3 Tips to Control a Bed Bug Infestation in Your Hotel

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The only thing worse than bed bugs infesting your home is an infestation in your hotel. Your whole business, which relies on a solid reputation, could be on the line depending on how well you handle a reported case. While difficult, it is possible to survive an infestation crisis with your reputation intact. The last thing you should ever do is antagonise the person reporting the issue or try to downplay a real problem. Handle the issue with poise and professionalism, and your clients might just forgive you and even praise you for how well they were treated in the face of crisis.

1. Staff training

All your staff members should be trained to recognise early signs of infestation, as well as in the steps to take to prevent bed bugs from spreading. Early response will also be cheaper, as it will be easier to handle. Train your housekeepers and front desk staff (the latter are likely to be first to receive reports of potential infestation) on:

• the life cycle of bed bugs so that they can identify all of the stages

• routine inspection protocols—all rooms should be inspected regularly, including rooms for laundry or furniture storage

• proper housekeeping procedures, especially following a suspected infestation

• reporting procedures in case of the slightest evidence of an infestation

2. Handling reported cases

In your guests' manual, include the procedure for guests to report complaints regarding a potential infestation. Help your client or tenant get medical attention if they've been bitten, and then take over the handling of their items, which will be considered contaminated until proven otherwise.

At no charge to the client, upgrade them to a better room and launder their clothing items, linens and other personal belongings to ensure they don't transfer eggs or bugs to the new room. Contaminated clothes should be washed with detergent and HOT water and then dried at the highest possible setting.

Guests in adjacent rooms (beside, above and below) should also be relocated and their rooms inspected and treated by a licensed pest control professional. When these tenants vacate, a follow-up inspection of the rooms they were moved to should be done to ensure the bugs weren't transferred there.

3. Handling refuse

Contaminated personal items are usually bagged in sealed plastic bags before treatment and put into new sealed bags after treatment. The old bags and any dirt/refuse from an infested room should be double-bagged into tightly sealed bags before disposal. Where necessary, the pest control team will treat the trash to make it safe for regular disposal.

For more information, contact a commercial pest control company like Blakes Pest Management.

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5 September 2018