How to Check for Bed Bugs on the Road

How Common Are Bed Bugs?

99 percent of pest control companies will treat bed bugs at some point this year. Most of these cases are found in apartments, homes, and hotel rooms. Bed bugs are found in all 50 states and aren’t any more or less common in one area.

You could bring bed bugs home from your travels, but that is uncommon. The best way to avoid bringing bed bugs home with you is to prevent putting your luggage on the bed.

Checking for Bed Bugs

When you enter your room, don’t unpack. Put your luggage in the bathtub to keep it off of the floor until you’ve inspected the room. The bathroom is the most vigorously cleaned part of the hotel room, so you can be confident it is bed bug-free.

Pull the bed away from the wall, if possible. Shine a flashlight behind headboards and under beds. Strip the bed, right down to the mattress and bed springs to see what’s underneath the sheets and mattress pad. Pay special attention to corners or folds in the sheets. You’re looking for bed bugs or dark brown blood spots. Lift the mattress and box springs up and look underneath.  If it’s a platform bed, inspect carefully under the springs and around the base. These are spots the bugs like to hide in.

Check any couches, chairs, or curtains for blood spots or bugs as well. Bed bugs are not confined to the mattress, despite their misnomer.  Don’t use any luggage racks, closet shelves or drawers until you’re confident your room is bed bug-free.

When you wake up, look for any bloodstains or rusty spots on your sheets or mattress. Some people do not have adverse reactions to bed bugs, so you may not even know if you’ve been bitten.