When staying in a hotel, inspecting your room for bed bugs as soon as you arrive is a good idea. You want to unpack or settle in once you have checked to see if your room has bed bugs. Bring your belongings in and place them in the bathtub. Bed bugs don’t go into bathrooms since there is no place to burrow or hide.

Bring a small flashlight with you when staying at a hotel; this will make it easier to inspect your room. Never put your suitcase, clothes, or personal items on the bed, as this is the most common way to get bed bugs in your possessions and transfer them to your home.

An Initial Inspection

Start your inspection with the mattress, the most common area for bed bugs. Gently remove the sheet and mattress pad, inspecting the four corners of the mattress and box spring.

Be cautious and aware of the potential risk of bed bugs that are often overlooked on the luggage rack or valet. Inspect carefully, focusing on cracks and crevices. Bed bugs may be found on the luggage rack if they have come in on other travelers’ luggage.

An In-Depth Inspection

If you want to do a more in-depth inspection of your room, we recommend the following:

Inspect the mattress and box spring along the edging, seams, and other small areas. Continue your inspection with the headboard. In most hotels, the headboard is attached to the wall. Use your flashlight to look at the crack between the wall and the headboard.

Next, inspect the furniture around the bed and any pictures on the wall. Bed bugs hide behind framed pictures and on or around furniture. Make sure you inspect all the cracks and crevices of the nightstand, including screw holes, joints, and drawers. Once you have ensured these areas do not have bed bugs, move on to other furniture, especially upholstered chairs. As you are inspecting, pay special attention to the seams.

If you find bed bugs in your hotel room, notify the front desk immediately and ask to be moved to a new room that is not next door to the room where you found bed bugs. Even better, ask for another floor and do another inspection there.

Safety Measures

When staying in a hotel, it is a good idea to bring a large plastic bag to put your dirty clothes in. Bed bugs are attracted to the chemicals we leave behind on our clothing. Putting dirty clothing into a plastic bag will reduce the chance that you will get bed bugs on these items, and then bring them home with you.

If you stay in a hotel room and are worried about bed bugs, take these precautions when you return home to reduce the risk of bringing bed bugs into your home.

Immediately launder all the clothing you brought or seal it in a plastic bag until it can be laundered. For more information, see the “Laundering Items to Kill Bed Bugs” factsheet.

Vacuum your suitcase, inside and out. Once you have finished vacuuming your suitcase, immediately discard the contents of the vacuum in a plastic bag that can be tightly sealed and then put in the outside trash. The suitcase can then be stored inside a large plastic bag or box to ensure that, in the unlikely event that bed bugs do hitchhike, they cannot move from your suitcase into your home.

Shoes can be wiped down with a damp cloth and hot water to reduce the risk of infestation with bed bugs.

Our natural, plant-based Bed Bug Patrol Killer Spray provides an all-natural solution to infestations of bed bugs, as well as fleas, spiders, and other common indoor bugs. Our 100% natural solution is made in the USA. It relies on the power of natural ingredients like citric acid, clove oil, and peppermint oil to naturally deter these bugs from living in your furnishings and upholstery. Just spray our solution on affected surfaces twice per day, and it will get to work on exterminating your bed bugs and preventing their return. To keep you safe from bed bugs on your travels, arm yourself with our Bed Bug Blasting Travel Spray, which comes in a handy, TSA-approved travel-size bottle for your convenience.