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How To Check For Bedbugs In Hotels & Airbnb

Posted on July 18, 2022

Whether you’re tired and just want to jump into bed after a long day of travelling, or you are about to enjoy a luxury stay at a local Airbnb, take a couple of minutes to do a quick check for bedbugs. These critters, who enjoy feasting on their victims during the night, are attracted to carbon dioxide and hide in areas that provide easy accessibility to their hosts. So the easiest way to ensure you’re not sharing your bed with bedbugs is to grab a flashlight, put your luggage in the bathroom and follow these quick steps to locating bedbugs.

What Do Bedbugs Look Like?

Bedbugs are often compared to apple seeds because of their brownish hue and size. However, depending on where they are in their life cycle and if they have eaten recently, they can range from a white or clear colour to a variety of brown shades.

Like mosquitos, they feed by breaking their victims’ skin and injecting an elongated beak under the skin’s surface to withdraw blood. However, they differ because bedbugs are flat-bodied, wingless insects with six legs and can go weeks without feeding.

Full-grown bedbugs will only be about 0.5 centimetres long, which is large enough to be spotted with the naked eye. Furthermore, their prime feeding time is at dawn, only taking them about three minutes to fill their bellies before falling off and hurrying away to digest their food.

Where To Look For Bedbugs

When you first enter a room in a hotel or Airbnb, immediately place your luggage in the bathroom or on a luggage rack. This should always be your first step as these pests are less likely to be located far from the bed. Grab a flashlight or use the flashlight on your smartphone to provide better visibility to begin your check for bedbugs.

Next, peel the bed sheets and mattress cover off any mattresses in the room and look along the seams focusing on the head of the bed. Make sure to flip the seams over, as bedbugs are great at hiding. Now do the same for the pillows. Take the pillowcases off and check the seams along the outer edge of each pillow.

Clear? Great! There are a couple of other places to check. If art is hanging over the bed, use the same method to check for bedbugs around the frame and behind it. Do the same for any nightstands located close to the bed. Make sure to pull the drawers out and look in the cracks and the bottom of the legs. Bedbugs will even hide in cracks of wood or flaps of wallpaper.

Lastly, you will want to check any furniture in the room, including stools, hide-a-beds, chairs, couches, and luggage racks. Flip the seams and shine your flashlight to see if any bedbugs are lurking around.

If you discover any bedbugs, even one or two, contact the front desk and request to move rooms immediately. Ideally, you would want a new room on the opposite side of the hotel or Airbnb, as bedbugs are great hitchhikers and tend to travel quickly throughout a building.

What Do Bedbug Bites Look Like?

Bites from a bedbug may go unnoticed initially as the body may not react for a day or two. However, because bedbugs feast on blood and are attracted to carbon monoxide, you will usually find bites around the neck, shoulders and upper arms. They are red, itchy, small bumps usually found in a row or straight line, unlike other insect bites found sporadically around the body.

What To Do If You Have Brought Bedbugs Home After Staying In A Hotel Or Airbnb

Once you return home, the best practice is to place all your laundry, dirty or clean, in the dryer for a 30-minute cycle on the highest heat setting. This works to irradicate any bedbugs that may have travelled home with you.

What To Do If You Find Bedbugs In Your House

If bedbugs somehow still managed to take up residence in your home or office, the best way to get rid of them is to contact a pest control expert.

For more information on bedbugs and other pest control services, contact us today to get a quote.