Bed Bugs - an Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure

I would like to add that now that it's summer you can leave your luggage in the car and park it in the sun. They can not tolerate high heat. The inside of a car can easily get to be 130 degrees and even higher than that in the direct sun.

recently found out that if you have the high volume of alcohol handy, that takes care of them better then any amount of "specialized" spray. put it in a spray bottle and get to spraying. and like others have mentioned don't put your clothes in the drawers, and don't put your luggage on the floor. I recently moved a attracted a few bedbugs from the moving truck and the movers told me about the alcohol and it worked its magic swell! good luck

check the bed when you check in...pull the sheets up and see if there are dark spots on the ends of the mattress - yes, head and foot...if they are - the bed has bugs.

DO NOT put your clothes in the dressers provided.
DO NOT put your luggage on the floor - use the luggage rack that is provided. If it doesn't have one - ask for one.

Wash all of your clothes in HOT water and HIGH heat - the bed bugs cannot live through that....if the tree huggers would let us use DDT again - they would be gone in a matter of about 2 weeks.....

Any way- I digress....put your luggage in a BLACK garbage back for one week and it should be good to go...oh wait - is that for bed bugs or lice?! Damn!! Check with the CDC. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/default.aspx

Good LUCK!!!

I would go to the bed bug registry to see if there have been any outbrakes . It also gives go info on what to do and look for. Also the CDC gives out info on there website as well. Keep your luggage off the floor . When you get home , leave your bags in the hot sun for an hour or two. Have a great trip !

I had saved this from an article on aol. tri www.tripadvisor.com and bedbug registry.com. This will should be able to tell you, if the place you are staying had any reports. Diatomaceous earth, how to AVOID bedbugs. Believe me I understand. I am so freaked now staying anywhere even going to the movies. From the video I saw he said to put your cloths in the dryer on high for 30 minutes as soon as you get home. Do not unpack in the house, put everything even the bang if you can into the dryer. Pack your things in seal tight plastic bags and return them to the same bag after wearing. This way it traps everything inside until you put them in the dryer. Throw the plastic bags in a bag and put in the outside trash.

In the hotel room i read behind the headboards and picture frames they may have in the room. If you see dark stains they may of had them. check the matters if you see any little blood and dark spots on it. Again they may have them or treated them. Do not put your things on the floor, if you can hang them or put them on the table and do not take out any items until ready for use and return it back to the bag. They usually like to bite at night with your body heat so. The laugage keep in the garage/or your storage. I have to read up on how you can treat them before entering them in the house.

I know this is much. But I also read its hard to get rid of them and COSTLY. I hope this helps. :)

I just read the alcohal and solumel checking it out now. I am traveling for motorcyle week to Wash DC. So worried! I am buying this stuff now. Something is better then nothing. Good to know put the luagage in a bag for a week. Thank God I have a garage it will be there for a month with heat! :)

Besides checking your room as the previous poster suggested, we always ask the hotel if they have had any outbreaks. I believe they are required to tell you.

I stayed in NYC for a wedding this past fall and was very nervous!! But my old roommate is an exterminator. He told me to lift up the sheets and look at the seams/creases at the edge of the mattresses. Keep your luggage off the floor if possible. Use that luggage rack thing. Good luck!

I had a traveling sales job last summer and worked in the Wisconsin Dells area. In the summer of 2009, the Dells had the worst outbreak in the US. I was selling advertising so I talked to a variety of people daily. An exterminator told me to check the mattress along the cording in the seam were the side and top come together. Look for black spots, the bugs themselves are very small and almost clear, until they feed, so they are hard to see. Not only do they hide behind pictures but get into the seams in the wall paper and inside outlet covers. When an exterminator does a hotel or home they usually get all of them but have to return in 2 weeks to get any new hatchlings. Before you take anything, including a purse, (I locked mine in the car) into a hotel room check the room over carefully.
Not only are bedbugs infesting hotels all over the place but many other tourist sites. I read an article about a year ago that the Empire State Building was badly infested. I suppose they hitchhiked on someones purse or tote bag. Be extemely viligent when out in public. Don't set your purse, tote bag, or diaper bag down anywhere. I would only change my baby in my own car.
On another note--one of the places I stayed at in Lodi WI had signs all over the hotel that the water was polluted with nitrates and unsafe for drinking. I don't know how they were able to stay open. They gave guests bottled water for drinking but the ice in the ice machine was made with the polluted water. They had free breakfast and the coffee and orange juice was made with the polluted water. The warnings said not to boil the water because that would concentrate the nitrates. I stopped staying there, to me the floors always felt slimy and I never felt clean when I took a shower. So it's a buyer beware situation.

Always check around the bed posts, the bugs cannot fly, they can only walk, so they climb up the posts. There is a spray that you can buy at Bed Bath and Beyond that is organic and safe around kids. I also spray around the closets and dressers.