Reported by:
John
Matarese
Lots of us are preparing for vacations
right now. We're booking our hotels and
planning the big week.
But you're probably not planning for
some uninvited guests, who could spoil
the trip. I'm talking about Bedbugs!
And its very tough to get these surprise
guests to check out.
How bugs
can ruin your trip
Allison Rothbaum will never forget a
friend's wedding night ...where the
wedding party found themselves under
attack by these tiny creatures.
Allison says "some of us had to switch
rooms, cause the first room had bedbugs,
and that pretty much gave me the
willies!"
A rare
case? Or should you be concerned?
We went to the experts at the Cincinnati
Health Department, where insect
specialist Thomas Hooper told me point
blank "there is a pretty big problem in
hotels."
While he says most hotels do a good job
exterminating, he pointed out that even
a five star hotel can have them.
What to
do when you Arrive
The first thing, Hooper says, is to
place your bag on a hard clean surface,
like a table. Then its time to turn your
attention to the bed, where bedbugs hide
in bed frames, between cushions, and in
the edge of mattresses.
He says "if you dont find bedbugs, you
look for rust stains. After they get a
blood meal, they excrete the blood."
But Hooper says sheets are almost always
fresh... So check the mattress.
"Look at the tufts,"he says, "the edges
of the bed."
"The next spot you want to look at is
the headboard, nighstand and picture
frames."
He suggests you look under the phone,
even pull out the nightstand.
If the
room looks clean....
Even if nothing's moving, and the room
looks clean, Hooper suggests keeping
your bags off the carpet.
And he says ever leave dirty clothing on
the floor, or you can take unwanted
souvenirs home with you.
Rather, he says, "always take a plastic
garbage bag. Put your dirty clothing in
them."
Still nervous? He says you can put two
sided tape around the feet of the bed.
You can even buy a bug proof mattress
cover from several websites! But that's
extreme.
Hooper says bed bugs are rarely in every
room: So if youre suspicious, just ask
for another room.
Check
before you Book your Room
One final tip: Check websites like
Bedbug Registry dot com, Hotel Chatter
dot com, and TripAdvisor dot com...where
travelers often list infected hotels.
Allison Rothbaum wishes she had done
that before she checked in.
What if
you bring some Bugs home?
Finally, if you think you brought
bedbugs home, experts tell us you can
easily kill them by washing and drying
your clothes.
Then, put your luggage in black garbage
bags and set them out in the hot sun:
Bedbugs cant survive temperatures above
125 degrees.
