FIVE RULES FOR HOUSEKEEPING STAFF TO SPOT BED BUGS

We all must know that hotels and resorts can be invaded by pests or parasites. The small-reddish brown insects live happily on the hotel sheeting and can ride back to your home on clothing and luggage. These tiny bed bugs keep them alive by feeding on the blood of people and animal, normally at night. The bugs do not spread any infections but "their bites can cause itchy, irritating welts that prompt excessive scratching and can keep you up at night," says Consumer Reports' chief medical adviser, Marvin M. Lipman, M.D. These bugs take very less time to ruin a hotel's reputation and can be the reason for losing many customers in the future. Before a bed-bug encounter with your guest during their vacation, it's better to spot and kill them right away. Here we have six rules for housekeeping staff to spot bed bugs.

 

Rule 1: Scan the Entire Room The first step in spotting the bed bugs is to inspect the whole room including the corners. Most of the housekeeping people think that bed bugs are only found on bed sheets and mattresses but it's not true at all. The small insects are also hidden in small cracks, as well as bed skirts. For the room cleaners, it is important to check every small area so that the bugs are under your control before attacking the guest. Rule 2: Take Customer Complaints Seriously Most of the hotel do not accept the allegations that customers drive on them. For the hotels who clean up their room thrice a week, the bugs can find their way to that room too. If a guest has a complaint about the insects biting them at night, take that seriously, because, there are many people who can spot the bit more quickly than others.

 

Rule 3: Look for Eggs Tiny red-brownish eggs is a sign of an infestation that bed bugs are present in the room. The eggs are laid in batches of 2-5 and their color and size can differ from each other. More eggs mean more eggs in the future; therefore, it is important to kill them right at the time when you saw it. Housekeeping should do regular checks for the eggs to keep them away forever. Rule 4: Take Care of Adjacent Rooms The bugs are often said to spread easily in Adjacent rooms and can keep spreading in the other areas. While cleaning, if the housekeeping finds any kind of bugs, it's great to do a check in the joined room too, because there is a chance of finding the bugs.

 

Rule 5: Smell Them Out The shed exoskeletons, feces, and pheromones released by bed bugs create an offensive sugary smell. Detection of this smell could intimate you have a massive bed bug infestation in your hotel room. Before doing further checks, make sure to clean up the room very well before it's given to any upcoming guest.