bugs should be enough to warrant a new room, and when it comes to a bedbug scare, hotel staff should be more than willing to oblige. Request that your new room be at least two floors away from the initial room, since chances are good that the bugs may spread via the wallboards or electrical sockets.
Happy travel!
^^^ Best answers ever!
I just inspect the bed by pulling back the bottom sheet at the corners and look for any evidence of them. However that's not always the best or only thing to do. The biggest thing I think is to avoid hotel/motels that are have poorly cleaned rooms. If the room isn't cleaned well then they probably don't care about bed bugs. If it's clean and neat your chances are better. Clean and neat doesn't mean new and improved however.
I've been hit with bedbugs twice as far as I know. Once in Belgrade, Serbia, and the other time in Kathmandu, Nepal. In Nepal, I went into denial and slept with them for 10 nights. I only realized I was in huge trouble when I saw one crawl across my scarf so fattened by apparently my own blood one morning.
Basically, and as everyone has been saying, as soon as you are shown a room, lift the mattress off the platform and take a flashlight into the crevices of the bedpost and any other 'under-mattress' cracks you can find. You just might find some. It's a myth that they are too small to see, necessarily. Also, they have a 'smell' associated with them that is very hard to describe that is worth watching out for. Almost like blueberries left in the sun.
If you suspect you are sleeping with them after a night or two, when you wake up, inspect the sheets for small blueish-blackish stains. That's a squashed bedbug.
If you do start getting bites, bring all your material possessions of that room to a laundromat, wash them, and then (and in spite of whatever wash/dry steps you would normally put your clothes through) stick them in a drying machine on the highest heat possible. They can remain undisturbed in your luggage for a long time and then repopulate your home upon arrival.
I honestly don't think putting a tarp over the sheet will do anything to help you. Just be proactive and knowledgeable about how to look for them. And don't let it put you off from travelling. Bedbugs aren't associated with filth, they can exist anywhere under a variety of circumstances.
Should People Worry About Bed Bugs in Hotels/Motels?
I have some relatives who will be traveling over the holiday and will end up having to stay in a motel/hotel. They estimate that they will have to spend one or two nights in different hotels on the way down, and one or two nights in different hotels on the way back. Should they be worried about bed bugs? I haven't mentioned anything to them because they're already stressed out. But knowing them, they're gonna have their stuff spread out all over the place in the hotel, especially if they have to spend part of the day there. One of them is in a wheelchair so that obviously has to be left on the floor. Do they need to check their mattress? Is checking that enough? There will be a total of four of them.
My guess would be that if I mention bed bugs they will either cancel their trip (someone may get mad at me) or they will choose not to inspect anything due to the hassle. They're really limited anyway because two of them are elderly and have very limited mobility. They opted not to travel by plane because they always get sick (flu, pneumonia) and end up in the hospital when flying.
I hate to be self-centered, but I'm worried about myself. If they bring home bed bugs, that puts me at risk of getting them. I've heard those things are a real pain in the butt to get rid of and costly too.
I live in Las Vegas and we have a number of oddball conventions here. I was assigned to report on the bedbug exterminators convention a few years ago. I talked with one of the attendees and he said that on any given day, about 30% of hotel rooms are infected, so yes you do have to worry about bedbugs. You can go online and find out what to look for in rooms that are the telltales of bedbug infestation.
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Should People Worry About Bed Bugs in Hotels/Motels?
