Hotel Bed Bugs – Motel & Traveling Establishments – A hotel’s worst nightmare: According to Nashville tourism, over 16 million people visited the city of Nashville in 2019. Within that year, there were over 8 million hotel rooms sold. With summer vacation in full swing, many people want to go to the nation’s top destination sight. Unfortunately, we aren’t the only ones who want to visit Nashville.
Bed bugs are always a pests to keep in mind when staying at a hotel, motel, or any traveling or tourist establishment. They can quickly infest a motel or hotel property within a matter of days if not treated. With nearly 10,000 more hotels being built within the Nashville area this upcoming decade, this will only increase the amount of potential bed bug infestations. Many guests staying at hotels may not know the harmful effects of bed bugs, or even where to check for them. So how do you now if your hotel room has bed bugs? You need to be able to identify them.
Identification
Many people tend to get bed bugs confused with other insects, because they look relatively similar. For example, bed bugs are mistaken for ticks quite often, because they have similar body types. Here are a few identifiable tips for bed bugs:
- Bed bugs are relatively the size of an apple seed. Which is 5-7 millimeters in length.
- They are generally long and brown with flat oval shaped bodies, very similar to ticks.
- If for some unfortunate reason you are close enough to catch a whiff of these insects, they produce a rather unpleasant musty odor. This odor originates from the lower half of their body.
- These insects are small and most often won’t be found unless there is a serious infestation or if you are closely investigating for them.
Hotel Bed Bugs And What Areas To Check In Room
It is important to immediately check your hotel room for signs of a potential bed bug infestation. They may be on every piece of furniture in the room, so it’s important to check these areas before setting your luggage down on them.
Tips For Identifying Signs Of Bed Bugs Are Listed Below:
- The first place to start is to check for physical signs of bed bugs on the bed. What this may will look like are dark red stains on the bed sheets or mattress caused by bed bugs being crushed. This can be found either into the mattress itself or on the sheets. The red discoloration will be very noticeable and easy to identify.
- The second place to check in your room is the remaining furniture. Just because you didn’t find any on your bed doesn’t mean they aren’t on the other furniture. Bed bugs have often been found within the seams of chairs and couches and even between the cushions.
- A couple extra areas to check before getting comfortable in your room are the door frames and the electrical outlets. These are rather peculiar places to find bed bugs, however, they are often found in these areas as well. What this will look like are dark blotches surrounding the frame or the outlet. It will look unappealing and should be easy to identify.
We hope these suggestions prove to be helpful with your next stay out of town! If you ever have need for service or help in identifying potential bed bugs in your home from traveling, reach out to U.S. Pest Protection for an absolutely FREE inspection! Visit: uspest.com/free-inspection/.