Airbnb's and Bed Bugs?

Alana Korol

July 10, 2018

AIRBNB BED BUGS? YOU’LL NEED A BED BUG TRAVEL SPRAY

We’ve talked at length about the importance of using a bed bug travel spray when you’re using a hotel room. If simply getting bitten by bed bugs while you are in the hotel room was the worst that could happen, then it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Yes, it would be bad, but it would be a limited problem. The real mess begins when you take the bed bugs home with you. All of those nooks and crannies in a suitcase makes it an ideal place for bed bugs to hide, and they’re more than happy to crawl out and make your bed at home their new living quarters.

But what about Airbnb and bed bugs? While you’ve most certainly heard about the problems of bed bugs in hotels, what about Airbnb? We’ll save you a quick Google search and you can just click here; yes, it’s a problem. Let’s talk about some of the reasons you’re going to want to take an all-natural bed bug travel spray with you when you head to an Airbnb.

Airbnbs Aren’t Really Regulated

Companies like Airbnb are shaking up areas of business that could probably use a little shaking up. But even as they do so, they’re introducing new problems while solving others. Large businesses like hotels have reputations that they’re worried about, and will, therefore, address a bed bug problem very quickly. After all, it could become national news and quickly scar their brand.

Airbnbs, on the other hand, is run by a single individual. There’s no oversight on that living space and no maid service that’s been trained to look for signs of bed bugs. Sure, the sheets get changed at an Airbnb (you hope), but is the owner checking for bed bug excrement blood stains and discarded nymph husks?

When you get to an Airbnb, it’s best to get out your bed bug travel spray just as you would at a regular hotel. Using it can prevent you from being bitten and can kill any bed bugs that you might otherwise inadvertently take home with you.

Reviews Get Lost

You might think that an Airbnb host would be especially concerned about their space because it’s the only one they have; if it gets a bad reputation, then their one and only location is unusable.

Well, here’s the problem: a single bad review is quickly lost. If an Airbnb has a 5-star rating and the bed bug review takes it down to a 4.9 star, then it’s still a 4.9 star and people will jump at the opportunity to stay there. Many people simply trust the star rating and don’t read reviews, so the bed bug review could be lost quickly.

If you missed that review, you might not know about the bed bugs. That’s why it’s always a good idea to pull out the bed bug travel spray at every Airbnb you use.

Looks Have Nothing To Do With It

If your Airbnb turns out to be nicer than you thought, you could think that you’re safe from bed bugs. Not true. We’ve often talked about how the nicest places on the planet can be just as susceptible to bed bugs as run-down locations. Having bed bugs has nothing to do with a home or hotel being clean or dirty, new or old.

No matter how nice the place is, give it a bed bug check. Look in the seams for the bed bugs themselves. Check for dark spots on the mattress, which could be bed bug excrement. Look for discarded skins of bed bugs. All of this can be made much easier if you use a bed bug detection light set to a frequency that makes bed bugs and their eggs fluoresce. Even if you don’t see any bed bugs, make sure you put some bed bug spray on the perimeter of the mattress.

Airbnb Owners Might Not Know How To Deal With Them

Before you found our bed bug eradication site and watched our video on how to get rid of bed bugs, you probably didn’t know much about killing bed bugs. Does Raid work? What do bed bug bites look like? Is there an all-natural bed bug spray that works?

Often, those who run an Airbnb are just as clueless as you used to be. Many of them will simply make the most obvious choice, one that’s been drilled into our heads by advertisements for our entire lives: call an exterminator. Unfortunately, as we’ve detailed in previous blogs, exterminators use toxic chemicals in order to treat bed bugs, and these chemicals are often reintroduced to a house multiple times before they see the job as complete. Even then they might not guarantee their work, especially if they can simply claim that Airbnb was reinfested by a subsequent host. On top of that, many chemicals such as permethrin no longer work on bed bugs, because the bed bugs have built up an immunity to it.

Unless the Airbnb owner happened to find out about our all-natural bed bug killing spray, it’s likely that they’ll call someone in to introduce a harsh chemical that’s not even affecting the bed bugs. You could end up staying there between the exterminator’s treatments, meaning that the bed bugs are still near full strength.

Don’t Take Bed Bugs Home

Nearly every hotel you’ve ever stayed in had a luggage rack, those foldable tables on which you can put your luggage. Airbnbs, on the other hand, often don’t have these. There’s either not enough space in the room to have one, or they simply haven’t provided one. That forces most people to put their luggage on -- you guessed it -- the bed. And where do bed bugs most often live? Take a look at their name and you’ll have the answer!

You won’t be traveling with a luggage rack, but you can travel with luggage covers. Like we mentioned before, bed bugs love the seams, creases, and pockets of luggage, and they’re more than happy to hide out there. (Unfortunately, the most common type of bed bug looking for a place to hide is a pregnant bed bug.) All together now, ewwwww.

Luggage covers zip around the luggage and make it impossible for bed bugs to get inside. They’re also white, so if a bed bug happens to get up on the luggage then you’ll be able to see it and dispose of it...and tell the Airbnb owner.

Should You Avoid Airbnbs?

We’re not telling you to avoid Airbnbs. There are many advantages to using them, such as meeting new people, staying in a different part of the city away from the hotel district, and having amenities that you might be missing from a regular hotel.

But, as we’ve noted above, it’s important to be as vigilant when staying at an Airbnb as it is when you’re staying at a hotel...and perhaps more so. Either way, you should take a bottle of Bed Bug Patrol Travel Spray (in a convenient TSA-approved size) so that you can protect yourself and your luggage. It might even be a good idea to take some bed bug traps to put at the foot of the bed to lure bed bugs down instead of up. After you’ve protected yourself, enjoy your stay!

Let us at Bed Bug Store assist you. All our products come with a 90-day 100% satisfaction guarantee. We have been relieving customers of their bed bugs for over 15 years. Our products are also 100% all-natural, chemical and pesticide-free. The smell you notice when using our solution, is the fresh scent of peppermint.

Safe for children and pets, completely deadly for bed bugs.

Our sprays are made with 100% effective natural ingredients and essentials oils, making Bed Bug Patrol a great alternative to harsh pesticides and insecticides which bed bugs are becoming increasingly resistant to.

Enjoy the safety of knowing your bed bug battle will soon be won by the all-natural power of Bed Bug Patrol.