How to get rid of bedbugs

Bedbugs can turn up in any property, however clean it is. They travel in luggage and on clothing, so a guest can bring them in without knowing. For a hostel or hotel, the bigger risk is to its reputation, because word of bedbugs travels fast and guests remember it. The good news is that they can be found early and dealt with properly.

Know what you are looking for

Bedbugs do not fly, but they move quickly across floors, walls and ceilings. A female can lay hundreds of eggs over her lifetime, each about the size of a speck of dust. They live in groups, hide in cracks during the day and stay close to where people sleep, which is why mattresses and bed frames are their favourite places. They are not known to spread disease, but their bites itch and cost guests a night's sleep.

Besides the bugs themselves, look for small dark spots on the bedding or the mattress, rust-coloured stains, tiny pale eggs and shed skins.

How to inspect a room

If you suspect a room, check it in this order, with a torch:

1. The bed linen. Lay each sheet out as flat as you can and go over it slowly, paying most attention to the edges, corners, folds and seams.
2. The mattress. Examine the seams and folds, especially at the corners. Slide a plastic card along the seams to open them up, since bedbugs squeeze into narrow gaps during the day. Then lift the mattress and check underneath it and the bed frame.
3. The headboard. It is one of their most common hiding places. Check along the grooves, behind the bed and where it meets the wall, and look over the bedside tables while you are there.
4. The curtains. Inspect both sides, smoothing out every fold so you can see the whole fabric.

Make a quick version of this check part of the housekeeping routine whenever beds are changed, so a problem is found in one room rather than five.

If you find them

Take the room out of sale straight away. Shop-bought sprays and foggers rarely solve the problem and can be hazardous if they are misused, so call a licensed pest-control professional and follow their instructions. Leave the furniture, mattress and bedding where they are until the professional has seen them, so the problem does not spread through the building.

In thelobbyboy, you can book the room as out of order, which blocks it on the calendar until the problem is solved, and add a note to it so housekeeping and the front desk both know.

Be honest with guests

If you think a guest may have been in contact with bedbugs, tell them. It is an uncomfortable conversation, but most people respect honesty, and it shows you take the problem seriously. Move them to a room well away from the affected one. Suggest they put their clothes through a dryer on high heat for at least 30 minutes, since heat kills bedbugs, and check their luggage carefully before unpacking at home. It can happen to any property. What guests remember is how you handled it.