Help Prevent Bed Bugs From Spreading in Your Hotel

Bed bugs are checking into hotels across the country – no reservation required. With daily guest turnover making it easy for these pests to find a blood meal, they are one of the most unwelcome guests in the hospitality world. (Learn 99 other facts about what makes them so unwelcome by downloading our free e-book, 100 Facts About Bed Bugs.)

While bed bug appearances have nothing to do with sanitation issues, their presence ruin guest experience and can tarnish a hotel’s reputation. By learning how to handle a potential bed bug issue, hospitality professionals can help keep these pests out of rooms, and subsequently, out of TripAdvisor reviews.

Follow this three-step checklist to help identify bed bugs and begin treatment, if needed:

1. Examine the evidence. Be on the lookout for tiny, ink-colored stains on mattress seams, in soft furniture and behind headboards. Bed bugs don’t usually come out until nighttime, so the trail they leave behind is often the only way you’re alerted of a problem.

2. Isolate the scene. If you find evidence of bed bugs, leave the room as you found it. This helps Orkin accurately diagnose the issue. You should immediately take the room out of service and, if the room is in use, move guests to a new room. Orkin can help prevent bed bugs from spreading by pre-treating the guests’ new room.

3. Prepare for treatment. Once your qualified pest control professional has confirmed evidence of bed bugs, prepare for treatment by pulling all furniture to the center of the room and flipping it over, removing wall hangings and attachments, and vacuuming the mattress, box springs and carpets along the perimeter. Before they arrive, ask for more preparation tips so you have done everything possible to set the stage for treatment.

Ready for bed bugs to check out of your property? Knowledge is power. Learn everything you ever wanted to know in our free, comprehensive e-book, 100 Facts About Bed Bugs.

If you are even slightly concerned about potential bed bug activity – the sooner you act, the better.