Before You Book A Hotel or Motel Room.....

[grumpyoldlady]

Before you book a room, check the Bed Bug Registry site to see if any have been reported. www.bedbugregistry.com . I was surprised at the classy places that are listed on there, complete with detailed accounts of encounters with these nasty critters. You can search by establishment, or by city, or just by state.

I was going to book a room at a casino here in Minnesota, but after checking, this big name casino is on the list, so I won't be slumbering there...just donating my money at the machines.

[wolverine]

Before you book a room, check the Bed Bug Registry site to see if any have been reported. www.bedbugregistry.com . I was surprised at the classy places that are listed on there, complete with detailed accounts of encounters with these nasty critters. You can search by establishment, or by city, or just by state.

I was going to book a room at a casino here in Minnesota, but after checking, this big name casino is on the list, so I won't be slumbering there...just donating my money at the machines.

The website is a good info source, but most people don't understand the bedbug problem all that clearly.

As you mentioned, there's some pretty nice hotels in there. But it's not a matter of the hotels not being clean, rather bedbugs being brought into the room by people [with good hygiene] who just happened to pick them up on a plane. They get stuck somewhere in the mattress or on furniture that doesn't get cleaned like the sheets.

Eventually that website is going to fill up with practically every hotel. The most susceptible are big city hotels because they get alot of long distance travelers who picked them up on a flight. It doesn't appear to be as bad with highway-commercial hotels, but they do still turn up.

The worst is returning from travel and the possibility of them getting in your home. Do not bring your suitcase into the home, unless you intend to wash clothes immediately. Take everything inside except clothing. Leave it in a garage or outside hallway until you wash them. My friend came back from Seattle, and dropped her suitcase [[still zipped up) in her laundry room. The next morning there was a dead beg bug on the floor. Fortunately none of the clothes inside had them, but the outside of the suitcase had to be washed.

If they do get inside your house, take care of it immediately since the problem gets exponentially worse. If you live in a multi-unit building, fail to report the problem immediately and the problem spreads, your landlord could sue and the tenant could be out thousands of dollars depending on how bad the problem gets.

But back to the hotel, I wouldn't let the problem stop you if it's a hotel you really want to go to. I'd avoid the room reported for extra measure, but there's nothing wrong with calling the hotel and asking how they've addressed the problem. You also never know if YOU will be the first one making a report at what was thought to be a clean hotel

[grumpyoldlady]

I realize the problem is from people bringing them into the hotels, and not just from lack of hotel cleanliness and regular inspection. I simply posted the site as a "heads up" to folks so they can use caution when they decide to stay at a hotel.