Step 1: Pre-prep
To look for bed bugs in your hotel room effectively, there are a couple things you’ll need. First, make sure you bring some kind of flashlight. You don’t need anything heavy duty; your phone’s flashlight will be fine. Next, make sure you have a credit card or something similarly thin. You'll use this to check under around seams, zippers, and other tight areas. When you first enter your hotel, find the luggage rack. Luggage racks are usually in the closet. Put all of your luggage on the rack while you inspect the room. If you don’t have a luggage rack, put your luggage in the bathtub. Hang up any clothing or non-luggage bags you brought along until after you’ve followed the next steps. Step 2: Inspection
Now, to get down to business. Keep your flashlight and your credit card on hand, and inspect each of the following places in order:The bed sheets
Strip the bed down to the mattress. Lay the sheets out flat or as flat as possible. Inspect each sheet thoroughly using your flashlight. Pay particular attention to the edges, corners, folds, and seams. Make sure to turn over each sheet to inspect both sides. Look for the bugs themselves, as well as small, copper-colored stains.
The bed’s corners
Start your inspection of the bed itself at each of its four corners. Use your flashlight to closely examine the folds, creases, and seams at each corner. Use the credit card to peel back the seams of the bed to see beneath them. Bed bugs often squeeze into small crevices to hide, especially during the day. While you’re examining the corners, make sure you lift the mattress itself to look beneath it. Bed bugs like to hide in dark, cramped spaces, so they often crowd around the underside of the bed. They also often lay eggs in the creases around the bed’s corners. Bed bug eggs look like very small, clear or translucent beads. They’re also sticky, so they might stick to the creases of the bed.Seams and folds
After you’re done with the corners, it’s time to broaden your search. Now, you should take your credit card and peel back the seam along the entire perimeter of the bed. Make sure you use your flashlight so you can actually see into the areas you’re revealing. Just like around the corners, you’re looking for eggs, stains, and the bugs themselves. Make sure you check around the zipper, too!The rest of the bed
After you’re done thoroughly checking the perimeter of the bed, work your way in. Give the whole mattress a once over. Look for stains, eggs, and any other signs of bed bug infestation. If you haven’t done so already, now’s a good time to flip the mattress and check the underside.The Headboard
Contrary to popular belief, bed bugs aren’t confined exclusively to beds themselves. They tend to migrate to all kinds of hiding places where they can wait for a meal. The headboard is one of the most popular of those hiding places.
Check along the grooves, behind the bed, and against the wall. Check the nightstands while you’re under there. Use your flashlight, but don’t try moving the nightstand if it’s too heavy. You don’t want to injure yourself on your vacation either!
