Expert reveals how to check your hotel room for bedbugs… and prevent an infestation coming home with you

• TikToker shares in-depth step-by-step of how to check hotel room for bedbugs
•  She advises that it’s most important to check for brown spots in your bed

Bedbugs can be a recurring nighmare if found in hotels if you’re unlucky enough to discover them before it’s too late.

And with the post-pandemic rise in global travel, these blood-sucking critters have ever more opportunity to  discreetly jump from one occupant to another. 

Now an expert has revealed the tell-tale signs for bed bugs in your hotel room, and to avoid bringing an infestation back home with you. 

One TikToker has shared a helpful video explaining exactly how you check before turning the lights off for that well-earned holiday rest. 

Expert Cassie, who goes by @cassiethebugdoc on TikTok, posted a clip showing how you should check your hotel room for any bedbugs

She said that the first thing she does as soon as she checks into her room is leave her baggage in the bathroom and then check the bed she is sleeping in

Cassie, who goes by @cassiethebugdoc on TikTok, posted a clip of herself going through her step-by-step process of how to check your room for any bedbugs.

She captioned the video: ‘Inspecting your hotel room for bed bugs is an important part of traveling’.

Cassie, an Entomologist, says: ‘I thought I’d take the opportunity to show you how to inspect your hotel rooms for bedbugs to ensure you don’t take any home.’

She said that the first thing she does as soon as she checks into her room is leave her baggage in the bathroom, advising that it is best to leave it on hardwood or tile surfaces. This is because it stops the bedbugs from crawling into your suitcase from the get go.

She continues: ‘So to find bedbugs, it’s important to understand a little bit about bedbug biology. 

‘First, they’re mostly nocturnal feeders, which means they’re only going to try and feed on people at night.’

And because people spend the majority of their night sleeping in the bed, she said, it is important to begin your inspection there.

She said: ‘The first thing that I do is take the covers off the bed and and make sure they’re all clean. 

‘But then you take your bottom sheet and lift it up as well.’

Cassie demonstrates this, as tells travelers that it is important you don’t see any stains or spots – particularly brown spots – on the sheets.

Cassie’s followers on TikTok praised her for sharing the insightful and helpful tips

She said it is best to leave it your suitcase hardwood or tile surfaces as it stops the bedbugs from crawling into your suitcase from the get go. The bedbug expert said that if your hotel room or accommodation has sofas or chairs it is important to check those too

The bedbug expert said that if your hotel room or accommodation has drawers, it is important you check there too before popping in your items

These brown spots are most important to look out for, as the expert explained they’re called fecal spots, left after bed bugs have ‘digested blood’. The creatures leave behind ‘brown fecal spots resembling that of blood.’

She said that in some cases you can also go as far as checking the actual mattress, but sometimes hotels have casing around them, which protects the bedbugs from getting in there in the first place.

The bedbug expert said that if your hotel room or accommodation has drawers, it is important you check there too before popping in your items.

Once again, she advised her followers on TikTok to check for any blood stains or bedbugs in them. 

She continued: ‘If you have any chairs in your hotel room, it is a good idea to lift up the bottom cushion.

‘And do the same inspection on that cushion that you did on your mattress.’

And Cassie gave one more tip for travelers, after they have unpacked all their items from their luggage.

She said: ‘Even when you unpack your luggage, go ahead and put it up on a surface so that it is not on the ground picking up any insects, not just bedbugs, before you leave.’

And Cassie’s followers on TikTok praised her for sharing the insightful and helpful tips.

One person wrote: ‘Very informative, thank-you.’ 

The same user also added: ‘And what in the world with the locked mattress encasement thing. Is that common?’ as Cassie replied: ‘I see them locked in hotel rooms more than not. I would assume it’s so people don’t open them up & risk exposure of the mattress to bed bugs.’

Another TikTok user said: ‘Great tips!!!’

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