bed bug protection

Exterminating the Myths About Bed Bugs in Hotels

White linen bed in hotel room

It’s time once again to talk about something that no innkeeper wants to discuss, but every innkeeper needs to discuss: bed bugs.

These pests aren’t something you can afford to take lightly, as bed bugs in hotels can severely mar your guests’ experience.

At the same time, it’s important not to treat bed bugs like the boogeyman. Let’s spend some time eradicating some common myths about bed bugs in hotels with the help of National Geographic.

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The Innkeepers Bed Bug Action Plan

Hotel Bed being inspected

The hotel industry has been battling bed bugs for, well, as long as there have been hotels.

If you traveled back in time to ancient Egypt or medieval England or colonial America, you’d likely find some frazzled innkeeper wondering how to keep bed bugs out of their establishment.

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Guests Want Clean Sheets and Towels (And No Bed Bugs)

After almost 30 years of serving the hospitality industry, I have seen many changes, but one thing has remained the same:

Whether people are on vacation or traveling for business, they want to stay in a clean room with clean sheets, clean towels and clean bedding.

Guests have become even more conscious of room cleanliness in recent years thanks to some high-profile and widespread beg bug invasions.

We’ve written blog posts in the past about protecting a room and a bed against bed bugs. If guest finds – or worse, is bitten by – a bed bug, it can be an expensive proposition.

That’s why protection is your best prevention. Be vigilant in checking your room each time a guest checks in our checks out.

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Bed Bugs Make Bad Travel Buddies

Hotels are bed bug hives.

Okay, so this description is going to sound unflattering to those who work in the hospitality industry. But for pest control professionals, it’s difficult to view hotels the way the rest of society sees hotels. After all, hotels solicit the services of pest control professionals more than most people would guess (or care to know).

While some hotels don’t clean enough or educate their staff about spotting bed bugs, most establishments have bed bug problems because of factors outside of their control. Simply put, hotels can’t search their guests’ luggage, find out their cleaning habits, or examine individual articles of clothing, all of which are prime causes of bed bug outbreaks.

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How to Best Protect Your Mattress: Our Top Product Recommendations

While many factors will affect the longevity of your mattress (its original quality, for instance, and the amount of use), cleaning your mattress on a regular basis and protecting it from spills, insects, and even allergens can help you get the most from your investment.

As our regular readers will remember, we briefly touched on the topic of mattress protection in a recent blog post titled “How to Make the Perfect Bed”. In this post we’ll delve more deeply into the topic of the care and protection of your mattress, and provide you with a list of our favorite products to accomplish this important task.

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Protect Your Mattresses Using Encasements and Luggage Racks

All this month, InnStyle is having a sale on both Sealy and Stearns & Foster mattresses. The mattresses we offer from these well-known manufacturers of hospitality mattresses are of the very highest quality.

I mention this as our prices on these mattresses are always excellent … and with the November sale, they’re even better!

When selling a mattress, we always recommend purchasing mattress and box spring encasements (preferably with protection against bed-bugs).

Along with the encasements — which should be zippered and should fully encase your mattress and box spring — we advise our customers to protect their mattresses by purchasing and using luggage racks in each guest room.

Placing luggage racks in each guest room is important for any number of reasons. For starters, they protect your mattress, bedspread, coverlet or duvet against regular wear and tear. They also protect the bed itself from any dirt, grease or bedbugs that guests may have unknowingly picked up during their travels.

We offer an especially wide range of different luggage rack styles on our website.

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Bed Bug Protection and the Bed and Breakfast Supplies Industry

Warning: This Post Is Not For The Squeamish

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has much to be proud of.

It is a unique city comprised of neighborhoods, each with its own identity. The quality of life is affordable. Sports fans are the most fiercely loyal (and unabashedly honest) in the country. Several of the nation’s finest colleges and universities calls Philadelphia home. The art and music scene is world-class. There are countless fine-dining experiences and even more amazing neighborhood restaurants and cool diners to satisfy any palate.

Hoagies. Cheesesteaks. Pretzels.

And then there’s the history. It goes without saying.

However, Philadelphia has just been bestowed a rather dubious “honor”, overtaking New York City, as being the most bed bug infested city in the nation, according to pest control giant, Terminix. Miami, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco and Washington DC have also been named as cities with a growing bed bug infestation problem.

In Philadelphia, as well as across the country, the rampant bed bug issue has become a major source of concern for the hospitality industry. Once eliminated by the use of DDT (which was banned for use in the US in 1972), bug bed infestation has grown steadily due to greater international travel, the use of non-effective treatments to which the pests have now become resistant, and a general disregard of the advancing epidemic over the years.

InnStyle, the source for innkeeper supplies and linens since 1952, offers many solutions to the bed and breakfast and the hospitality industry. For example, InnStyle carries products to enclose and defend vulnerable soft surfaces from the pests, such as mattress and box spring encasement, anti bed bug sheets and pillow protectors. InnStyle also carries Rest Easy Bug Spray, an environmentally green and all-natural product proven to kill bed bugs and prevent infestation. It is easy for hospitality staff to use and has a natural cinnamon scent.

InnStyle also offers tips on how to defend the hospitality property from this bed bug epidemic. Please visit their website to take advantage of this helpful tip sheet at: https://www.innstyle.com/images/BEDBUGSmay609.pdf.

With diligent attention and protective products from InnStyle, the hospitality property or bed and breakfast proprietor need not fear that these pests will negatively impact their business.

Even in Philly.

Contact InnStyle for more information on how to protect your property with Bed Bug Protection – Call us at 800-877-INNS (4667)